Foreign nationals living in the United States who came to Vancouver to renew their American work permits cannot return. They are waiting for their visa, which cannot be sent due to the work stoppage at Canada Post.
On November 13, Stella Xing, a Chinese national, went to Vancouver to renew her American work visa. She came to Canada because the United States requires foreigners to renew their work permits at a consulate outside the country.
Ms. Zing is still in Canada, two weeks after her arrival, waiting for her passport to be sent to her. However, she reports that my visa was approved, it was issued on Thursday [dernier]
. The disruption in the Canadian postal service since November 15 has prevented it from returning to the United States.
Meanwhile, the costs for his stay in British Columbia are piling up. I pay over $100 USD every day just for my Airbnb and food
she explains, and I also pay for my rent in Seattle
.
Haoyuan Cao is in a similar situation, also working in Seattle and having come to Vancouver to receive important documents.
Mr. Cao even says he fears losing his job. American tech companies tend to have a very strict policy on in-person work, and I haven’t been in the office for two weeks
he mentions.
[Les ressources humaines] might give me a warning if I don’t come back to the office next week.
Ms. Xing and Mr. Cao are part of discussion groups on WeChat with dozens of other people who, like them, are waiting to receive important documents.
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Haoyuan Cao, a national who works in Seattle, admits he is worried about losing his job because he has been in Vancouver for the past two weeks while waiting for important documents. “It took me a long time to get this job, I worked very hard to get it,” he said.
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Thousands of documents retained
Earlier this week, Services Canada said it had held back the shipment of 85,000 passports due to work disruptions at Canada Post.
Canadians who have already submitted a passport application and need a passport urgently can apply in person to have their passport transferred to a Service Canada center where there is a pick-up service.
Nationals like Stella Xing and Haoyuan Cao cannot make this request.
Visas cannot be picked up directly from the consulate office
says the American consulate in Vancouver.
In a statement, the US consulate advises applicants to use alternative delivery services.
Canada Post said that mail and packages in its network are secure and will be delivered under the principle of first in, first out
when operations continue.
The state-owned company anticipates delays when the strike ends because it must make up for the delays caused by the work stoppage.
This is a difficult situation and we offer our sympathies
states Valérie Chartrand in a written statement. Unfortunately, the decision [du syndicat] to launch a national strike meant that mail and packages were blocked in the system without customers being notified.
The Postal Workers Union did not respond to our requests for comment.
With information from Shaurya Khhatri, Pinki Wong and Cory Correira
