As we head into a new calendar year, here are a few immigration policies we’re watching out for in the Migrant Mothers Project:
1) A new lottery system has was introduced this week to select 10,000 parent/grandparent sponsorship applications (among the many more that will likely be submitted through IRCC’s new online system). Previously, IRCC operated on a first come first serve basis, which favoured people who lived closer to the Mississauga-based processing centre, or people who had more money to pay couriers to deliver the application on the first day applications are accepted. Sponsors who are successful in submitting their application and having Permanent Residence approved for their parents and grandparents must still have significant funds in the bank and sign on to a 20-year undertaking agreement. Making parent and grandparent reunification accessible to more Canadians is a top priority for 2017.
2) The Liberal government has continued to promise reductions in spousal sponsorship processing times. Last May 2016, IRCC shifted how they report processing times, from the visa office where the applications are being processed to the country where the sponsored immigrant resides. It’s hard to say how the average times have changed for each country, but since the previous year, processing times have been cut to an average 16 months for overseas applicants. Reducing processing times for overseas and in-land spousal applications remains a top priority for 2017.
3) In October 2017, IRCC announced their plans to repeal Conditional Permanent Residence for newly sponsored spouses and partners. The announcement acknowledged that conditional immigration status posed a barrier for sponsored spouses/partners in abusive relationships to seeking safety, a concern that outweighed the threat of ‘fraudulent’ marriages, which was the original basis for this policy. IRCC plans to repeal this measure in the spring of 2017. But why wait? Similar to the “4-in-4-out” rule, this regulation should be repealed immediately, so that thousands of sponsored spouses who are currently enduring the weight of a ‘condition’ on their status can find relief.
4) As of December 13, 2016, the IRCC eliminated the “4-in-4-out” rule that prevented temporary foreign workers in ‘low-skilled’ categories to renew their legal work status in Canada. Migrant workers and immigrant rights groups across Canada, who have fought this measure since it was first introduced in 2012, welcomed this policy change. The right to settle permanently in Canada and reunify with their families, however, are still far from reach for many migrant workers. All migrant workers should have access to permanent residence to ensure full recognition of their rights and protection from exploitation.
5) For all this talk about family reunification, temporary foreign workers continue to face numerous barriers or are flatly denied the ability to reunify with their families. Tens of thousands of people (most of whom are women with children) who completed Canada’s Live-in-Caregiver Program or Caregiver Program continue to wait several years for their permanent resident applications, for themselves and their oversea family members, to be processed. While IRCC is processing newer applicants in less than a year, many caregivers who submitted their applications between 2009 and 2012 remain in a painful limbo; required to renew their temporary permits on an annual basis, while sending messages of hope and love to their children that they may be reunified soon. Processing permanent resident applications for caregivers must be a top priority for 2017!