While the new VACs will initially focus on providing biometric collections, it will expand its services to transmit and track passports and other documents.
Applicants will still be able to access all the services at Canada’s existing VAC in Mexico City.
“With these new centres, Mexico will have four VACs located in the country’s three largest metropolitan areas. This will make it easier for Mexican nationals to provide biometrics to come to Canada if required, and support travel and people-to-people ties between the two countries, while also preserving the integrity of Canada’s immigration system,” said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The development comes months after Canada reimposed visa requirements for Mexican nationals in February after asylum claims from the country to Canada reached 23,995 in 2023 compared to 260 in 2016 when Ottawa first removed the visa barriers.
Although Canada had said that Mexican citizens holding a valid work or study permit could still travel by air to Canada with their existing Electronic Travel Authorisation for as long as it is valid, those without an eTA will require a visitor visa as per the new rules.
This led to concerns among stakeholders in Canada’s language education sector, who were catering to over 12,000 Mexican students in 2022, as reported by The PIE News.
With these new centres, Mexico will have four VACs located in the country’s three largest metropolitan areas. This will make it easier for Mexican nationals to provide biometrics to come to Canada if required
IRCC
Since a majority of these students complete short programs, they were visa-exempt before the changes kicked in.
The decision to open up new VACs could provide more pathways to Mexican students living in different cities across the country, to pursue higher education in Canada.
Mexico is already a key emerging market, figuring among the top 10 source countries to Canada.
Over 16,900 students from Mexico held study permits in Canada in 2023 compared to over 14,400 in 2022.
Mexico, along with other Latin American countries Brazil, and Colombia, also features among priority countries in Canada’s 2019 international education strategy.
Demand for education in Canada among Latin American students has shot up in the last ten years, with over 55,000 of them comprising the country’s international student cohort in 2022.
According to the IRCC, applicants can make appointments to provide their biometrics at any of the four VAC locations as soon as they receive their biometric instruction letter.
“VACs are managed by private companies that have contracts with the Government of Canada. They don’t represent the Government of Canada. They don’t make decisions about applications and can’t provide any visa-related advice to applicants,” the IRCC added.
