VISA POST SERVICE IN MANILA TO BE IMPROVED

The following was released by the Government of Canada:

Feb 07, 2008 16:03 ET

Government of Canada Improves Service at Visa Office in Manila, Philippines

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2008) - The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, today announced more immigration officers will be sent to the visa office in Manila, Philippines, to speed up the processing of applications.It is estimated this initiative will incur one time construction costs of approximately $1.9 million."Our government supports the Filipino community in Canada," said Minister Finley. "There has been a longstanding concern that processing times needed to improve. Today, we are taking action and committing more resources to help applicants from the Philippines."Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada will be reconfiguring existing offices and adding new space at the Canadian Embassy to accommodate Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) program needs. Beginning in the summer, CIC will add three additional Canada-based Immigration Officers and four locally-engaged staff to work at the Embassy. More CIC staff could be added the following year.The increase in staff is intended to address the increased volume of Temporary Foreign Worker applications while at the same time ensuring that processing times for other lines of service are also improved.The number of temporary workers coming to Canada from around the world has soared in recent years in an effort to meet this country's labour market needs. In 2006, Canada welcomed 8,529 temporary foreign workers from the Philippines. This number is expected to continue to grow in response to increasing demands from Canadian employers for temporary workers.