Canada Denies Over 70% of Indian Visa Applications for FIFA World Cup 2026

In a concerning development, Canada has reportedly rejected 71% of the visitor visa applications submitted by Indian nationals wishing to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup. According to a report by CTV News, out of 1,225 applications from India, only 355 were granted approval.

Indians represented the fourth-largest group of applicants, following citizens from Ghana, Colombia, and Pakistan. Notably, Canada did not introduce a specific visa category for the World Cup. Instead, applicants were required to indicate their intention to attend the tournament on standard visitor visa forms, which has added an element of complexity to the application process.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to be jointly hosted by Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with Canada hosting 13 matches in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. The tournament is scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 19, providing football enthusiasts with a much-anticipated spectacle.

From November 14 to March 31, around 17,000 visitor visa applications related to the World Cup were processed by Canadian immigration authorities from over 160 different countries. Alarmingly, only 41% of these applications were successful. The disparity in approval rates is striking; applicants from countries requiring electronic travel authorization enjoyed a 96% approval rate, while those needing a visa faced a mere 32% success rate.

The highest volume of visa applications came from Ghana, with 1,725 submissions, but only a small fraction of those were approved. As the excitement for the World Cup builds, many Indian fans find themselves disheartened by these statistics, raising questions about the visa application process and its implications for international sports tourism.

Source: scroll.in