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January 6, 2005

CIC Responds to the Disaster in Asia

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is committed to a humane and flexible response when natural disasters affect Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and their relatives.

Update (January 6, 2005)

Initially, the priority of the visa offices in Colombo, Sri Lanka and Bangkok, Thailand was to assist Foreign Affairs Canada in providing emergency assistance to Canadian citizens and their non-Canadian spouses, common-law partners and dependent children. However, they are now offering all their normal services.

Note – If you have an immediate family member in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka or Thailand who has been directly affected by this disaster, and they have an application in process at the visa office in New Delhi, India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Singapore; Colombo, Sri Lanka; or Bangkok, Thailand, your family member who is the applicant may now contact those offices directly to identify themselves.

CPC Mississauga – If the last office that dealt with your application was CPC-Mississauga, you should include the HPM (processing fee) number in your request. This will help us locate your file more quickly.

Abroad

CIC will provide the best possible service to the people in the region. The visa offices in Bangkok and Colombo are, on a priority basis, assisting Foreign Affairs in providing emergency services to affected Canadians and providing visa services to their non-Canadian dependents. All other visa offices in the region are offering normal visa services. Once the consular emergency has been dealt with, the visa offices in Colombo, Bangkok, New Delhi, and Jakarta will give priority consideration to applications made by persons who have been directly and significantly affected by the disaster and who have immediate family members in Canada, with special emphasis on spouses, common-law partners and dependent children. Please check this Web site to determine when these services will be available in Bangkok and Colombo. Location and hours of operation of the visa offices in the region can be found on the CIC Web site (www.cic.gc.ca).

In Canada

For immigrant applications, please contact the last office that dealt with your file in writing and describe your circumstances and request. Notifications will only be accepted in writing. If the last office that dealt with your application was CPC-Mississauga, you should include the HPM (processing fee) number in your request. This will help us locate your file more quickly.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to sponsor immediate family members residing in a disaster area may do so by obtaining the necessary forms from the Call Centre (1-888-242-2100, in Canada only) or the CIC Web site (www.cic.gc.ca).

For visitors, students and workers, consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis to people seeking to extend their status in Canada if they are from the disaster area.

CIC will continue to monitor the situation and is working closely with other federal departments and the international community to help those in need.

Links

For further information, please visit the following Web sites:

• Government of Canada
• Foreign Affairs Canada
• Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration (Government of Quebec)