Citizenship and Immigration committee  I will now describe the ways in which we have improved program performance. In mainland China, we are processing study permit applications faster by giving students the chance to undergo a medical examination before submitting their application at our visa office in Beijing. Despite being implemented late in the peak season, students quickly started taking advantage of this procedure.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. We are pleased to be here today, and we would like to thank the committee for inviting us to speak. Today I will update you on improvements that we have made within the past year to program delivery, and I will briefly share some of the challenges we face in processing applications.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In operational terms, we try as much as possible to work with the province to ensure its target is reached. In the case of investors, we have to do three times the work because not all of those accepted by Quebec will settle in that province. We work with them, and that's a priority for us; we're going to do whatever we can.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Unfortunately, Canadian laws allow us to issue these visas solely for the period during which the applicant's passport is valid. If it's only one year, the multiple-entry opportunity is applicable only for one year. However, it's applicable for three years if the applicant's passport is valid for three years.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Basically the issue is that the visa officer has to look at the intent behind it. Of course, when you're looking at intent--

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's very difficult, and that's why we might not agree on the decision, but certainly in some countries the push factors to try to leave that country and come to Canada and stay illegally are big. In some countries, the economic--

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We're aware of some of those issues and we're trying to see what we can do. Really we're not looking at opening another centre for them, but we are looking, in our modernization, to use maybe other government centres that could assist. We also want to look at the need for people to come to pick up their permanent resident cards and at whether there is a way we could possibly do it differently, so that applicants wouldn't be inconvenienced by having to pick them up.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The Financial Administration Act makes that a little difficult.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Anyone can either contact the call centre, the CPC in Vegreville, or the mission, and if they can demonstrate that they've been seriously affected by the typhoon, we will do all that is possible to expedite processing.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Okay. I'll just quickly say that there are mechanisms that exist today, if the refusal of an application is felt to not be warranted. Certainly, MPs write a lot in terms of asking us to—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We have done some things, like moving officers from one place to another or reclassifying some positions so that they can make decisions. For example, we got another position in Manila and placed two Canadian officers in Delhi. I cannot tell you in detail if processing time has improved.