Critically large percentage:” Every third Ukrainian denied Canadian visa.

Ukrainian Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko says that Canada denied a visa to 34% of Ukrainian applicants in the first three months of 2017, according to the Ukrainian portal Censor.net. “We now have a catastrophically large share of denials of Canadian visas to Ukrainians. [This is] a critically large percentage of denials. If last year the number of denials decreased to 24%, then this year 34% of Ukrainians were denied Canadian visas in the first quarter”, he told Censor.net. Shevchenko says this is connected with outdated assessments of Ukrainians and the associated migration risks prevailing in consulates and embassies. “And it seems to me that the visa-free regime with the European Union should encourage our Canadian friends to reevaluate this story. Ukraine is not currently among the countries with the highest migration risks”, the ambassador said. At the same time, he mentioned positive changes in the visa processing procedure. On June 16, Canadian MP from the Liberal Party Borys Wrzesnewskyj called for the abolition of visas for Ukrainians, following the EU’s example.