The first people affected by the Canadian government's decision to close the Iranian embassy in Ottawa were Iranian international students who had come to the capital to renew their visas.
Milling around outside the gated building, a handful of students said there had been no guidance from inside, except for a hastily written sign that said in Farsi, "According to the government of Canada, the Embassy is closed and there is no consular services for Iranians until further notice."
A woman who was inside the embassy Friday morning and preferred not to give her name said: "It's very chaotic inside ... they don't know what to do because ... they have to wrap up everything so it's kind of disappointing for them. They're kind of victims of all the politics and things and they were doing their job and now they have to leave."
"It's just going to make everything harder - just translating my documents, renewing my passport and this stuff," said a 27-year-old mechanical engineering student from the University of Ottawa who moved from Tehran eight years ago and preferred not to give his name. "I'm just a student. I don't want to get involved in all these politics between two countries. It's affecting regular people who don't have anything to do with it."
In Vancouver, PhD computing science student Ouldooz Baghban Kar-imi received her passport Friday morning after applying for renewal last week.
"I don't know what would happen if I'd applied just one or two days later," the Simon Fraser University student said.
"But this is one of the complications that it would introduce to lots of lives of students."
Karimi's husband, an engineering graduate student, had to go through the embassy to renew his exemption from military service last month. Both needed embassy confirmation of student status earlier this year.
"I think it will make life for students and permanent residents who still have to do any paper work for Iran a lot harder. And also it scares me very much," she said. "All of the ties with the outside world are being cut for the Iranian people. I am really scared for my family."
Amir, a UBC engineering student and dual citizen of Iran and Canada, said he uses the embassy three times a year.
"Passport renewals, document notarizing. ... The majority of my issues have to do with getting exemption from military service. I can't go back to Iran if I don't have that."
The university Persian Club member, who preferred not to give his last name, worried the suspended relations would affect his parents in Iran even more.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 3,247 international students from Iran were studying at Canadian universities in 2010 (the most recent statistics available).
In the United States, Iranian embassy business is conducted through the embassy of Pakistan. There is no word yet where Iranian-Canadians can expect to get consular services in Canada.
Source: The Vancouver Sun
Milling around outside the gated building, a handful of students said there had been no guidance from inside, except for a hastily written sign that said in Farsi, "According to the government of Canada, the Embassy is closed and there is no consular services for Iranians until further notice."
A woman who was inside the embassy Friday morning and preferred not to give her name said: "It's very chaotic inside ... they don't know what to do because ... they have to wrap up everything so it's kind of disappointing for them. They're kind of victims of all the politics and things and they were doing their job and now they have to leave."
"It's just going to make everything harder - just translating my documents, renewing my passport and this stuff," said a 27-year-old mechanical engineering student from the University of Ottawa who moved from Tehran eight years ago and preferred not to give his name. "I'm just a student. I don't want to get involved in all these politics between two countries. It's affecting regular people who don't have anything to do with it."
In Vancouver, PhD computing science student Ouldooz Baghban Kar-imi received her passport Friday morning after applying for renewal last week.
"I don't know what would happen if I'd applied just one or two days later," the Simon Fraser University student said.
"But this is one of the complications that it would introduce to lots of lives of students."
Karimi's husband, an engineering graduate student, had to go through the embassy to renew his exemption from military service last month. Both needed embassy confirmation of student status earlier this year.
"I think it will make life for students and permanent residents who still have to do any paper work for Iran a lot harder. And also it scares me very much," she said. "All of the ties with the outside world are being cut for the Iranian people. I am really scared for my family."
Amir, a UBC engineering student and dual citizen of Iran and Canada, said he uses the embassy three times a year.
"Passport renewals, document notarizing. ... The majority of my issues have to do with getting exemption from military service. I can't go back to Iran if I don't have that."
The university Persian Club member, who preferred not to give his last name, worried the suspended relations would affect his parents in Iran even more.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 3,247 international students from Iran were studying at Canadian universities in 2010 (the most recent statistics available).
In the United States, Iranian embassy business is conducted through the embassy of Pakistan. There is no word yet where Iranian-Canadians can expect to get consular services in Canada.
Source: The Vancouver Sun
