Canada Tuesday sought deeper cooperation from India in checking illegal migration and combating unscrupulous agents involved in defrauding Indians wanting to go to that country for greener pastures.
The issue was taken up by Canada's Minister for Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney during a meeting with Overseas Indian Affairs
Minister Vayalar Ravi.
Noting that the number of visas issued by Canada had gone up significantly in the last one year, Kenny said the Canadian High Commission
and its consulates receive "a great deal of fraudulent visa applications" which is a matter of concern.
"We had a very good discussion about challenges that we are facing in respect of immigration of Indians to Canada.
I am here for a closer partnership with India in this regard and to combat unscrupulous immigration agents," the Canadian Minister said.
Ravi told Kenney that New Delhi was in the process of setting up an immigration management authority to make the process transparent and
foolproof.
"We both agreed that illegal migration and human smuggling must be checked," Ravi said.
Asked about Canada rejecting visa applications of a number of Indians in recent months, Kenney, who is on a three-day visit here, said the authorities approve visas to anyone who is a bona-fide traveller.
"Of course some applications were rejected. Sometime people feel that decisions taken are wrong. We ask them to understand that we are operating in a difficult environment," he said.
The Canadian Minister said the number of student visas had doubled in the last two years and that the approval rate for visas to Indians had gone up significantly.
"We have created a new service for major employers that have business travel back and forth. We have over a million Canadians of Indian origin. Immigration from India is continuing to grow by about 15 per cent," he said.