Biometrics exceptions - no VAC in my country

[VicD27]

Hello,

I am a principal applicant in a spousal sponsorship application outside of Canada. My application is in process and recently I received a letter with a request to give biometrics.

Long story short: there is no VAC office in my country and I need to travel abroad to give biometrics. Due to the COVID-19 situation, our government recommends to cancel any travelling abroad (the borders are not "closed", but there is a level of risk of 4 out of 5). In normal circumstances travelling to another country wouldn't be a problem, but nowadays I think it's not safe and reasonable, especially given the fact that this is the situation all around Europe (I am from Bulgaria).

Is someone in a similar situation? Is there a way to ask for an exception and if yes, has someone received an approval for the exception request? If not approved, do you think the request for exception would affect my application?

Any advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[scylla]

Hello,

I am a principal applicant in a spousal sponsorship application outside of Canada. My application is in process and recently I received a letter with a request to give biometrics.

Long story short: there is no VAC office in my country and I need to travel abroad to give biometrics. Due to the COVID-19 situation, our government recommends to cancel any travelling abroad (the borders are not "closed", but there is a level of risk of 4 out of 5). In normal circumstances travelling to another country wouldn't be a problem, but nowadays I think it's not safe and reasonable, especially given the fact that this is the situation all around Europe (I am from Bulgaria).

Is someone in a similar situation? Is there a way to ask for an exception and if yes, has someone received an approval for the exception request? If not approved, do you think the request for exception would affect my application?

Any advice will be appreciated! Thanks!

You can contact IRCC to request an extension to biometrics to give you a longer period of time to complete this step.

Otherwise exemptions are only given to those who previously gave biometrics within the least 10 year or who are living in Canada.

You can certainly try to request an exemption due to your circumstances. No harm in asking. I believe IRCC will simply give you an extension rather than an exemption.

 

[VicD27]

Thank you! Do you have an idea how long will it take for them to answer? I am probably overthinking, but I am worried that I may miss the deadline for biometrics (12th of March 2021) if they do not answer until then.

 

[scylla]

Thank you! Do you have an idea how long will it take for them to answer? I am probably overthinking, but I am worried that I may miss the deadline for biometrics (12th of March 2021) if they do not answer until then.

Sorry, I don't know how long it will take them to respond.

IRCC is granting all sorts of extensions right now due to COVID so I don't think this is something you should be concerned about.

Send the extension request and then get biometrics done as soon as you feel it's safe enough to do so.

 

[el_0211]

Hi, Were you able to find a solution to this? I am kind of in the same boat as you. There is no VAC where I live. My partner (PA) cannot travel at this time due to COVID, as most countries are not issuing any visas and there are no flights as well...Please let me know if IRCC let you extend your biometrics deadline or there were any exemptions to your case...

 

[VicD27]

Hi, Were you able to find a solution to this? I am kind of in the same boat as you. There is no VAC where I live. My partner (PA) cannot travel at this time due to COVID, as most countries are not issuing any visas and there are no flights as well...Please let me know if IRCC let you extend your biometrics deadline or there were any exemptions to your case...

Hi, sorry for the late response. Hope you already found a solution to your situation!

For a while I was looking for another solution to this, but at the end, I decided to travel to the VAC office abroad. Based on the information that I found, my advice is to wait and travel to the VAC office at any point when it is possible and COVID restrictions are lifting (that's what I did). In the VAC office they explained to me that there is no other way to give biometrics. You can possibly ask for an extension of the deadline but I don't think it's possible to get an exemption.