To Citizenship and Immigration Canada:

We are a group of Canadian citizens and permanent residents sponsoring our spouses for immigration under the In Canada Class (Inland) and the Family Class (Outland). We are currently not very pleased with how IRCC has been processing these applications. As of March 2020, the country has been facing the COVID19 Pandemic which has slowed down a lot of socio-economic activities, including immigration. This has resulted in delays in the sponsorship process, with no known updates from the IRCC. 

Our families (spouses and dependent children) provide us with the emotions, moral, psychological, and economic support we need to grow and prosper. Families give us a balance. Not knowing when or if at all you will be able to live (freely) with your family in a country you call home can be very frustrating and depressing to most of us. As the Government is re-opening businesses, we hereby plead for our applications to be expedited due to the following reasons.

1.   Issue for Outland Applicants; During the long wait, some of us would like our spouses to be able to visit us, and us them, without too much hassle but this has proven to be very difficult. The Government states that it continues to make family reunification a priority. This tells us that the Government understands the importance of family. However, due to COVID19 spouses outside Canada have not been able to visit their significant others in Canada and we (in Canada) are unable to visit them no been able to visit them, even when we want to. Furthermore, even before COVID19, getting TRVs for our foreign spouses has been extremely difficult because it shows they have more ties to Canada (spouse) than in their home countries.  

Plea; We request the following for Outland applicants;

• Outland applicants should be granted special Visitor's visas after Sponsor Approval, without looking at proof of ties in their home countries (as long as they meet other requirements). Having a spouse/partner in Canada should not work against them. 
• Outland applicants should be allowed to apply for an OWP, in the way that spouses of foreign students and workers are allowed to apply for SOWP.        

2. Issue for Inland Applicant; There are a lot of uncertainties for Inland applicants; These applicants have left their homes, their jobs, their relatives, and friends to live with their spouses in Canada during the application process. During this time they are advised not to live Canada or their applications might be in jeopardy should they be denied entry upon their return into Canada. It is known that Inland applications are processed at a much slower pace than outland applications, the assumption being that they are already living with their spouses. This assumption is very wrong as they are not legal residents of Canada since they are considered to be visitors; they are uncertain of what will happen to their 'implied status' if their open work permit applications are returned to them after months of waiting in vain; they worry over the decision for their applications to extend stay which also takes months.

During this very long wait (for PR and/or OWP), they cannot work, they cannot access provincial health care, their children cannot access education and they cannot live the country (Canada). Those who apply for an Open work permit (OWP) can at least access some of the services once approved. However, it takes as long as 4-5 months for an open work permit to be approved. Open Work permits are very important for these families as they allow the sponsored person to be able to work and contribute to the household income; these same persons have intentions of making Canada their home and hence giving them a chance to join the Canadian workforce helps them, their sponsors and dependents to establish a better life for their families. 

Plea; We request the following for Outland applicants;

• Inland applicants that have submitted an application for Open work Permits with their PR application be granted Open work permits upon receiving an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR), and that the Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) should be issued in at least 1-2months time, (If outland applicants can receive AOR in 10 days, then it is very possible for Inland applicants to receive AOR and OWP in 1-2 months). Inland applicants that did not submit an application for Open work permits due to lack of eligibility (legal status), and those whose Open work permit applications have been refused, be allowed to apply for a temporary residence permit (TRP)
• Inland applicants (and their dependents) who have been in Canada for at least 6 months be eligible to receive temporary provincial health while they wait for their OWP. 
• Dependent children of Inland applicants have access to education during the process of their PR (whether they are the Principal applicants or dependents of the Principal applicants).  While stepchildren of Canadian citizens can be allowed to access education, it is not the same for stepchildren of Permanent Residents of Canada. Although most school boards and provinces will not deny education for these children, it is wrong in the eyes of immigration Canada for children on visitor visas to register in a school without a study permit; they are required to pay international fees for these children in order to 'legally' access to public education.

3. Issue for Outland/Inland Applicants - Processing times are too long & Paper-based applications lead to a risk of incomplete forms;  The overall processing time suggested by IRCC for inland and outland spousal application is 12 months. Some applications can be approved at a lesser time and others can take more than 12 months. We understand that the decision is greatly based on the individual applicant and their case (i.e whether it's complicated or not; and their country of origin). We also understand that IRCC can work with other countries in determining the eligibility of the principal applicant (background and security check) and sometimes applications can delay depending on how fast 'other parties' respond/provide required info. While all this can impact the processing time for the applications, it has been acknowledged by most of us that 12 months is too long a time to wait for a decision made on one's case. Adding to that, we also understand that processing time for Economic Permanent residence applications (Express Entry and Atlantic Immigration) is 6 months. Some of the applicants of the economic stream do apply with accompanying dependents (spouse, common-law partner, and children).

Furthermore, unlike other permanent residence application streams, spousal applications are paper-based only. This has resulted in applications being returned as incomplete for missing signatures on forms, and a delay of receiving an acknowledgment of receipt.

Plea; We request the following for processing times;

• Processing time for spousal applications be reduced to 6 months. If it can be done for economic streams then it can also be done for spousal applications.
• Spousal applications with or without Open work permits have an option to apply online, reducing the risk of an application being found/returned as incomplete, and allowing applicants to get an acknowledgment of receipt immediately. This will also allow quicker processing of the entire application as it significantly reduces the 2-4 months waiting time for acknowledgment of receipt.

We urge you to kindly review these issues and take immediate steps to rectify them. 

 

Thank you