Consulate General of Canada

If i could give this place a –100 i would. It was the worst visa application process i have EVER applied for. I applied 2 months in advance online to get a canadian visa. I was asked to send my passport in so i used USPS express post and paid extra to get it delivered early. It sat around in the visa office for 6 whole days before it was even sent to the canadian visa office. and now my visa application is still under consideration. I will most likely miss flights and my best friends wedding. My friend who applied online at the same time and sent her passport in to london visa office got hers processed and sent back within 3 days. This is disgusting. do not ever send your passport to the NYC visa office. I am SHOCKED at how terrible the service is and how incompetent the staff is at the visa office. They are referred to as ‘visa centre specialists’ but their job entails reading off what is already mentioned online and providing no further information. SHOCKING.

ATTENTION: THIS CONSULATE IS CLOSED TO EVERYONE BUT CANADIAN CITIZENS! If it were possible to give a negative star I would. I went up to the Consulate at 1251 Ave. of the Americas only to find the office closed (don’t believe anything you read that says it has reopened). I was told by a security guard (there is no one else to ask) that the location is only open to Canadian Citizens and I had to go to the «Canadian Visa Application Center» at 290 Madison (40^th and Mad). So, I trek down there. In the rain. I arrive and find the waiting room empty — I think, «Oh, my lucky day!» FOOL! I am told by the nice lady behind the counter that the security guard was incorrect and that this location is ONLY for processing visas. There is NO physical location you can go in New York City — everything is done on line or by mail. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the form I need (Temporary Resident Permit) isn’t available online in New York (apparently it is in other cities but not NYC) and so I should fill out an application for a different visa but use the checklist for the Criminal Inadmissability visa.
Total crap. How the Canadian Consulate can choose to not have a physical location in America’s largest city with the largest population of people who AREN’T Canadian Citizens is beyond me. But I really shouldn’t be surprised. Why would anything work smoothly in New York City???

Canada will deny you travel if you have a DUI. It happened to my friend and we had to cancel our whole bands tour because of it.
The Consulate is incredibly unprofessional and they make you line up outside sometimes, I had to in order to obtain my student visa. I recommend NOT moving to Canada because it is supposedly «better» than the USA. the fact of the matter is the Government is inept, and you WILL pay higher taxes and make less money.
–a disgruntled American who gladly moved back to New York after 3 ½ years in Montréal.

My husband and I had the worst experience ever with the Consulate General of Canada. Both Etoile (who attempted to help my husband) and her supervisor have denied my husband getting his Canadian passport rushed, even though he had ALL the required items. Because of Etoile, my husband has missed crucial meetings in Canada jeopardizing his business. Etoile and her supervisor were both extremely mean-​spirited and rude. I could not believe how awful they were. The supervisor was even worse than Etoile, which means this type of behavior is only encouraged at the Consulate. If there is anyone higher up in the chain we can talk to about our experience I would welcome the discussion.

I’ve been to a few international embassies and this one takes the cake for being the worst ever!
Few months ago, Canada stopped issuing visas at all consulates except in NYC but they didn’t increase the number of employees. There’s one open window for about a 100 or so applicants in a day and the process is painfully slow. I thought that I could take a half day off from work for this but ended up spending almost the whole day sitting in the consulate
If you are on the east coast and need a visa to go to Canada, make sure that you take at least half a day off to sit through this slow torture

There is no other way to describe the security at this location but completely inept. I would not be surprised if somebody were to be escorted out for «harrassing» the security. I have never encountered anybody so rude, or USELESS in any of my dealings with government officials… and I have met A LOT. While there job might suck (830‑1030 am everyday… lots of pissy people), it gives them no excuse to act like they are kings and border security. I highly suggest that if you want to go to Canada, ask a friend or call their immigration services line. Avoid this location AT ALL COSTS. Note: there is a gentleman in the back that is much more helpful, but the main person who «answers your questions», has a superiority complex and is impossible to speak with.