Chennai gets Canadian Consulate

Now, going to Canada gets easier!- The Economic Times: "The Canadian High Commission has recently upped the number of visa application centres to nine. Besides the existing two in New Delhi and Chandigarh, Canadian visa application centres have been launched in Jalandhar, Mumbai , Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.

Effectively, students, tourists and professionals (going there on a contract) will now be able to submit visa applications at any of the centres. These centres will then forward the applications to the High Commission for assessment.

The Canadian High Commission issued almost 50,000 temporary visas in 2004, a rise of 40% since 2003. And Punjab comprises the largest chunk of the traffic - almost 30% of the volume comes from there, Edwards said.

With almost a million Canadian residents hailing from India and one in 30 Canadians being of Indian origin, this North American nation has emerged as a popular destination.

The High Commission has tied up with travel facilitator VFS India Private Ltd to run these centres. "