Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, and I would just like to add a comment. With respect to 179(b), I would recommend that temporary resident visa applications be processed in Canada, because Canada is a little more open to cultural differences. It would also be great if the officer making the decision

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, it's true. I know because I'm currently in an ongoing process. My husband is from one of the “30 most corrupt countries”. He's Nigerian. I've been waiting 35 months for him, but he still hasn't arrived here. Yes, it's true. I'm living proof of it. Our group has 5,000 to 8,

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for your question. Yes, they are 100% discriminatory, absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I absolutely agree with your statement. If there is an ombudsman office, the agent will be very careful in how they process applications because they know there's someone up there who will look at their work. Nobody likes to be reprimanded at work, so for sure everybody will be

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. Right now the IRCC uses paragraph 179(b). It states that there will be a refusal if the processing officer doubts that the visitor will return to his or her home country within the visa period. The refusal is totally unfounded in the case of married couples. By attemp

Citizenship and Immigration committee  To continue what Ms. Douglas said, I completely agree that we need data, and we need to interview people. I need to stop, but I agree with her. I have nothing else to add.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for your question. I believe it would, because people who come from countries that do not require visas don't have this problem. Why do immigration officials only apply paragraph 179(b) to countries that require visas? This would not resolve the backlog at all, but it

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I will answer that question by saying that an immigration ombudsperson position is definitely needed. Their mandate could be to create a diverse committee tasked with revamping policies and programs. In doing this, immigration officials could demonstrate inclusiveness and fairnes

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for your question. When an immigration officer has been there for 5, 10 or 15 years, they develop bad habits, whether you like it or not. So when that officer has decisions to make, they base them on what the local employee says and what they see. Rotation will prevent

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the question. Basically, to make it short, IRCC should give all of the spouses a special TRV. First of all, paragraph 179(b) should not even be considered. Yes, obviously they have ties to Canada, because the spouse is here, but why would an officer say that they

Citizenship and Immigration committee  For transparency, they should provide clear status updates and not just say your file is on queue. They also have to keep better records of the documents they receive and not ask for them three or four times. They should provide a timeline and respect the timeline provided. Pleas

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for the question. Basically, the reason I say that we should tape or record these interviews is that I'm in the process myself. My husband went through the interview. What he told me happened and what the agent wrote in the GCMS note were completely different. It's no

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Madam Chair, honourable committee members, good afternoon. I am appearing before you on behalf of Spousal Sponsorship Advocates. I am honoured to be here to provide you with an overview of the situation and of the recommendations we consider important. According to the Polaris