The government of Canada has opened three new visa application centers (VACs) in Mexico to help relieve the high volume of applications at the current facility in Mexico’s capital.

The new VACs will be in Monterrey, Nuevo León, and Guadalajara, Jalisco. Canada will also open a second visa center in Mexico City.

“With these new centres, Mexico will have four VACs located in the country’s three largest metropolitan areas,” the Canadian government said in a statement. “This will make it easier for Mexican nationals to provide biometrics to come to Canada if required, and support travel and people-to-people ties between the two countries, while also preserving the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.”

This decision comes four months after the Canadian government announced it would tighten its entry requirements for Mexican visitors. Before, Mexicans only needed an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to enter the country.

With the updated guidelines, those who hold a valid visa for the United States or who have had a Canadian visa in the last 10 years can enter the country by air with an eTA.

At the time, the Canadian government said this move responds to the increasing number of asylum applications from Mexican citizens.

Unlike the eTA, obtaining a visa involves a longer process. Reportedly, the current estimated processing time at the Canadian Embassy in Mexico is approximately 40 days.

In most cases, applicants in Mexico must now undergo biometric data collection — an additional step that contributes to the overall wait time. This data is collected at the VACs, which Canadian officials said are run by private companies that have contracts with the government of Canada.

The Canadian visa application fee is 100 Canadian dollars (US $73), with an additional 85 Canadian dollar (US $62) fee for biometric data collection.

With reports from Infobae