Canada speeds up processing of spousal applications
Image credit: Eric Froehling via Unsplash
Marco Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced action to speed up spousal application processing and help families build their lives together in Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has increased the number of decision makers on spousal applications in Canada by 66 per cent, to process spousal applications more quickly and reduce couples’ wait times.
In addition to implementing facilitative biometrics measures, IRCC will be piloting, in the upcoming weeks, technology to conduct interviews with applicants remotely, in adherence with public health protocols.
With these initiatives, IRCC aims to accelerate, prioritize and finalize approximately 6,000 spousal applications each month from October until December 2020. Combined with processing to date, this rate will lead to about 49,000 decisions by the end of this year.
COVID-19 has created uncertainty for Canadians who are sponsoring spouses for permanent residence. IRCC continues to search for innovative and compassionate ways to reunite families, while following the advice of public health experts to protect the health and safety of Canadians.
The government also announced details for opening of 2020 Parents and Grandparents Program. Until November 3, 2020, Canadians and permanent residents who wish to sponsor their parents and grandparents to come to Canada had the opportunity to submit an interest to sponsor form online.
In order to ensure a fair, transparent and equal opportunity for applicants, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will randomly select potential sponsors and send them an invitation to submit an application. Selected applicants will have 60 days to submit their application.
Given that many sponsors may have been financially impacted by COVID-19, IRCC is introducing a temporary public policy that will reduce the income requirement for the 2020 tax year to the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30 per cent.
The launch of the 2020 Parents and Grandparents Program builds on the government’s initiatives to prioritize the approval of 49,000 family sponsorship applications by December 31, 2020, as well as a recent announcement of a process to reunite more families and approve compassionate cases within the current border restrictions.