Canada seeks to process and conclude 6,000 spousal sponsorship applications every month between October and December 2020.
This development was recently announced by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
IRCC has added to the number of staff that will process spousal sponsorship applications in a bid to reduce wait times and facilitate quiker processing of applications.
Also, IRCC will deploy new technology in a pilot so as to digitize paper applications. This will make it possible for IRCC employees that are working remotely and at numerous work settings to quickly process applications.
IRCC said it would implement facilitative biometrics measures but did not specify the exact one it would implement.
IRCC will also use pilot technology to carry out interviews with applicants remotely in the coming weeks.
The aim of these initiatives is to accelerate, prioritize, and finalize about 6,000 spousal applications every month till the end of 2020.
All things being equal, this will result in 49,000 applications getting decisions by the end of 2020.
While recognising the challenges posed by slower processing, Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino said: “We understand that the last few months have not been easy for those who are far from their loved ones in these difficult times. This is why we are accelerating the approval of spousal applications as much as possible. Our government will continue to find new ways to keep families together.”
Among the overall 341,000 immigrants Canada aimed to welcome in 2020, 70,000 spouses, partners and children were targeted . However, the plan and targets were set before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.
