India tops China in obtaining Canadian work visas

Indians are ahead of Chinese in obtaining the Canadian work visas under Canada’s international mobility programme.

In the first half of the year 2017, from January to June, 13,670 Indians have been issued work visas as compared to 8,680 for the Chinese, as per department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) statistics published in Business Insider.

Even under the temporary foreign workers program, Indians left Chinese behind. 2,190 temporary workers from India were successful in obtaining Canadian visas compared to 635 Chinese workers.
Watch | How The New H1-B Visa Rules Will Impact Indian IT Professionals

This comes at a time when the Trump-led US government is slashing the number of visas issued to Indian expats. As a result, Canada is becoming an attractive destination for the Indians.

Also Read: Visa woes force Indian IT workers to return home, H-1B visa applications fall

The Justin Trudeau led government has been welcoming refugees and immigrants with open arms. The Canadian government, in a bid to attract talent from all over the world, is running the Global Talent Stream Program (GTSP). Under this, the country has started fast tracking the visa applications and it attempts to process the visa within two weeks. Canada has also made a provision of exemption from labour market impact assessments.

GTSP can be opted by companies sponsoring highly qualified foreign workers from ten occupations including computer, electrical and information technology.  The caveat, however, is that GTSP applies only for short trips. Managers and professional workers who need to go to Canada can avail GTSP only for a term of 15-days in a six month period, that is, 30-days in a year.