India resumes employment visas for Canadians: Check eligibility & rules

India has reopened its doors to Canadian job seekers, resuming Employment Visa processing through its posts across Canada in another step toward normalizing cross-border travel. The reboot, however, comes with a tighter grip on who gets through.

Applicants must now clear mandatory pre-approval and complete in-person biometric enrolment, adding friction to a process that was once far more straightforward.

Pre-approval required before application 

Immigration services firm Fragomen confirmed that Canadian nationals pursuing an Indian Employment Visa can no longer simply hand over their documentation. They must first secure official clearance from the relevant Indian consular post before submitting their original passports and finalizing the remaining administrative steps.

The revised procedure effectively pulls the plug on direct passport submissions. Under this extra layer of screening, applicants are locked out from submitting their original passports for processing until the consular authorities grant explicit prior approval.

Only after receiving that green light can applicants present their original passport in person, settle the required visa fees, and complete the final steps. The updated protocol signals a distinct departure from previous arrangements, embedding an upfront vetting stage directly into the pipeline.

Biometric enrolment made mandatory 

Adding to the stringent oversight is a compulsory biometric enrolment requirement. According to Fragomen, applicants are now required to show up in person to register their biometric data, shutting down the option for remote processing.

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Because in-person biometric capture is now non-negotiable, mail-in and postal applications for Employment Visas have been entirely phased out under the updated system.

Consular posts emphasize that this green light applies strictly to Employment Visas for Canadian citizens. Applicants are cautioned not to assume that other visa categories have reopened unless the Indian government issues a separate, explicit confirmation.

Visa services were suspended in 2023 

The diplomatic reboot follows a period of total freeze. India had suspended the acceptance, processing, and issuance of all Indian visas, including e-visas, for Canadian citizens and foreign nationals applying from Canada in September 2023 as diplomatic tensions flared between the two nations.

A phased rollback followed over the subsequent months. Indian consulates in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver restored entry, business, medical, and conference visa services in October 2023, followed by the reinstatement of electronic business visas for Canadian citizens in November of that year.