Mar 14, 2018 – Certain Quebec immigration candidates have been waiting more than two years for their permanent residence applications to be processed by the federal government, despite apparently meeting the terms of programs.
Iranian nationals are concerned they are being treated unfairly, after a large group of them were told by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that their applications are at the ‘security review’ stage.
Critics say the problem is Canada-wide, where highly qualified Iranians who have often being nominated by provinces are having to wait significantly longer for their applications to be processed.
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Quebec Skilled Worker Program Points Grid
Immigration streams such as the Quebec Skilled Worker Program usually see a waiting time of around 15 months, but certain Iranian candidates are being made to wait much longer. This is despite them meeting all the requirements of the program.
The IRCC says simply that security checks can take longer in certain cases, regardless of nationality.
Quebec administers its own immigration programs with selection criteria that are distinct and more predictable from those of federal and other provincial immigration programs.
Foreign nationals wishing to settle permanently in Quebec must undergo a two-step immigration process.
- They must be selected by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (MIDI), Quebec’s immigration authority. Selected applicants will receive a Quebec Certificat de Sélection (CSQ).
- An approved CSQ holder must file an application with the IRCC. The federal government’s role in evaluating a Quebec application for permanent residence is mainly limited to issues of health and criminality.
The Quebec government published new Areas of Training List, effective March 8, 2017. The areas of training list is an important component under the Quebec Skilled Worker Program. The revised list enumerates a wide range of studies awarding points to applicants and a spouse or de facto spouse for diplomas acquired outside Quebec or obtained in Quebec or recognized as Quebec equivalent.
Quebec plans to welcome between 49,000 and 53,000 new permanent residents under all programs in 2018.
The numbers are within the same range as the 2017 Quebec immigration targets.
The figures show a slight increase in the number of economic immigrants offset by a slight decline in family reunification and refugee immigration numbers.
Quebec Immigration Admission Targets 2018
Category | Minimum | Maximum |
Economic immigration | 28,700 | 31,300 |
|
24,200 | 26,300 |
|
4,000 | 4,300 |
|
500 | 700 |
Family reunification | 11,600 | 12,100 |
Refugees and people in similar situations | 8,100 | 8,800 |
|
5,600 | 6,000 |
|
1,550 | 1,600 |
|
4,050 | 4,400 |
|
2,500 | 2,800 |
Other immigrants** | 600 | 800 |
Total | 49,000 | 53,000 |
* Includes caregivers and other economic class immigrants
** Includes various special categories of immigrants admitted on humanitarian or public interest grounds
The Quebec government has exclusive jurisdiction to manage its own comprehensive immigration programs, under a series of agreements dating back to 1981. It has the largest allocations of immigrants to Canada, among the 10 provinces and 3 territories accounting for approximately 17 per cent of Canada’s planned overall annual immigration levels for 2018.
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