Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Minister, for joining us. Thank you for your hard work, especially in the current situation.
Minister, in some recent correspondence, the High Commissioner of Pakistan raised a couple of issues. He pointed out that on the IRCC website the processing time for visa applications for Pakistan was 399 days—more than 13 months—whereas for applications from other countries in the region it was between 34 and 70 days.
He also pointed out that in the student direct stream, the number of Pakistani student visas had not increased, and the processing time target of two weeks had not been achieved.
Minister, can you assure us that this situation is going to improve?