Suspicious Countries for MOC

[JennyB]

What are the countries that are scrutinized most and scenarios

 

[scylla]

Generally non visa exempt countries.

 

[keesio]

Generally non visa exempt countries.

Mostly this. But some areas get even more scrutiny beyond this. Some Caribbean countries, especially Cuba. Some middle-east countries and south asian countries (Lebanon, Pakistan, etc).

 

[JennyB]

Thank yu
im british indian and I feel I will be racially scrutinized

 

[keesio]

Thank yu
im british indian and I feel I will be racially scrutinized

They don't scrutinize by race but passport. If you have a UK passport then you will have an easier time.

 

[mikeymyke]

Not always true, but in general, the longer the processing time of the visa office, the greater the risk of MOC. Pakistan obviously has the longest processing time, followed by Singapore (includes known MOC countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia). These countries have long processing times for a reason.

Some examples of where this is not always true is China and Hong Kong, where there are numerous cases of MOCs, but they have fast processing times.

 

[truesmile]

Generally non visa exempt countries.

Except the Philippines, for one.

 

[mikeymyke]

I think the reason Philippines has a decent processing time, in spite of the large # of applicants coming into the country, is the fact that they get their own visa office. Same thing for people from India and China, lots of immigrants coming here from those countries, and they all have one thing in common: their own visa office. They might have lots of applicants, but they have a dedicated visa office. I know Philippines has to share with Japan and a few other small islands, but honestly, applicants from Japan = piece of cake, and I'm sure there aren't very many MOCs from those islands.

 

[boatswife]

Ghana

 

[MilesAway]

The Moscow office has a processing time of 18 months. They're responsible for Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. There's some extra scrutiny there. And it's my (soon to be) VO.

 

[keesio]

I hear the issue with Moscow is that when CIC does their own background checks, they make a request to the country for some information. Russia apparently is not very prompt in the replies so it adds to the wait. Someone confirmed this when they ordered their GMCS notes and saw it in the comments something like "Waiting for response from Russian police"

 

[MilesAway]

Russia is notoriously slow. For everything really. Unless you pay someone. I'm currently in Russia living with my spouse, might apply in September, but we'll see. We need to make sure things are okay here first with her family before we leave for Canada.
I believe there's a similar problem in Pakistan.

 

[keesio]

Pakistan's issue is disorganization. When CIC makes the request, it is difficult to get the records because of disorganization in their recordkeeping. But Pakistan itself is responsive to the request. Russia lack of responsiveness is due to lack of urgency (don't care) or maybe red tape or just an unwillingness to share info on their citizens.

 

[sammystorm19]

Jamaica.....we have a wait time of 25 months and there has been many cases of MOC there. They also process 3 other Caribbean islands requests as well

 

[Mrs.Purcy]

They don't scrutinize by race but passport. If you have a UK passport then you will have an easier time.

UK? What about an EU Passport like Ireland?