Canadian federal opposition lawmakers have urged the Canadian government to stop outsourcing visa application processing to companies with Chinese backing because of concerns about the security of personal information contained in application materials.
VFS Global’s Canadian website lists 83 countries whose citizens can use its services to apply for Canadian visas, and another company owned by VFS, TT Services, is contracted to provide visa application services that include collecting applicants’ fingerprints, photographs, biographical information and other personal data.
According to the Globe and Mail, VFS Global is majority owned by EQT VII (No. 1) Limited Partnership, which is registered in Edinburgh. Chengdong Investments, a subsidiary of the Communist Party’s state-owned China Investment Corp. is one of the investors in EQT VII, and another investor is Hong Kong sovereign wealth fund Eight Finance Investment Co. Ltd.
Conservative Immigration Review MP Raquel Dancho called on the federal government to cancel the contract with VFS. She said, “The possibility that private and confidential information on pro-democracy activists in mainland China and Hong Kong could be obtained by the Chinese Communist Party poses a threat to Canada‘s national interests.”
NDP’s Immigration Review MP Huizhen Guan, Foreign Affairs Review MP Jack Harris, and Government Procurement Review MP Matthew Green sent a letter to Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino and Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand stating that the presence of Chinese capital raises concerns about the security of information handled by The letter states that the presence of Chinese capital raises “serious concerns” about the security of information handled by VFS Global.
The letter mentions their concern that Section 7 of China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires Chinese companies to “support, cooperate and collaborate with national intelligence efforts” when requested, adding that “given the current developing situation in Hong Kong, we are concerned that knowledge of certain Given the current situation in Hong Kong, we are concerned that knowledge of certain application information could put pro-democracy activists in a more dangerous position.
The NDP wants the government to hand back the task of processing visa applications to Public Service Canada to better protect the security of personal information.
Shannon Ker, a spokeswoman for Immigration Canada, said the relevant contractual obligation clause is already in place to protect personal information collected during the visa application process.
VFS Global did not respond to media requests in Time for the Globe and Mail report that the VFS contract is valid until Oct. 31, 2023, with a three-year extension available at that time.
Last summer, the federal government began a process to replace the current contract. The government is seeking input on what the future visa application center should look like.
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