Starting next year, visitors from some 30 countries will be required to submit a photograph and fingerprints if they want to come to Canada, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Friday as details of Canada’s new biometrics program were published in the Canada Gazette.
The new rules will apply starting in 2013 to individuals from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Vietnam, Yemen and the Palestinian territory who are seeking to come to Canada as tourists or on study or work permits.