GeraldineA said:
I wonder how these nationals abused this privilege if you are only entitled to visit a country for a limited time and of course you have to exit after that. I mean that should be the case.
Its called overstaying a visa, and yes it happens a lot in Philippines, and many other developing countries. These people abuse the privilege by simply remaining in Canada after their visitor visa expires. Personally, I think overstaying a visa is the dumbest thing anyone can do. No SIN, no driver's license, cannot work a real good paying job unless doing illegal cash jobs, no access to universal health care system. Is it really worth it to live a life like this, knowing that you are one police pullover away from being deported?
It probably happens a lot in Philippines because many people there wish to move away from there due to poverty, limited job prospects, and what not. Philippines has a very high net migration loss, meaning more people leave the country than enter it. Filipinos are the #1 source of new immigrants last year, and year after year, they are consistently one of the fastest growing minorities in the country. Its likely because many Filipinos want to leave their country and live here, and due to this strong desire to leave, you will have lots of people who come here legitimately, along with lots of people who want to come and stay illegally.
It sucks that people who want to come here as a legitimate visitor are scrutinized more because of what their fellow countrymen did in the past, but how else is CIC supposed to determine which countries to restrict access? Instead of blaming CIC, we should be blaming the people who made this happen. Look at Mexico for example. So many people from there file refugee claims, CIC had to go so far as to declare Mexico a "safe" country, and put visa restrictions on them.
My wife who is from Vietnam, I would say Vietnam and Philippines are similar in terms of standard of living and quality of life. Unlike Vietnamese, at least you guys don't need biometric data (which means CIC treats these countries as high risk), you guys have your own visa office with a decent processing time, (Vietnam has to share with 12 other countries : Singapore), and you guys seem to have strong programs in place that allow you to send many people to get work permits/live in caregiver. Many Vietnamese dream of even getting a work permit. My wife and I are planning to apply for a visitor visa in 3 weeks, and we too believe we have strong documents like you, but at the same time, we're not overly optimistic, and we are fully expecting a refusal.