August 24, 2018 – Canada has changed the way it predicts immigration application processing times to give candidates a more accurate picture of how long it could take.
Applicants set to benefit include those applying through:
- the various Provincial Nomination Programs,
- the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program,
- the Quebec Skilled Worker Program, and
- the Start-up Visa Program.
The move is designed to give applicants more chance to plan their move to Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has begun projecting processing times based on the immigration levels plans and the current backlog.
Previously, processing times were estimated based on how long recent applications took. The IRCC would base it on how long it took to process 80 per cent of applications in the previous 12 months.
Officials believe the new model will allow them to be more accurate, as using historical data was not always representative.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says improving how the IRCC delivers its service has been a key focus since the federal government came to power in 2015.
How Will The New Processing Time Calculation Work?
The new processing time calculation formula will consider:
- The number of admissions in the government’s multi-year immigration plan.
- The number of applications currently in the queue for the given immigration program.
One of the key programs in which processing times are a sensitive issue is the Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program.
The IRCC recently announced it would return to a first-come, first-served selection process for the PGP, having experimented with a lottery system in the last two years.
From 2019, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will issue invitations to apply based on the order in which online interest to sponsor forms are submitted.
Invitations will continue to be issued until the government reaches 20,000 completed applications, up from a target of 17,000 in 2018.
How Will the Parents and Grandparents Program Change In 2019?
New Process | Current Process |
1) Application window to open in January for submission of ‘interest to sponsor’ forms.
2) Sponsors to be issued invitations to apply in the order ‘interest to sponsor’ forms are submitted. 3) Those issued invitations have 90 days to submit a complete application. |
1) Application window to open in January for submission of ‘interest to sponsor’ forms.
2) Sponsors are drawn at random from all those who submitted ‘interest to sponsor’ forms. The government conducted two draws in 2017 and two in 2018. 3) The sponsors drawn are issued invitations to apply, with 90 days to submit a full application. |
How Many Parents and Grandparents Does Canada Admit?
Canada plans to welcome 20,000 parents and grandparents in 2018, 20,500 in 2019 and 21,000 in 2020, as per the multi-year immigration levels plan released in November 2017.
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