Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 18th, 2024

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm sorry, but you have to be much more specific. There are a lot of Hong Kongers watching this. What is the form number? Where is it on the website?

[James McNamee]

I can provide that information to the committee. I don't have it here. It is a standard process, one that doesn't happen frequently but which we're looking to expedite.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Is this just for Hong Kongers, or can anybody request a PR change for that nationality code?

[James McNamee]

If they submit information regarding a new passport, yes. You can modify your PR card to reflect the new information.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Are you saying that this has always been the case?

[James McNamee]

Yes.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

That's news to me. How many requests from Hong Kongers for such changes have there been since the last committee meeting?

[James McNamee]

My understanding is that the number has been quite small. I can provide that information to the committee.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

When you do provide it, I would also like to know how many requests came in and how many were accepted for the change from the GBN to something else. The source of the problem for BNO passport holders to Canada is that this is how the MPFA is able to identify a person who has left the country on a BNO passport.

You're saying this has always been the case. That's fine, but we would like that information for the entire committee so that we could post it online, including the precise form that is needed and where it must be sent, including email contact information and a phone number, so that the Hong Kongers coming to MP Kwan's office, my office and all of our offices stop doing that and go to see your department.

Your department's inability to fulfill the requirements on time is causing all of them to inundate our offices with problems. I have the same sheets MP Kwan has of individual cases where they've been refused the renewals.

You said during your introduction that a person has implied status. Is that implied status until the application is considered for PR?

[James McNamee]

Yes. An application is submitted. The maintained status is retained until a decision is finalized.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I have two letters here from two Hong Kongers, who say that their implied status will expire five months after they apply. I'm going to finish now. It says for them to attach the letter to their present work permit number, which is obviously a filled-in form, as proof that they are authorized to continue working under the same conditions as their original work permit until December 25, 2024. That's a big merry Christmas to them, I guess.

I also have one here that was issued on July 26. It says that their temporary status will expire on January 22, 2025.

Based on your own testimony today, you've basically said that none of these people will get it within five months. The timeline for processing for their PRs can be up to eight years. That's a number that MP Kwan has. That's because Hong Kongers are telling us this number.

If we use the target numbers you have, it's 14 years. All these people will lose their implied status.

How, then, could you say to this committee that they do have implied status until their PR is processed when the letters the department is issuing say the complete opposite, that they have merely five months?

[James McNamee]

I haven't seen one of those letters in a while, but I believe they also say, “or until you have a decision, the faster of the two”, or something—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

It's whichever is first. January 22, 2025, will come first if it's an eight-year timeline. That means on December 25, 2024, merry Christmas to that person. It's an optician in my riding, and the husband will lose his job because he won't be allowed to work. It's whichever comes first. The wait time is eight years, according to the testimony we've heard here.

[James McNamee]

I can tell you today that this is an error. That letter should not state that.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I have hundreds of letters here. Is this an error, or is it a process issue?

[James McNamee]

It's an error in the wording of that letter. The regulations state that folks have maintained status until they receive a final decision on their application. Be it one year or 10, they have maintained status. That's the law. The letter states that, and we're looking to amend it.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm sorry. When it comes to legal, this is what the lawyers get, this is what immigration consultants get, and this is what every MP's office is getting right now. It says very distinctly “or until a decision is made on your application, whichever is first”, and the timeline is always less than eight years.

If this is incorrect, your department has been sending out hundreds and hundreds of letters in the mail. There are 60,000 Hong Kongers here through this pathway program. Are you saying they're all getting a wrong letter?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you. The time is up, but I will give the floor to Mr. McNamee to address those concerns and in the best interests of Hong Kongers.

[James McNamee]

I will say that when the form letter was originally created, we were within a much faster processing time. That date that was given in the future was many months in the future, and usually clients got a decision way ahead of that. In recent months, with delays it's taking longer.

We have therefore asked them to amend that letter and remove that reference to make it clear that persons can maintain status until they get a decision, period. There's no limitation on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

We will now go to MP Kayabaga for five minutes.

Please, go ahead.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to keep the conversation going on the letters that my colleague on the other side has.

Can we get an answer on how these letters that contain errors and incorrect information got out? Were you aware that these letters were being sent out?

[James McNamee]

The standard form letter has stated that for several years now. It was the timeline that was well within our processing service standard for that type of application, a work permit, for example. In recent months, as that timeline has been exceeded, that date now sometimes arrives before a decision arrives. We've taken measures in the department to modify that letter, and we're hoping that this change can happen sooner rather than later so that it doesn't state that anymore.

I just want to confirm that maintained status is maintained status, and it is valid until a decision is made, whenever that decision comes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Can I get on the record that people who received those letters will be getting other letters with the correct information? When will that be happening?

[James McNamee]

I'll come back to the committee on exactly what the process will be, but we are modifying that letter.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Your department is also tracking the hundreds of these letters that are out, as well—