Egypt imposes new visa rules on Syrians

"I wasn't surprised by the sentiment. I was surprised somebody put it in writing," said David Goldstein, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. The waits for a Canadian visitors' visa, sometimes four weeks, or as long as eight, is a message to many travellers that Canada is not open for business, he said. "It's extremely frustrating."The official message, on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website, isn't encouraging either: it warns tourists to "anticipate delays and submit their application as far in advance as possible." But tourists often aren't willing to wait, or to send in documents like passports for an uncertain amount of time.

The Tourism Industry Association estimates the delays will cost the industry $280-million this summer, by reducing travel by people who require china visa requirements houston – from growth markets such as China, India, Mexico, and Brazil – by 30 per cent.Mr. Goldstein said the industry isn't taking sides but wants the government to end it – with replacement workers, or some other immediate fix.The rotating strikes by the roughly 1,300 members of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers are an attempt to force the federal government to negotiate pay raises; they say they are paid less than other civil servants who do similar work, but don't get posted abroad.

In the vast numbers of the civil service, PAFSO is a small union, and the federal government has maintained there's been little impact from a strike of foreign-service officers. But the union's ranks also include immigration officers posted abroad –china tourist visa application and their rotating walkouts have caused major visa backlogs. PAFSO's president, Tim Edwards, said that on Tuesday, all foreign-service officers were off the job in Brasilia and Sao Paulo, but in 11 missions, including busy visa offices in Hong Kong and India, only immigration officers were on strike.