The Canadian government’s immigration department has stated that it will switch to a purely digital application procedure for the bulk of people seeking permanent residency, despite processing backlogs still plaguing the country’s system.
Additionally, IRCC has suggested exempting candidates who are already citizens of Canada from a required medical examination. If they meet certain requirements, this will apply to applicants for either permanent or temporary residence.
The majority of applicants for permanent residence now have access to the online application portal, according to a release from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on Thursday. On September 23, IRCC will start moving all of its permanent residence programmes toward 100% digital application submissions, with other formats accessible for those who need accommodations.
Additionally, it stated that removing obstacles to individuals who are already in the country from having to undergo medical exams will benefit roughly 180,000 applicants by “helping them save time and money on the medical examination procedure and lowering wait times on their applications.”
Given that India is the most common country of origin for permanent residents, both of these measures are expected to be advantageous to immigrants from that nation.
According to the 2021 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, Indians made up 42,876 of the 184,606 total permanent residents accepted in 2020. China was the second-largest source nation, at 16,535.
“As we aim to strengthen our immigration system by modernising our technology, people – our customers – must be at the centre of all that we do,” said Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. We can provide newcomers and citizens with the warm welcome they deserve by allocating resources where they are required and utilising technology to speed up processing and make applying simpler for our clients.
In order to further accelerate processing and provide newcomers with the experience they expect and deserve, the announcement stated that IRCC is “striving towards a modernised and digitalized immigration system.”
