CANADIAN VISAS FOR MEXICANS, PART TWO

UNCLAS MEXICO 002692 SENSITIVE, SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CVIS ECON PGOV PREF MX CA SUBJECT: CANADIAN VISAS FOR MEXICANS, PART TWO REF: MEXICO 2079 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Since Canada's sudden imposition of a visa requirement for Mexican (and Czech) tourists on July 16, the Mexican government has countered only with a visa requirement for Canadian diplomats. Despite the initial visa backlog and outcry by the Mexican media that the requirement was unjustified, the measure seems to have worked: Mexican application volume has stabilized and the number of Mexicans seeking asylum in Canada has dropped dramatically. With the initial visa rush over, the Canadian Embassy is adjusting to the long term reality of visa processing in Mexico. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Canada's decision to impose visa requirements on Mexican tourists on July 14 - to take effect 48 hours later -- was a surprise to some and a shock to the thousands of Mexicans who had already made travel plans, as reported Reftel. In the days following the announcement, travelers as well as media, immigration, and tourism officials within Mexico were widely critical of the measure. As block-long queues of visa applicants formed in front of the Canadian Embassy, Mexican public opinion called for reciprocal measures; the Mexican government subsequently imposed a visa requirement for Canadian diplomats. Many tourists and officials lamented the visa requirement had been imposed at the very peak of tourist season. The Mexican press was filled with reports of Mexican tourists who had missed flights, inadequate preparation by the Canadian Embassy to handle the large numbers of visa applicants, and allegedly boorish treatment of visa applicants by Canadian immigration officials. On August 10, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in Guadalajara for trilateral talks with Presidents Calderon and Obama, attempted to defuse the controversy when he said that the visa requirement was designed to address a flaw in Canadian law which encouraged bogus refugee claims, and was not intended as a rebuke of Mexico or the Mexican government. ¶3. (SBU) The imposition of the visa requirement and the lack of advance notice was a PR-fiasco for Canada in Mexico, but it appears that that storm has now largely passed. A Canadian Embassy official tells us that us that immigration officers worked hundred-hour weeks the first month after the policy change processing up to 1200 visas a day, in an effort to address demand and minimize inconvenience to the Mexican traveling public. As of September 1, the Embassy had processed 23,880 visas, including about 2000 students and 2000 unskilled laborers. The same official claims that few, if any travelers were actually delayed, or had to cancel planned travel because of the visa requirement. In any event, complaints about the visa requirement have largely disappeared from the Mexican press. ¶4. (SBU) The initial visa rush appears to be over; visa application numbers have stabilized at about 450 per day. The Canadian Embassy is turning to long-term planning to deal with Mexican visa demand. The Embassy has hired the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC),the same subcontractor that serves Mission Mexico, to facilitate the collection of applicants' personal data apart from biometrics, which is still being debated. The first Canadian Visa Application Center (VAC) will be launched in Mexico City on October 14, and similar centers are planned for January in Guadalajara, and Monterrey, where it will be located in the same building as the U.S. visa applicant service center. ¶5. (SBU) Finally, we understand from the Canadian Embassy that the visa requirement appears to have achieved its objective of discouraging often frivolous refugee claims by Mexican citizens. Where once Canada received as many as 800 Mexican refugee claims per month, there have been no more than 40 claims since the implementation of visa restrictions in mid-July, according to an Embassy source. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT. Embassy Mexico reached out to our Canadian colleagues, providing advice on visa processing and appointment administration; the GOC Consular corps responded professionally and efficiently. While this item will surely remain on Mexico's bilateral agenda with Canada, the initial uproar has died down as Mexicans adjust to the new requirement. END COMMENT PASCUAL