How to expedite IRCC medical surveillance? Work permit renewal at risk

[kenkenk]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in Canada on a valid work permit and recently received an email from IRCC’s Public Health Liaison Unit regarding medical surveillance. They asked me to provide my residential address and contact information so that the local public health authority can follow up with me.

I have submitted all the required information, but my immigration lawyer told me this process can take a long time and might delay the renewal of my work permit, which I’m planning to apply for soon. He advised me to follow up with IRCC to try and speed things up.

However, I’m not sure how to properly contact IRCC in a way that’s effective. The email I received specifically says not to contact the local public health authority directly unless IRCC instructs me to do so.

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation?

How long did it take for your medical surveillance to be processed?

Is there anything I can do to expedite the process or get a faster referral to the public health unit?

Is it okay to send follow-up emails to IRCC’s surveillance unit, and if so, how often?

Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[canuck78]

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in Canada on a valid work permit and recently received an email from IRCC’s Public Health Liaison Unit regarding medical surveillance. They asked me to provide my residential address and contact information so that the local public health authority can follow up with me.

I have submitted all the required information, but my immigration lawyer told me this process can take a long time and might delay the renewal of my work permit, which I’m planning to apply for soon. He advised me to follow up with IRCC to try and speed things up.

However, I’m not sure how to properly contact IRCC in a way that’s effective. The email I received specifically says not to contact the local public health authority directly unless IRCC instructs me to do so.

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation?

How long did it take for your medical surveillance to be processed?

Is there anything I can do to expedite the process or get a faster referral to the public health unit?

Is it okay to send follow-up emails to IRCC’s surveillance unit, and if so, how often?

Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

This lawyer is giving you bad advice. There is no expedited medical surveillance and won’t impact a WP application unless you want to work in healthcare or with children. Processing for WPs these days takes so you will likely hear from public health before your WP is processed. Follow the directions you’ve been given and wait for public health to contact you.

 

[kenkenk]

Thank you so much for your reply — I really appreciate your input.

You’re right that medical surveillance itself doesn’t directly impact the eligibility for a work permit renewal. What my lawyer meant, though, is that IRCC may not finalize or approve the work permit extension until medical surveillance has officially started or been completed, depending on how the officer interprets the status.

So the concern isn’t about being ineligible, but rather about how long the approval process could be delayed if there’s no progress on the medical surveillance file. My lawyer is encouraging me to try to enter the surveillance process as early as possible, so that by the time I apply or IRCC processes my work permit renewal, I would already have a clear record on file.

Before I came to Canada, I had to wait about 3 months for sputum test results, and even after submitting them, it still took another 4–5 months for my work permit to be approved. It took me nearly 12 months to get my work permit approved. So I’m trying to avoid another long delay if possible.

If anyone else in Canada has gone through the medical surveillance process recently, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience or advice. Thanks again!

 

[canuck78]

Thank you so much for your reply — I really appreciate your input.

You’re right that medical surveillance itself doesn’t directly impact the eligibility for a work permit renewal. What my lawyer meant, though, is that IRCC may not finalize or approve the work permit extension until medical surveillance has officially started or been completed, depending on how the officer interprets the status.

So the concern isn’t about being ineligible, but rather about how long the approval process could be delayed if there’s no progress on the medical surveillance file. My lawyer is encouraging me to try to enter the surveillance process as early as possible, so that by the time I apply or IRCC processes my work permit renewal, I would already have a clear record on file.

Before I came to Canada, I had to wait about 3 months for sputum test results, and even after submitting them, it still took another 4–5 months for my work permit to be approved. It took me nearly 12 months to get my work permit approved. So I’m trying to avoid another long delay if possible.

If anyone else in Canada has gone through the medical surveillance process recently, I’d really appreciate hearing your experience or advice. Thanks again!

Other than the 3 month delay for sputum culture and repeat chest x-ray your WP application was not impacted by concern about your TB status. The processing times for WPs are just ridiculously slow. As long as you contacted public health as you were required to do on arrival in Canada there will be no impact on your attempt to secure a WP extension. There is no expediting medical surveillance. If you were showing signs of an active TB infection like having fevers and persistent cough then I would contact public health but otherwise this is really not a big issue. Not sure why your lawyer is so concerned.

 

[kenkenk]

Hi everyone,


Just wanted to provide an update on my earlier post regarding medical surveillance and the uncertainty around when the process would begin.

1. A few days ago, I sent a short email to IRCC’s medical surveillance team asking when the next step would take place. Honestly, I didn’t expect a quick response.
2. To my surprise, I received a reply the very next day. They confirmed that my medical file had already been forwarded to the public health authorities in my area and advised me to contact them directly.
3. I called the local public health office as instructed. The staff were very kind and helpful — they verified my personal information and told me that the day I contacted them would be considered the official start of my medical surveillance.
4. They also mentioned that they would notify IRCC that I had made contact, and that someone would be assigned to my case. I was told to wait for a letter and referral form, which should arrive by mail in 1–2 weeks.

It was reassuring to see that once contact was established, the process moved forward clearly and professionally.