The Immigration Department
has undergone a critical process change to solve this age-old immigration backlog, and with addition resources been allotted, they have
effectively resolved this issue with innovative techniques and efficient implementation.
The average time it takes for spousal applications to be processed is around 18
to 26 months. The Immigration Department has promised to cut down this
processing time into half, approximately 12 months, whether applications are
submitted from within the country or from outside, and will also be launching a
simplified application kit next week for new applicants. This is Canada’s
initiation to unite families and bring them closer. Canadians who marry a
foreign national shouldn’t have to wait for years to begin their journey
together, or live under the air of uncertainty regarding immigration.
There
has been a lengthy list of complains and grievances regarding a long processing
time for spousal immigration applications that went unheard by the former
government. However, with the new government is place, the immigration
department has received the support to reduce the overall processing time, even
though they had been preoccupied with clearing up the backlog, and re-settling
tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. With the addition $25 million allotted to
the Immigration department, they were able to reduce the inland processing time for spousal applications by 15
percent, and overseas applications by 10 percent, during their 2016 budget.
The annual quota for foreign
spouses and dependents has been 47,000 people the previous year, which has been
now raised to 64,000 people by the new government. Immigration officials
estimate to complete all the existing applications by the end of the year 2017,
and initiate a more streamlined process for the expanded quota with additional
staffing resources. The new simplified kit that will be available post December
15, will cut the prevailing 14 application checklist to just four for all the
new applications. This new process has a mechanism to return all incomplete
applications back to their applicants as early as possible so they don’t hamper
the entire process and clog the system. A special team was formed to reduce the
processing time for all applications, and the spousal applications were the
first on their list.This new process is the Immigration team’s brainchild with
learnings that took place during the Syrian refugee settlement project.
The department aims at
clearing 80 percent of the applications in a 12-month period, although complex
cases may take a bit longer. Another pilot program will be launched in a month
that enables sponsored spouses within Canada to apply for open work permits
while they wait for their permanent resident card to be approved, thus enabling
families to stay united while their immigration application is processed. Regardless
of the shorter time-span of processing, security, medical screening, and full
criminal background checks will continue to be of critical importance. The
Immigration department is also confident that once this backlog is cleared, the
occurrence of another backlog has very low probability, as this streamlined
process change will ensure a permanent change in the system.
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