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To

Hon’ble Prime Minister of Canada – Mr. Justin Trudeau

Subject:      Humble request for finalizing Express Entry Permanent Residence applications of Federal Skilled Workers(FSW) applicants from outside of Canada

Dear Sir,

We are thousands of Express Entry Canadian permanent residence applicants who have applied under the Federal Skilled Workers(FSW) category from outside of Canada and whose applications have cleared all stages (i.e., eligibility, security, criminality, medical) and are ready to finalize, but the processing of applications has been stopped just short of finalization, i.e., issuance of Passport Requests(PPRs)/Confirmation of PRs (COPRs).

We sincerely express our gratitude towards the Canadian government for providing us the opportunity to immigrate as Permanent Residence of Canada; however, we have been in a severe plight for a very long time.

Many of us applied for permanent residence as early as September 2019, viz. we have been anxiously waiting for the finalization of our applications for nearly two years. It is worth repeating and highlighting that our applications have cleared all the main processing steps, but the processing has been stopped just short of issuing COPRs. Until June 21, 2021, the travel restrictions were an excuse for IRCC to hold the finalization of our applications; however, since June 21, 2021, COPR holders have been exempt from travel restrictions. Nonetheless, IRCC has not started finalizing our applications. As per an IRCC memorandum dated March 04, 2021, approved by Honourable Deputy Minister, the finalization of Economic Class permanent residence applications from applications outside of Canada was paused for at least 90 days, i.e., until the end of May 2021. It appears that this pause in finalization was further extended.

We are intensely uncertain, perturbed, confused, and worried about our PR applications and our travel to Canada. Since COPR holders are now exempt from travel restrictions, we can not conceive of any logical reasons for holding the finalization of our files. We are highly perplexed.  We are on tenterhooks waiting for the conclusion of our files for an inordinately long time; several applicants have been waiting in uncertainty and anxiety for almost two years. The growing uncertainty and wait have crippled our ability to plan our futures, careers, and our kids’ education, and we are getting increasingly stressed and distraught. It is noteworthy that despite a massive backlog of FSW PR applications, IRCC keeps on announcing new pathways of becomings PRs. Logically, the backlogs should be cleared before releasing any new programs to become PRs.

Regrettably, we have not received any official information regarding when our applications will be concluded. Due to the absence of official clarifications, several mischievous rumor-mongers have been persistently spreading misinformation and disinformation online, which only deepens our misery and mental stress. Whenever we contact IRCC, we get the standard unhelpful bureaucratic response that IRCC has been facing processing delays and cannot provide accurate processing times. The lack of communication by IRCC regarding the status of our applications and IRCC’s plans (if any) to finalize them aggravates our misery and uncertainty. An applicant cannot communicate directly with an officer; an applicant can, at best, possibly communicate with  IRCC agents who themselves do not have any useful information.

We have emailed you our concerns several times earlier, and we have been regularly tweeting our concerns on IRCC’s official Twitter handle. Regrettably, no meaningful action has been taken, and no official information has been released regarding when our applications will be finalized.

Our anxiety, stress, and helplessness are growing, and we felt highly constrained to bring to your kind notice our serious concerns again. We earnestly request that you please provide some clarity on your plan to finalize our applications, i.e., issue us Passport Requests (PPRs) and COPRs. Please provide us with the estimated time you may take to finalize our applications, and please start finalizing our applications expeditiously so that our extreme misery is mitigated. We are more than willing to provide you with any information or documents you may require to conclude our long-pending applications.

We are profoundly grateful to you for your time and consideration.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

Ankur Tyagi and other signatories