Canada Visa Arrives A Day After Haryana Student Dies By Suicide Over Delay
Trigger Warning: The following article contains sensitive information that may be traumatizing/offensive/disturbing to some audiences.
In a shocking incident, a 23-year-old student in Kurukshetra, Haryana, ended his life by jumping into the Narwana branch canal over the alleged delay in getting visa for Canada. However, his visa reached his home a day after he took the extreme step.
The student went missing on Wednesday and his body was found floating on the canal on Friday. The tragedy is that the visa had arrived on Thursday but he couldn’t be told as he was missing, probably dead already by then, said a family friend.
Police suspect the man — identified as Vikesh Saini alias Deepak from village Gorkha in Shahbad sub-division — jumped into the canal near Jansa town, because he was upset as his friend had already got his student visa while he hadn’t.
Vikesh had recently completed his graduation and wanted to go to Canada for further education. Later, he wanted to also settle in the foreign country for a better life. He is survived by three siblings — a brother and two sisters — besides his parents. His father has a government job, it is learnt. The immediate family wasn’t able to speak.
Station House Officer (Jhansa) Rajpal Singh said Vikesh had left his home on the night of 17 August. His family members and police started searching for him the next day and his relatives found his motorcycle and slippers on the bank of the canal. The body was handed over to family members on Saturday after a post-mortem examination.
Many Punjab students being rejected
The suicide comes only days after it was reported that a substantial percentage of applications from Punjab students who wish to study abroad are being rejected. According to a report in Dainik Bhaskar, the significant grounds for this include fraudulent bank statements and birth certificates, fake paperwork regarding the schooling gap, and the mistrust of foreign officials.
In 2020–21, the Australian Department of Home Affairs uncovered over 600 cases involving Punjab and Haryana in which forged documents were used to obtain education visas to Australia.
Wait time for visa gets longer
Also, it is reported that recently visa appointment, application and processing are taking a long time for Canada and other countries too, like the US, the UK and, Schengen states as well.
As per the Government of Canada website, Canada currently has a waiting time of 158 days for visitor visas. The website also says, “This processing time does not include the time it takes to send an application between a visa application centre and our office and the time you need to give your biometrics.”
Canadian High Commission’s statement
Addressing the issue on Thursday, the Canadian High Commission assured that it is working to reduce the long waiting time for visas.
“We understand your frustration and disappointment and want to assure you that we are working to improve the situation. In fact, we have been processing applications through out the year, including study permits for the September 2022 intake,” the HC said in a series of tweets.
Stating that many thousands of students in India are receiving their visas each week, the Canadian HC asserted that they will continue to make every effort to reduce wait times against an unprecedented volume of applications received.
It also requested students who are still awaiting the outcome of their visa applications at this stage to contact their Designated Learning Institution in Canada to discuss options should they be unable to arrive in time for the start of classes.
