Canada expedites visa processing for foreign film and TV workers

The Canadian government has enacted a new policy to assist the Film and TV industry. As per this policy, Canada will process the Temporary Resident Visa applications for film and television workers in two weeks only. The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has directed its immigration officers to prioritize the processing of work permit applications of foreign film industry workers. Foreign workers require a Temporary Resident Visa in order to stay in Canada legally and carry out their activities. Foreigners who are not citizens of a visa-exempt country must have a TRV for entering Canada. So, Canada has announced this new policy on September 28th through which workers from the tv and film sector will be able to get a TRV in 14 days. However, these workers must follow the local coronavirus guidelines and quarantine themselves for two weeks. Also, foreign nationals from any country (except the U.S.) who are traveling to Canada by air have to show their work permit before boarding the plane. Workers coming from the U.S. have the flexibility to apply for the work permit at the port of entry. Travelers should note that they must have an essential reason to travel and they should not exhibit any symptoms of COVID-19. Further, Provinces and territories of Canada might have some other travel restrictions and regulations. Therefore, the IRCC has issued a guideline that travelers must ask about the provincial or territorial requirements to the Canadian employer before they prepare to travel.

How can foreign workers in the TV and film industry get priority processing?

IRCC states that foreign workers must meet certain eligibility criteria in order to get priority processing. These are:

Workers have to submit an online application for a work permit visa;
Applicants from foreign countries and the United States who require a TRV will be prioritized
Workers have to self-identify themselves as television or film industry workers by sending a request through the IRCC web form.

Candidates have to follow some special instructions as specified by the IRCC. They have to write the following sentence in exact words in the “Your enquiry” tab of the web form: “COVID-19 FILM & TV INDUSTRY – Requesting priority processing for Film & TV Industry workers due to COVID-19”. This will help the immigration officers to segregate the priority applications and process them within 14 days.