Canada Visa Application Centres to accept biometric enrolments for select categories

·         Effective 25 November 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for family class priority (FCP) – spouses, partners and children category –  can enroll biometrics at the Canada Visa Applications Centres in 6 cities: Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

·         Effective 02 December 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for student (SP) category and family class priority (FCP) – spouses, partners and children – can enroll biometrics at Canada Visa Applications Centres in 6 cities: Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

·         Effective 02 December 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for categories of student (SP) and family class priority (FCP) – spouses, partners and children – can also enroll biometrics at the Canada Visa Applications Centres in Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

·         Those who have already submitted applications will receive a Biometric Instruction Letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to enroll biometrics.

·         Prior appointment is mandatory to visit the Visa Application Centres. Those who have booked an appointment for categories other than students (SP) and family class priority (FCP) will be turned away without having their biometrics enrolled.

·         As part of health and safety precautions, only those enrolling biometrics will be allowed inside the Visa Application Centres; accompanying visitors will not be permitted inside the building premises

·         Paper applications will not be accepted at the Visa Application Centres until further notice.

As per the latest directive of the client government, limited visa services will resume in VFS Global Canada Visa Application Centres across India.

Effective 25 November 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for family class priority (FCP) – spouses, partners and children category – can enroll biometrics at the Canada Visa Applications Centres in 6 cities: Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

A prior appointment is mandatory to visit the Visa Application Centre to enroll biometrics. Appointments can be booked online from 20 November 2020 on https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/can/book-an-appointment by filling in the web form available.

Effective 02 December 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for student (SP) category and family class priority (FCP) – spouses, partners and children – can enroll their biometrics at the Canada Visa Applications Centres in 6 cities - Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

Effective 02 December 2020, Canada visa applicants who have submitted online applications for categories of student (SP) and family class priority – spouses, partners and children (FCP) can enroll their biometrics at the Canada Visa Applications Centres at Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

Appointments will be available online for the remaining cities from 25 November 2020.

Customers who have already submitted their applications for these categories will receive a Biometric Instruction Letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to enroll their biometrics. This letter must be carried for their appointment.

For all other categories, biometric enrolments are not being accepted until further notice. If you have booked an appointment for categories other than student and family class priority, you will be turned away and your biometrics will not be enrolled. For emergency applications, customers are requested to write to delhi-immigration@international.gc.ca

Paper applications will also not be accepted at any Visa Application Centre until further notice – customers can submit online applications by visiting https://www.canada.ca/en/services/immigration-citizenship.html.

Prior appointment mandatory for biometric enrolment

To ensure health and physical distancing precautions for all customers, biometrics can be enrolled with prior appointment only. Customers can book appointments by visiting https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/can/book-an-appointment and coming to the centre at the appointed day and time to enroll their biometrics.

Due to increased health and safety measures, enquiries, walk-in requests for appointments, and visitors accompanying applicants will not be permitted inside the Visa Application Centres. If you have further queries, please check our Frequently Asked Questions section here: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/can/

Submission of passports for issuance of a visa: After enrolment of biometrics, customers can submit their passports for stamping and get them delivered back using VFS Global’s courier service. Email us at passportsubmission@vfshelpline.com to avail this service. Passports must only be submitted upon receipt of a passport request letter from the Migration Section, High Commission of Canada in India. For more details, visit https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/can/

Decision envelope collection: Once a decision has been made on the application, the decision envelope will be couriered to the customer, in line with health and safety precautions.

Pending passports: Customers whose passports have been in VFS Global’s custody before the lockdown and who were unable to pick them up, can avail of the VFS Global-offered courier facility by contacting 02267866057.

As part of the health and safety measures, the following services will NOT be available at present:

·         Appointment booking at the VAC – Customers may book appointments online using the web form: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/ind/en/can/book-an-appointment

·         Submission of passports and collection of decision envelopes in person at the VACs is not permitted until further notice

·         Form-filling services – paper submissions are not being accepted until further notice

·         Enquiry services

·         Photocopy and photobooth services

Health & safety measures at the Centre   

Customer safety is our priority, so those visiting our Visa Application Centres will need to observe physical distancing, wear facemasks and use hand sanitisers. To ensure physical distancing norms are followed, customers must book an appointment to visit the Visa Application Centre.

Customers exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, including fever, cough or difficulty breathing will be advised reschedule their application submission for another day and seek medical attention. Additionally, all our employees are also maintaining preventive measures such as use of masks/hand sanitisers, disinfecting high-contact surfaces, body temperature screenings, regular handwashing, physical distancing, etc.

·         Entry into all VFS Global Visa Application Centres is by prior appointment only.

·         All Visa Application Centres will be operating from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

·         Due to a high number of pending applications and existing physical distancing regulations, appointments may not be available for your desired date due to the high demand at this time

About VFS Global 

VFS Global is the world's largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide. VFS Global has Swiss parentage and is a portfolio company of EQT, a leading global private equity firm headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

With 3434 Application Centres, operations in 144 countries across five continents and over 225 million applications processed (since inception in 2001) as on 31 October 2020, VFS Global is the trusted partner of 64 client governments.