EDIT: Heeding my (and undoubtedly) infinitely many other complaints, the Canadian embassy has changed their agency from CIC to VFS who are genuinely good at their job. No complaints anymore.

Being an Indian means that I’ve to apply for a visa even for short visits when traveling internationally. This is usually a small loss of money and time and I’ve never had any trouble with this process. That was until I applied for a Canadian visa in the US.

The Canadian government (fucking idiots) has outsourced the visa application process to a third party. These people are fucking morons incapable of making a sensible website and having the most arcane methods of application.

Here are some salient features of the website:

1. The website is not printable. I had to take screenshots of each part and assemble to get the entire page.
2. It is one of the worst websites ever. Extremely unreadable with loads of unnecessary information and all the redundant things highlighted. At the bottom it says the site is best viewed in IE7+ and Firefox3+, the fuck?
3. You can only pay them by a cashier’s check/bank draft/money order which you have to mail to a lockbox. Are you kidding me?
4. They do not reply to your emails and do not update your status unless you call them a dozen times.
5. You cannot call them! Your call is forwarded to a call center which then issues a ticket on your behalf to them.
6. They’re notorious for losing passports.
7. To help you understand what I had to suffer, here is the entire (unprintable) website that I’m required to read before applying: