Even though there are still processing backlogs in Canada, the government’s immigration department has said that it will switch to a digital-only application process for most people seeking permanent residency.
IRCC has also suggested that candidates who are already Canadian citizens don’t have to get a medical exam. This will be true for both permanent and temporary residents, as long as they meet certain requirements.
A news release from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Thursday said that most people who want to apply for permanent residence can now do so online. On September 23, IRCC will start switching all of its permanent residence programmes to 100% digital application submissions. Those who need other formats can still get them, though.
It also said that removing barriers to medical exams for people who are already in the country will help about 180,000 applicants by “saving them time and money on the medical examination process” and “shortening the time they have to wait for their applications.”
India is the most common country of origin for permanent residents, so both of these changes should help people who come from there.
According to the 2021 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, of the 184,606 permanent residents accepted in 2020, 42,876 were from India. At 16,535, China was the second-largest source country.
The Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, said, “As we try to improve our immigration system by updating our technology, people, who are our customers, must be at the centre of everything we do.” We can give newcomers and citizens the warm welcome they deserve by putting resources where they are needed and using technology to speed up processing and make it easier for our clients to apply.
So that applicants can plan ahead, the IRCC will now start publishing “estimates of how long it will take to process an application in the future.”
In an announcement, IRCC said that it is “working toward a modernised and digitalized immigration system” to speed up the process even more and give newcomers the experience they expect and deserve.
