Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Ms. Sitsabaiesan.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have a few quick questions that I'd like to get through, if possible.

One experience that we're seeing in offices across the country is actually funeral-related.

Ms. McKinney, you had touched on fraudulent funeral cases. I'm talking about the false positives. We have individuals, whether it's a son or a daughter, or even a parent, who are trying to come over for a funeral of a child or a parent and have been refused. It's happening as a regular occurrence. I have experienced it, and I know my colleague in British Columbia has; many of them have experienced it from the Chandigarh office. We're trying to figure out why these people are being refused.

Are there specific criteria that these individuals need to meet in order to prove that their parent or child has actually passed away and they are only going for the funeral?

[Carol McKinney]

These officers are extremely sensitive to these compelling situations. The applicants need to meet all of the regular requirements, and the visa officer would weigh the reason for the travel versus the circumstances of the person wishing to travel to Canada.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

I'm not sure there was much of an answer there for us to take back to our constituents, to be honest.

If there's only one child left in India and the father died in Canada, we're saying that maybe there are no ties to family back in India and that person is not going to be approved to come for the father's funeral. They have to qualify for the same criteria as for a regular temporary resident visa, which means they have to have enough employment. That means they can't come for a funeral of their own parent because they are not working; they are not rich; they don't come from a wealthy family. It doesn't make sense to me. That's what I got from your answer.

Earlier today we had a professor from the University of Toronto say that when there's a new application....You said people can make an application and be refused and there's no appeal process, so people have to submit a new application. The new application would be assessed based on the validity of what is provided in that application.

We were advised that every single new application is reviewed by a completely different visa officer. If I were to make an application and my application was refused and then I reapplied, it would be a 100% different visa officer who reviews my second application.

Is this correct?

[Carol McKinney]

That is correct, in every circumstance possible. There could be a case where that doesn't happen, but that is our intention, that we always have a new officer review a new application.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

That is the intent, but it is not always 100% the case. Got it.

What are the average processing times in each of your missions for the super visa?

[Carol McKinney]

For the super visa in Chandigarh, we're sitting at eight weeks. However, if the applicant does upfront meds, they fall within our regular processing time, which is 14 days.

[Catherine Bailey]

If they do an e-application and an e-med and are not found to have any medical problems, such as pulmonary tuberculosis, the processing time is six to eight weeks at the moment for a super visa.

Unfortunately—

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Thank you. I have to get one more quick question in there.

The requirements for a super visa are very similar to a sponsorship application for parents or grandparents, or medicals, photos, minimum income bracket, all that kind of stuff.

If your offices are processing the exact same information that's required for permanent residency, why does it take eight weeks or fourteen days in Chandigarh for a super visa and six to eight weeks in Manila, but then it takes seven years to process a sponsorship application?

[Angela Gawel]

The sponsorship application is a family class application, a permanent resident's application, so there are more criteria that the applicant needs to meet.

As well, there are levels that we must meet each year. Although intake in the past on family class applications for the parents and grandparents had been unlimited, we have a limited number of visas that we can issue every year. So the wait times are necessarily longer.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm afraid that's it.

Mr. Weston, can I ask one brief question? You're next.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Sure.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Particularly with India, my office has had a number of people come in and say they were rejected with no reasons given. Then they make another application and they are rejected with no reasons given.

My number one question is, does that happen often? Should there be a requirement that reasons be given for rejections with every application?

[Carol McKinney]

We do indeed provide a letter with every application outlining the reasons for refusal of the application, so I'm not sure.... Do they mean they didn't receive specific enough reasons or that they didn't receive a letter at all?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

The reason given was “rejected”. That's it.

[Carol McKinney]

In every letter they receive, the reasons would be identified, whether they be purpose, travel, or funds.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

We're going to move to Mr. Weston.

I can only tell you that in my office I've had a number where that does not happen. It just simply says “rejected”.

Go ahead, Mr. Weston.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

For Ms. Nicoll and Ms. Bailey, again, our condolences go out to you.

I'm the MP for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, where we have a very active Asian community and quite a robust Asian new year's celebration. I'd like you and your colleagues and friends to know that this year's celebration is going to be dedicated to the victims. We're going to be sending whatever financial proceeds we gather to the Philippines.

I'm sure I speak for all my colleagues when I say that everyone is broken-hearted about what we see there.

I would like to ask some questions on visitor visas and student visas. It is worth it to not necessarily use

a still camera, but a video camera. In other words, what is the trend?

I wonder if you could maybe reflect on the difference from past years vis-à-vis visitor visas and student visas in the last year.

I will direct that to both offices, starting with you, Ms. Nicoll, or Ms. Bailey.

[Catherine Bailey]

I'm not sure that I heard your entire question because there was a gap in the translation. If I understood, you're asking about the pattern of acceptances or refusals for TRVs and student visas. Would you just repeat?

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Yes. How does the issuance of visas compare to previous years, so this past year vis-à-vis previous years?

We've heard about the upsurge from the Philippines.

[Catherine Bailey]

The upsurge in students is largely attributable to the fact that we now have the caseloads of Korea and Japan. As you may be aware, a great many Korean families send their children to study in Canada for a few years of elementary or high school. That has caused a marked upsurge in our numbers.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

So those aren't necessarily Filipino nationals.

[Catherine Bailey]

No, they're not. That's correct.

Now we do also see students, of course, who are wishing to join their parents who are on a work permit in Canada. Those may, indeed, be Filipinos. But the large upswing in our numbers is largely a reflection that we now have the workload from Seoul and from Tokyo.

[John Weston, Conservative, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Can you give us a number in terms of the past full year vis-à-vis previous years?

[Catherine Bailey]

I'd have to look that up. I don't have that information at my fingertips, unfortunately, but I can get it back to committee.