HIV-positive visitors to Canada are no longer required to disclose their medical status to get a temporary visa. However, there is still concern about the discretionary power of Canadian visa officers abroad who can order medical examinations if suspicions arise about the applicant's health.

Until last month those who had been treated for communicable and chronic disease were asked to disclose their related medical history and treatment in a temporary visa application.

The department of Canadian Citizenship and Immigration decided after stakeholder consultation to remove the question at issue from the "temporary resident visa" application form.

Tourists, businesspeople or other people visiting family and friends access the up to six-month visas from abroad. Canada requires visas from the vast majority of the world's countries, 147 in total, while allowing visa-free access to only 46.

A new set of questions specify that applicants report if they suffer from either tuberculosis and physical or a mental disorders that require health or social supports.

The change brings the temporary visa application form in line with Canadian immigration policy that, in general, doesn't bar temporary entry to a person diagnosed with AIDS or the infection that causes it, HIV. The exception is if the government suspects short-term visitors could become very ill in Canada and cause a strain on the overloaded healthcare system. (Those applying for permanent residence must be tested for HIV.)