“All applicants seeking visa, OCI, passport and other consular services can use the walk-in mode to submit their applications and supporting documents.”
— Indian High Commission Ottawa
After nearly three years of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, walk-in applicants will be allowed for documentation related to travel to India, according to an announcement from the Indian high commission to Ottawa. The facility will be available from February at the centres operated by BLS, the firm that has been contracted for this purpose.
“All applicants seeking visa, OCI, passport and other consular services can use the walk-in mode to submit their applications and supporting documents,” a release from the high commission said, adding that this could be done without prior appointment.
“Walk-in services are being introduced in addition to the appointment and postal modes, which would continue to remain available.”
The announcement came even as a large backlog of applications is pending for the issuance of these travel documents. In December, India’s high commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma pointed to the rising demand for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, as the number of applications grew to 49,000 in November as against 26,000 for the same month last year.
The reason for the growing demand is the rising population of Indian-origin immigrants in Canada. There are about 240,000 students from India at Canadian institutions at this time, while in 2021, India was the top source country for permanent residents, with 127,933, or over a quarter of the total, admitted.
Acceptance of walk-in applicants is part of the gradual normalisation of services which were disrupted due to the coronavirus crisis. The e-visa programme for Canadian nationals resumed in December, though there is no timeline to renew the ten-year multiple entry tourist visa scheme which was suspended when the Covid-19 pandemic started in the spring of 2020.
“Walk-in services are being introduced in addition to the appointment and postal modes, which would continue to remain available,” the release noted.
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