Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you for having me here today and giving me this opportunity to represent the issues faced by immigrants in the Canadian immigration system, which I would like to bring up in today's meeting.
To begin, the processing time for applications that have already been submitted under the provincial nominee program is taking much longer than that of new potential applications. For example, the current processing time for future applicants under the provincial nominee immigration economic category is only 15 months, whereas applicants who have already applied under this category are stuck in the backlog. Their current processing time is 25 months; it takes two years and one month before they hear the decision.
My recommendation is that IRCC allocate more resources towards clearing the backlog of PNP applications already standing in the queue rather than putting focus on new applications, in order to manage the processing time in an effective and better way.
The other issue, to my knowledge, is that the processing time for applications from certain countries takes too long compared to those from other countries. IRCC is giving preferential treatment to some applications based on the origin of that application. This pending backlog includes major programs, such as work permit, visitor visa, super visa and nanny or caregiver applications.
For example, the processing time or wait time for super visa applications from Australia is 106 days, whereas the same application from Pakistan has a wait time of 456 days. That is almost one and a half years of wait time before they hear any decision on their application. These significant gaps in wait times are very damaging, given that a super visa application exists to help you join aging parents or grandparents.
In my recommendation, the government and IRCC should be more diligent in allocating resources to lessen processing times and treat every application equally in a fair and non-discriminatory way, regardless of the point of origin of that application.
Another concern is that some applicants are being misguided and left confused due to communication gaps between the customer service agents and the immigration officers at the IRCC office. The IRCC office might send out multiple requests to an applicant to pay biometric fees, even after they've already been paid by the applicant. When contacted, the customer service representative at the IRCC office assures the applicant that they do not have to redo their biometrics. But the applicant might still receive another request to undergo biometrics, with the warning that their application will be revoked in 30 days. Such situations escalate their stress levels and affect their livelihood, and result in added unnecessary workloads at their MP's office.
My recommendation is that IRCC should take necessary measures to lessen the communication gap between their different departments, so that it can better serve the potential immigrant population and keep immigrants' faith in Canada's immigration system.
The next thing I want to talk about is the frequency of work permit refusals. These are significantly higher at some visa application centre offices compared to other VAC offices worldwide, and that is impacting a range of industries. For example, in the year 2018, the VAC office in Chandigarh, India refused 66% of all work permit applications received, whereas in Sydney, Australia the refusal rate stayed at only 17%.
Due to these high refusal rates, employers are forced to hire employees from certain countries, leaving other suitable workers behind. Some employers hire from those countries, but they have to wait a long time before an employee can report to their work location. Some applicants in this category have successfully gained employment in Canada by navigating through the complex hiring system. Unfortunately, their work permit applications are refused by IRCC for a very generic reason. Due to the prejudiced treatment of those applications, the Canadian economy is hurting, but it also raises serious concerns about the working procedures and the policy implementation structure of IRCC.
My recommendation is that IRCC should follow its own mandate and apply the rules of procedural fairness throughout the decision-making process—that is, providing applicants with a fair and unbiased assessment of their application and providing a meaningful opportunity to receive a response to their concerns about their application, not only on paper but also in practice. Time is very precious, and it is important that IRCC give out decisions in a timely manner without being prejudiced.
Thank you.