Canada has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to maintaining the cohesion of families, a pivotal objective within the nation’s prevailing immigration framework. The Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have taken tangible steps to expedite family reunification, offering a viable route for dependents and spouses who may not meet standard eligibility criteria for entry into Canada, yet seek to reunite with their loved ones.
Former Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, revealed a series of supplementary measures on May 26th to fortify this commitment. They include:
- Streamlined processing times for temporary resident visas (TRV) designed explicitly for spousal candidates, underpinned by newly introduced specialized tools catering to spousal TRV applications.
- Pioneering a fresh open work permit initiative applicable to both spousal and family class applicants.
- Extending the scope of eligibility for Open Work Permits (OWPs) to encompass spouses and family members of permanent residents, Canadian citizens, temporary laborers, and students currently within Canada.
Get Free Family Assessment Now!
Swift Processing and Innovative Tools
These innovative processing tools and measures are engineered to augment efficiency, especially for straightforward applications. Encouragingly, these efforts have yielded positive outcomes, evidenced by a noteworthy 98% approval rate for spousal TRV applicants, encompassing both spouses and dependents. A significant contributor to this efficiency is the recent integration of advanced analytics by IRCC during application processing.
This multifaceted analytical approach empowers immigration officers to assess an applicant’s likelihood of qualifying for Permanent Residence (PR). Consequently, applications can be routed to appropriate categories, optimizing the prospects of swift approval based on the applicant’s eligibility, thereby streamlining processing times considerably.
Novel Open Work Permit for Family-Oriented Applicants
Since January 30th of the current year, Open Work Permits (OWPs) have been extended for a limited duration to spouses of individuals participating in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP). This initiative is slated to continue until 2025. IRCC’s rationale behind this initiative lies in the belief that granting work permits to spouses, dependents, and common-law partners of these workers will alleviate the financial strain on the workers, fostering both financial stability and seamless integration into their communities.
This initiative encompasses working-age children aged 16 and older of primary applicants across various skill levels. According to IRCC’s projections, this initiative will facilitate the entry of over 200,000 families of foreign workers into the Canadian workforce, thus addressing the national labor scarcity while invigorating the economy.
Open Work Permit for Outland Applicants
On May 26th, IRCC unveiled a revamped family sponsorship policy applicable to outland sponsorships. This updated policy now extends potential eligibility for an OWP to spouses, partners, and dependents of permanent residents, Canadian citizens, temporary laborers, and students currently in Canada. These encompass spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners, and dependent children aged 18 and above.
Previously, OWPs were solely accessible through inland sponsorship applications or to individuals already resident in Canada with a TRV. However, the revised policy extends this privilege to applications originating from outside of Canada, known as outland sponsorship applications, thereby broadening the OWP eligibility pool.
IRCC is steadfast in its aim to process all spousal sponsorship applications within a 12-month timeframe under this new policy. The eligibility criteria stipulate that family members with valid temporary resident status, or those who have sustained their status or initiated the process of status restoration, and who share a residential address with their sponsor in Canada during the OWP application period, may be eligible for a work permit.
According to IRCC’s public policy, immigration officers are empowered to issue OWPs to foreign nationals who fulfill either of two distinct sets of conditions.
In one scenario, a foreign national could be a principal applicant who has submitted an application for permanent residence under the spouse or common-law partner category in Canada, or as a spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner under the family class category, with their application endorsed by IRCC.
Applicants fitting this profile should:
- I. Concurrently submit a work permit application for a maximum period of two years.
- II. Be the subject of a sponsorship application lodged by their Canadian citizen or permanent resident spouse, common-law partner, or conjugal partner.
- III. Share a residential address with their sponsor in Canada during the application process.
- IV. Possess valid temporary resident status in Canada, or be eligible for, and in the process of applying for, status restoration.
- V. In an alternate scenario, the foreign national could be a dependent child listed as a family member in the application for permanent residence.
These candidates should:
- Submit a work permit application for a maximum of two years.
- Share the same residential address as the principal applicant and their sponsor in Canada throughout the application period.
- Maintain a valid temporary resident status in Canada or be eligible for, and have initiated the process of, status restoration.
Canada’s robust commitment to fostering familial bonds and unity stands as a testament to its dedication to humanitarian values, exemplifying a forward-looking and compassionate immigration system that prioritizes the preservation of family ties and the well-being of all individuals within its borders.