Some immigration applicants to Canada will have a more accurate idea of how long processing of their application may take thanks to a newly introduced system.
On 31st July, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada began using an improved method to estimate processing times for some new permanent residence applications. The processing times are projected, and tell applicants how long the organisation expects most applications to take under normal circumstances.
With this change in effect, IRCC should be able to better estimate how long some new permanent residence applications will take based on several factors, including the number of current applications waiting to be processed and the volume of admissions allowed each year under the multi-year immigration levels plan.
The new projected application times will apply to people applying through the following categories:
Sponsoring a family member
– Parents and Grandparents.
Economic Class
– Provincial Nominees (Non-Express Entry);
– Skilled Workers (Quebec);
– Start-Up Visa.
Humanitarian and compassionate cases
“Improving the service experience of IRCC clients has been a significant point of focus for my department in recent years,” explained Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Immigration Minister. “This update is an important one to ensure our immigration processing times are as accurate as possible and to help clients better prepare to move to Canada if their application is approved”.
Previously, all permanent residence application processing times were only historical and showed how long it took to process 80 per cent of applications in the past year. While these historical times are accurate for most applications that are currently being processed, the IRCC anticipate that the new method for projecting processing times will provide more accurate estimates for clients.
It should be noted that for clients who have already applied, withdrawing an application and re-applying will not result in faster processing times. Any application processing already complete would become null and void and clients would have to submit a new application.
For some types of applications, such as Express Entry and Parents and Grandparents, a client who withdraws their application runs the risk of not receiving a subsequent invitation to apply or invitation to sponsor.
Article published 10th August 2018