The ongoing strike by Canadian foreign service officers will neither disrupt visa operations in Saudi Arabia nor affect the processing of visas of Saudi students and businessmen, Canadian Ambassador Tom MacDonald said Sunday.
He said the Canadian Embassy has taken “measures to ensure the continuity of visa services, including visa issuance, particularly for Saudi students going to Canada this summer.”
MacDonald replied by e-mail to questions raised by Arab News regarding the alleged disruption of visa operations at the Canadian Embassy in Riyadh.
Canadian Foreign Service officers have been on strike for four months seeking salary parity from their government and this week witnessed the most extensive disruption of visa services at different diplomatic posts worldwide.
The strike reportedly affected Canada’s biggest visa processing centers especially at 15 embassies and consulates around the world including Saudi Arabia. The strike by Canadian diplomats including those working in the political, commercial and immigration sections of the embassies has heightened concerns among Saudi students and businessmen, who have submitted their visa applications at the local Canadian mission.
Referring to the measures taken by the embassy to ensure smooth operation of the visa section, MacDonald said: “Although some officers have withdrawn services at various times in Riyadh over the past two months, we have taken appropriate measures to ensure continuity of services, including visa issuance. We have placed a particular priority for Saudi students going to Canada this summer.”
Clarifying the matter further, the ambassador said: “First, let me explain that the Canadian Foreign Service officers are not currently on strike. They are in a strike position and have been withdrawing services on a selective and rotating basis in various embassies as well as in Canada.”
MacDonald elaborated further saying: “This means that, on any given day, some officers may not report for duty … but on other days, they may all be at their stations,” he added.
Moreover, certain officers are in “excluded’ positions which are not entitled to strike in view of the essential nature of their services, he said. “We currently have over 16,000 Saudi students in Canada and consider this to be an extremely important and positive aspect of our bilateral relationship,” said MacDonald, adding that the embassy would seek to ensure smooth flow of services in support of these mutually beneficial educational links.
The embassy, he said, has also recently implemented a number of new measures to improve visa issuance service for Saudi citizens. These measures include the initiation of an electronic visa application service and the opening of Visa Application Centers (VACs) in Jeddah, Alkhobar and Riyadh. These centers now provide additional points of service for Saudi visa applicants, and offer greater convenience and more hands-on assistance with the application process.