Applying From Lebanon.

[hassanfahs]

Hello,

I am a Lebanese citizen currently living and working in Africa, i will be going on vacation to Lebanon during February 2014 and i will be applying for a Temporary Resident Visa (Visiting) my grand parents and 3 uncles currently live there and are Canadian citizens for more than 20 years.
My vacation will last for 2 months.

I will apply for the Visa from Lebanon because there is no Canadian Embassy in my current residing country, i will apply for the Visa as soon as i arrive to Lebanon, my question is will the Visa be processed within less than one month?
If so i might go the second month to Canada then back to Lebanon then back to my country.

Best Regards
Hassan

 

[bonitaellada]

I doubt The visa Will be ready in 1 month.
How are you going to apply? Online or paper?
Since you said there is no embassy in the African country where you live I assume that you are applying paper application.
You can apply online from now and put Lebanon as service country. Between now and February 2014 your application should be processed and you will submit your passport in Lebanon.
If you decide to apply paper in Lebanon make sure to schedule biometrics as soon as you reach Lebanon.
I have friends who applied paper application this year, it took them 2 months to get the visa and that was before biometrics.
Please come back and let us know.
Good luck

 

[hassanfahs]

Hello
Thank you and i apologize for the late reply

My main concern about applying online is because my passport expired and i need to renew it when i get home in order to finish my application.
And i didnt want to put an estimate date and i will be accused of forgery.

And one more question please how long does the visa serve i want to put it but i want to travel one year after until my next vacation.

Thank you in advance

 

[bonitaellada]

Ok that makes sense to renew your passport while in Lebanon.
The validity of the single entry visa is 6 months so it will expire before your planned vacation. I would apply for a multiple entry and for a longer duration. You need to write a letter explaining your situation and attach that letter to your application. Still I doubt you will get the visa in one month. After applying ask for your passport back ( no guarantee the embassy will return it but worth trying) and to get notified when the visa is ready so that you can go back to Lebanon for the stamp.

 

[hassanfahs]

They will take my passport after the papers have been processed and accepted or when i apply for the visa?

 

[bonitaellada]

If you apply paper application, you have to submit you passport along with the application. If you decide to apply online, they will ask for the passport only when you your visa is approved. Anyway, even if you apply online you have to give them a copy of the new passport. The embassy doesn't issue visas for passports that are not valid for 6 months at least. So the first step should be to renew your passport as soon as you reach Lebanon.