We, the undersigned, call on the Government of Canada to urgently explain and remedy the stark disparity in processing times for visitor-visa applications submitted from Palestine compared with those from their Israeli counterparts. According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data (screenshots attached), visitor visas from Israel are processed in days, while applications from Palestinians require close to a year.

Such an extreme discrepancy has serious consequences: it prevents ordinary travel for family visits, academic exchange, professional opportunities, and cultural participation. In effect, it denies Palestinians the possibility of engaging with the global community on equal terms.

This petition does not concern refugee pathways, which remain essential and must be preserved. Rather, it addresses the routine visitor-visa system. Current processing practices risk reducing Palestinians solely to refugee status, disregarding their right to be treated as individuals seeking temporary and legitimate entry to Canada, as any other applicant would.

This year-long wait time for Palestinians is arbitrary, unjustifiable, and inconsistent with Canada’s obligations under the Charter and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that affirms equal access to administrative procedures.

Under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, every person is entitled to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination, including on the basis of national or ethnic origin. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires that Canada’s immigration system operate with fairness, transparency, and respect for equality. The existing disparity is inconsistent with those obligations.

We therefore request that the Government of Canada:

1. Provide a public explanation for the discrepancy in processing times between applicants from Israel and those from Palestine, including the criteria and operational policies that account for this difference.
2. Implement corrective measures to reduce processing times for applicants from Palestine to a fair and reasonable standard, comparable to other regional benchmarks.
3. Ensure transparency through regular reporting on visa-processing times by region of origin, with clear steps to eliminate unjustified disparities.

As citizens of Canada, we have the right to demand clarity and accountability in the application of our own laws. We therefore call on the Government of Canada to provide a public explanation and to take corrective measures to ensure that residents of Palestine are treated with the same fairness and efficiency as all others in visitor-visa processing.