Thank you.
Minister, there is nothing in the supplemental estimates that I have seen that addresses the processing times for immigration applications. I would like to focus just a bit on spousal sponsorships.
During our study on the backlog, department officials testified that there is no backlog in spousal or child applications because they are immediately put into processing. Now, there was a case in British Columbia a few weeks ago, an inland spousal application, in which a woman who married a Canadian citizen was pregnant and put her application for permanent residency in. According to the news reports, the department reported to her that they don't even open an inland application for at least a year.
Is that your understanding? Is that typically how long it takes to even open an envelope for an inland spousal application?