If you sent a visitor visa application before September 7, you may have to apply again.
Certain travelers who submitted their visitor visa application before September 7 are being asked to reapply.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recently updated instructions on its webpage. The department is asking people who still want to travel to Canada to send in a new application through the IRCC portal. Specifically, if you are waiting for a decision and need to travel to Canada for one of the following reasons:
• to reunite with family members in Canada, including permanent and temporary residents;
• to visit on business;
• for compassionate reasons such as attending a funeral, being present during the final moments of a loved one’s life, and providing care to a critically ill person;
• to join a vessel as a marine crew member;
• to assume a position as a diplomat, or to travel as an accompanying immediate family member; and
• to handle the affairs of a victim of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752.
IRCC asks you to include up-to-date information and your previous application number, if possible.
“By submitting a new application, your previous visitor visa application will be withdrawn,” the IRCC website says, “There is no guarantee of a refund, and you won’t receive a letter to confirm that your application has been withdrawn.”
If you no longer wish to travel to Canada you can request to withdraw your application via the web form. Again, there is no guarantee that IRCC will provide a refund.
The government website says the new measure was created “to reflect the easing of border measures effective September 7, 2021.”
