The federal government decided to increase the number of visas issued in the Family class category. That is, sponsored relatives will receive visas faster. Currently, the situation with family sponsorship is not the best because the process is thoroughly drawn out. The issue is particularly acute with respect to sponsored parents - obtaining immigration visas for them takes several years. According to the decision of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the number of visas issued in the Family class category in 2008 will be 71,000, which is 2,000 more than in the current year. It is difficult to say how much the added two thousand will affect the processing times of documents, but in any case it is better than nothing. Apparently, the process of obtaining immigration visas for sponsored spouses will speed up first, which in turn will lead to a slight reduction in processing times for applications in other categories of this class.
Another initiative of the federal government was the decision to reduce in 2008 the number of visas issued to 154,000 (from 158,000 in the current year) for categories that belong to the class «economic immigrants» (Economic immigrants). This will primarily affect those who fall under the Skilled workers and Provincial Nominees categories. Although the news is not very good, it can be viewed differently. 158,000 visas in 2007 is much more than in previous years. Over the past ten years, this is the largest number of visas issued in this category. For example, in 2006 only 138,000 visas were issued. In all other years of the last decade, the number of visas issued remained at 120-130,000, or even 98,000, as in 1998. Therefore, the decision to issue 154,000 visas next year can be considered a good signal, meaning that the doors for the Skilled workers category remain wide open.
The news about the reduction in the number of visas issued in the economic class categories caused surprise and criticism from immigration experts and opposition parties. Canada's economy is currently on the rise, and the country has a great need for skilled labor (precisely Economic immigrants). It can be assumed that the result of criticism of the government will be at least the preservation of the current quota for Economic immigrants visas, or a significant increase.
Overall, in 2008 the federal government plans to keep the total number of immigration visas at the level of the current year, that is, in the range of 240-265,000. This is more than a few years ago (225-240,000). Nevertheless, opposition parties would like to see the number of immigrants in Canada increase. In particular, the New Democrats (NDP) - the third most influential party in Canada - believes that the country should accept at least 330,000 new immigrants per year (1% of Canada's total population) to meet the need for skilled labor and mitigate the problems of a rapidly aging population. Similar proposals have already been made by the Liberals a few years ago, and it is quite possible that one of these parties will soon initiate a nationwide discussion with the aim of adjusting Canada's immigration policy.
Unfortunately, processing times for applications remain a big problem, and especially their volume. According to the latest data, the total number of applications pending processing has increased in all embassies and across all categories to 850,000. And it is completely unclear why the federal government does not allocate additional funds (especially since they exist) for training and increasing staff in embassies.
Good news: those who go through the Canadian embassy in Moscow do not yet have to worry about long processing times for their applications. In Moscow, the application processing is well organized. In recent years, they have been relatively short (within one year), plus it is common practice to waive interviews. In some embassies, application processing times stretch to five or more years.
We think this situation also arose due to a decrease in the number of applications submitted by Russians compared to 1998-2001. At present, Russia is not even among the top ten countries from which the most immigrants come to Canada. The number of immigrants from top countries (China, India, Philippines, Pakistan) exceeds the number of immigrating Russians by 10-15 times. The current situation is unlikely to change dramatically in the near future, unless some political or social upheavals occur in Russia.
Elena Ryabinina.
«Russian Toronto»