UKRAINIAN'S WITH CANADIAN CONNECTION CAN'T GET VISA DESPITE FAST -TRACK PROMISE FROM OTTAWA

BY Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Since fleeing his home in Lviv, Ukraine, three weeks ago, expat Canadian Mike O’Leary has been holed up at a relative’s house in a Polish village with his son, wife, and her parents.







The former Edmontonian has been trying to bring his entire family to his hometown in Alberta but says applying for visitor visas on behalf of his Ukrainian in-laws has been hampered by overloaded systems and misleading information, despite a pledge from the Canadian government that they’d fast-track visas for those fleeing the war.

Between Feb. 24 — when the war in Ukraine broke out — and March 16, IRCC told Global News they have received 6,720 applications from Ukrainian refugees wishing to enter Canada. According to the data they supplied, less than a third have been processed during that time. Around 1-in-20 applicants have been issued visas.