Ottawa speeds up spousal immigration

Increased quota, resources and simplified applications expected to reduce backlog

Ottawa has vowed to cut the processing times and backlogs for spousal immigration applications by more than half with an expanded annual quota for 2017 and a new simplified application kit available next week.

Starting immediately, most spousal sponsorship applications submitted in and outside Canada will be processed within 12 months, down from the current average of 26 months and 18 months respectively, Immigration Minister John McCallum announced on Wednesday.

“We have listened to Canadians and are delivering results. Bringing families together makes for a stronger Canada. Canadians who marry someone from abroad shouldn’t have to wait for years to have them immigrate or be left with uncertainty in terms of their ability to stay,” McCallum told a news conference in Brampton.

“What we are announcing today is a more efficient, more considerate process to reunite families.”

Complaints by Canadians and their foreign spouses and dependants over long processing times and lengthy separations had fallen on deaf ears under the previous Conservative government.

Although the Liberals had made fixing the backlog a priority during the election campaign, the immigration department had been preoccupied with the ambitious project to resettle tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

With an additional $25 million allotted to reduce the immigration backlog in its 2016 budget, the Immigration Department has managed to reduce the processing times of spousal sponsorship applications by 15 per cent for inland applicants and by more than 10 per cent for those waiting overseas.

The government also raised the an- nual quota for foreign spouses and dependants this year to 64,000 people from 47,000 in previous years.

With limited spots and increasing demands, the backlogs persisted and grew over time. Sponsorship applicants welcomed McCallum’s announcement but remained cautious of the government’s commitment.

“There are mixed emotions from all spousal sponsorship applicants due to actions we’ve seen over the recent year,” said Leah Campbell, a member of the self-advocacy group, Canada Spousal Sponsorship Petitioners.

“I hope that these words and promises turn into action, and quickly, not soon or in coming months, as minister McCallum is famous for saying,” added the American woman, who is married to a Canadian man and has been waiting for a year for her permanent status.

Immigration officials said they hoped to clear all existing applications by the end of 2017

Immigration officials said they hoped to clear all existing applications by the end of 2017 with the expanded quota, additional staffing resources and a streamlined process.

Anew simplified application kit will be available Dec. 15 for new applicants that cuts the current14 application checklists down to four. All incomplete applications will be returned early in the process to prevent them from clogging the system, the government said.

Although more complex applications will still take more than 12 months, 80 per cent of applications are expected to be processed on target. Despite the streamlined process and the new time commitment, officials said full criminal, security and medical screening will continue to be in place. McCallum said he did not expect a return of the backlog once it is cleared.

“We have changed the structure, the way this is done. There’s no way this is not going to be permanent,” he noted.