Every year during the Christmas and New Year holidays, many Canadian residents are ready to go south for a vacation, but for a Canadian woman with a PR card permanent resident, it is very angry, although she paid hundreds of dollars in visa application fees, the visa appointment has to wait at least 2 years to take the vacant seats, and angrily denounced this as a double standard.
While permanent residents of the United States with a green card can visit Canada without a visa, permanent residents with a Canadian PR card must obtain a U.S. visa to travel south.
The Vancouver woman, who went by the pseudonym Jennifer, who asked not to give her real name, said she was starting to wait for her travel documents.
Jennifer came to Canada from Nigeria as an international student in 2014 and moved to British Columbia in early March 2020 after completing her degree in International Relations at the University of Saskatchewan.
A few months later, Jennifer started working in Vancouver and gained the work experience she needed to apply for immigration.
In August, Jennifer was granted permanent resident status and began the process of applying for a non-immigrant U.S. visa in September, which included paying an application fee of about $500.
After submitting her first application, the U.S. government sent her a link to schedule an interview. However, Jennifer found that the most recent appointment vacancy date for the Vancouver interview waited at least 736 days, more than two years.
"It's very disappointing, especially when you just want to travel during the holidays," said an angry Jennifer.
For Canadians in other Canadian provinces, the waiting time for a U.S. visa is just as bad.
The wait time is 852 days in Calgary and 774 days in Toronto, all over 2 years.
Holders of a U.S. Employment Authorization Document (EAD), including green card holders, can enter Canada visa-free for up to six months without applying for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) or visa.
"There's obviously a huge double standard, why is this happening?" Jennifer asked.
"It's really sad to think about being forced to put your life and travel plans on hold for two years or more. ”
Jennifer finds herself unable to head south until at least 2025, but discovers that she is not the only permanent resident of Canada who has expressed frustration with the long wait.
Jennifer then found hundreds of people online in the same situation
of the group.
The U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs said it could expedite visa appointments for some people, but they would have to face "urgent, unforeseen circumstances, such as funerals, medical emergencies, or school start dates."
Jennifer said she had to keep scrolling through the booking website to see if there were any slots, but she couldn't do anything else during that time.
"You can see how frustrating and disappointing it is. ”