1. Initial Stage - Preliminary Submission (Stage One: Initial Application). <\/strong> At this stage, only the completed modified form (IMM0008SW for Skilled Workers or IMM0008BU for Business Class) is submitted to the Canadian immigration authorities, and the processing fee is paid. If the applicant is represented by someone authorized to do so, a completed authorization form (Use of a Representative IMM 5476) for that person (a relative or acquaintance among Canadian residents, an immigration consultant, or a Canadian lawyer) is also submitted.<\/p>
No documents required for processing the applicant's case need to be submitted at this stage. Moreover, any documents attached to the application will be returned to the applicant by the embassy. At this stage, only the application is accepted to reserve a place in line for the applicant.<\/p>
If the form is filled out incorrectly, or the fees are not paid in full, or the application is submitted to an embassy that does not correspond to the applicant's citizenship or country of residence, the application and fee payment will be returned without being accepted for processing.<\/p>
If the form is filled out correctly and all official requirements are met, the applicant is sent an Acknowledgment of Receipt letter, which provides the file number and information regarding the expected timelines for the second stage - filing supporting documents (Stage Two: Filing Supporting Documents). The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada sets a timeframe of 30 days for issuing such a letter, although it notes that this is only an estimate.<\/p>
After receiving the acknowledgment, the applicant should not contact the embassy again, except in specially stipulated cases. As soon as the embassy is able to start processing the applicant's case, the applicant will be notified. Until then, the application will remain at the embassy and wait in line.<\/p>
2. Stage of Reviewing Applicant's Documents (Stage Two: Filing Supporting Documents). <\/strong> When it is the applicant's turn to have their case reviewed, they will be sent a notification with a request to submit the required documents, along with a list of those documents. The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada plans to send such a notification approximately four months before the client's case begins to be processed.<\/p>
After that, the applicant must submit to the embassy updated immigration forms; proof of payment of additional fees (if, for example, additional family members have appeared); all required documents, including photographs, education, qualification, and employment documents, English or French language test results, police certificates, etc.<\/p>
Once the documents are submitted to the embassy, an immigration officer at the embassy will conduct an assessment and make a decision on the next steps, of which the applicant will be notified. This will be either a notice of the need for an interview, an instruction to undergo a medical examination, or a letter requesting passports for the issuance of an immigration visa, etc.<\/p>
If the applicant decides to withdraw the application and informs the embassy before it begins processing the application and sends the applicant a notice of readiness to start reviewing the case, the paid processing fee will be refunded.<\/p>
These innovations apply to all applicants in the economic class category (Skilled Worker and Business Class), <\/strong> with a few exceptions. In particular, this procedure does not apply to the following categories:<\/p>
* those undergoing the immigration process through provincial programs;<\/p>
* those undergoing the immigration process through the Quebec program;<\/p>
* those who have an arranged employment offer in Canada that gives additional points;<\/p>
* those who are legally in Canada on a work or student visa and are applying at the Canadian immigration office in Buffalo (USA);<\/p>
* those who are legally residing in the United States and are applying for immigration to Canada at the Canadian immigration office in Buffalo (USA).<\/p>
What is the motivation for introducing the new rules for applying for immigration to Canada? <\/strong>The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada notes that a large number of applications have accumulated in embassy immigration sections, waiting in line. At the current processing rates, waiting times for review in some embassies amount to several years. When their turn comes, the initially submitted documents are already hopelessly outdated, and applicants must send updated documents. This creates unnecessary confusion and slows down the work. To simplify the processing of cases, a decision was made to require applicants to submit a full set of documents only when their turn comes.<\/p>
Will the new submission procedure reduce processing times? <\/strong> No, it will not. The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada clearly states that the new submission procedure is not intended to shorten processing times, and that should not be expected. Its purpose is only to simplify the process, avoid resubmission of documents and the resulting confusion. The time from the initial application submission to receiving a request from the embassy for a full set of documents will depend on the situation at each specific embassy.<\/p>
If we are talking about speeding up the case processing by the embassy, the advice from the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada on this matter is as follows: carefully, properly and completely prepare documents, attach certified translations (where required). Ensure that all necessary information is provided.<\/p>
The reasons for the delay in processing the applicant's case are cited as the following factors:
- if there are issues related to the applicant's criminal past or matters of state security;
- if the applicant's family situation is not entirely clear and requires further clarification;
- if the embassy needs to obtain information through other immigration services;
- if the information provided by the applicant is not entirely clear and time is needed to clarify certain points.
The decision of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to introduce new rules for filing an immigration application to Canada, in our opinion, cannot be assessed unequivocally - it has its pros and cons.
The main goal of the innovation - submitting documents to the embassy only once, without the need to later resubmit them in updated form - can be considered an undoubted plus. This will simplify the processing of cases and help avoid confusion that sometimes arises. It will free embassy staff from extra work of accepting and registering updated documents, making changes and additions to the applicant's file, etc. The second very important positive point is that by sending a preliminary application (Initial Application), you essentially reserve your place in line. Then you can calmly focus on gathering documents, knowing that your case is already in the queue. This reduces the overall time for preparing documents and waiting for the application to be processed, as these two processes will run in parallel.
The drawbacks of this innovation stem from the fact that good intentions often lead to the opposite result. In particular, the intention to simplify the application process may instead complicate it and lengthen processing times. Let us explain.
1. When the embassy cites long (many-year) queues as an explanation, it mainly refers to the busiest embassies located in Asia. There, documents may sit for five to six years, and the new application procedure is aimed at processing in these particular embassies. However, for those embassies where case processing is much faster, such as in Kyiv (a year to a year and a half) and Moscow (less than a year), splitting the application process and introducing an additional stage will likely only lengthen the timelines.
2. It is quite doubtful that the new rules will reduce the number of applications waiting in the embassy queue. On the contrary, the requirement to submit only a completed form at the first stage, without attaching documents, may lead to a much larger number of immigration applications being filed. Therefore, in our view, we should expect an increase in processing times due to a greater influx of immigration applications.
3. The new rules - with their requirement to submit only a completed form at the initial stage - create an illusion of simplicity. In fact, submitting the Initial Application must be preceded by serious preparatory work, which involves developing a strategy (selecting occupations from the NOC, correctly presenting work experience, resolving problematic issues, etc.), thorough preliminary work on documents that will need to be submitted later, and so on. The fact is that documents submitted later must exactly match the information on work experience, education, etc., provided in the Initial Application. Any discrepancy in data may lead to accusations of providing false information and result in a refusal.
Based on our experience, we can assume that at the initial stage, many applicants are unlikely to pay much attention to developing an overall application strategy and preliminary work on documents. We would like to warn them against this. Any submission of information to Canadian immigration authorities is a serious step, and it should be approached with full responsibility. We remind you - a strategy must be developed from the outset. Before submitting an application, you should carefully consider all the nuances of the case. If you do not do this, then when subsequently submitting documents, nothing can be corrected.
4. The next negative point, in our opinion, is the limited time given by the embassy to gather documents. If the embassy demands documents later, it will clearly set a specific deadline for their submission. Based on experience, under the most favorable circumstances and with the client working promptly, collecting documents takes at least three months. However, most often document preparation takes six to nine months or more. Especially considering that you will have to prepare for and take the IELTS test. Therefore, you should start gathering and preparing documents in advance, leaving only those that need to be "fresh" until the end.
5. Currently, the applicant collects documents when it is convenient for them and submits them to the embassy at a favorable time. After the new rules are introduced, they will be forced to do it when the embassy demands it, regardless of whether their circumstances allow it.
6. In effect, the applicant will have to do double work. The first time, they must carefully work on the application strategy and documents at the stage of the initial submission of the immigration application to Canada, and the second time - after receiving the embassy's request for documents.
On possible consequences
As shown above, we believe that the new order is unlikely to help reduce the processing time at embassies or decrease the number of applications waiting in line at immigration offices, which is a priority for the new government. However, the very fact of this innovation suggests that further immigration measures can be expected. What exactly these will be and how they may affect the immigration process is hard to predict. For now, judging by the steps taken and attempts to improve the situation, it seems that the Ministry of Immigration currently has no serious solutions to truly clear the backlog of applications at embassies.
For example, measures such as hiring additional immigration officers to process pending cases are reportedly being planned. However, this is unlikely to help significantly. Given that no one intends to increase quotas for the number of immigrant visas issued, while the number of applications processed by embassies increases considerably, it is logical to expect measures to curb the flow of applications. For instance, stricter requirements for selecting applicants or a temporary increase in the passing score, which would sharply reduce the number of new applications. Recall that such measures were taken by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 2002, ultimately leading to reduced processing times at the Kyiv and Moscow embassies.
We emphasize that the above is only speculation. It is still difficult to judge what actions the new Canadian government will take to resolve this issue. However, initiatives in this area should apparently be expected.
On the role of immigration consultants
In our view, the introduction of the new rules increases the importance of immigration consultants hired to go through the immigration process. First, a clear strategy must be developed from the outset, because later—at the second stage, when documents are submitted—nothing can be corrected. Second, while waiting, you should prepare documents in advance for submission to the embassy—this will speed up your immigration process. For this, you need to know which documents will be required, how to prepare them, etc.—professional help will be needed. Third, the requirements for the correctness and completeness of documents become more stringent. Improperly prepared documents will likely lead to rejection. The point is that the decision of the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada shows a desire to simplify the process and reduce processing time. Accordingly, anything that deviates from the established scheme and requires additional time for clarification will be discarded. The importance of carefully prepared documents has always existed, but with the new submission rules, this factor becomes even more important.
It should also be considered that after receiving a request from the embassy, document collection will be carried out under tight time constraints, which may lead to errors in their preparation, and consultant help can be very useful in this case.
In general, our advice is traditional. Those who are thinking about immigrating to Canada should do so as quickly as possible, while the favorable situation in this area persists. Especially since the new rules introduced on September 1, 2006, allow you to reserve a place in line for processing your application, giving you the opportunity to then calmly gather all the required documents.
Elena Ryabinina. 