I just got today a reply
CIC - Ministerial Enquiries Division/CIC - Service de renseignements ministériels
Dear Ms. _______:
I am replying to your letter of January 25, 2012, addressed to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, concerning processing times for applicants from Pakistan. I apologize for the delayed reply.
I understand your frustration at what appear to be unwarranted delays in issuing a permanent resident visa to your husband, ______. The many steps involved in processing an application, coupled with the volume of applications, sometimes make it difficult to conclude cases in as timely a manner as we would like.
Given the significant increase in all categories of applications, delays have occurred in processing applications in many of our offices, both in Canada and abroad.
Canadian visa offices from one country to another can vary significantly in regard to the size and nature of their respective workloads and it is impossible to provide the exact same level of service for every category of application at every visa office. At the same time, however, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) does strive to address imbalances and to make global service standards as equitable as possible. In that regard, CIC continually reviews the operations and performance of visa offices, monitors changes to missions' workload, analyses missions' human resource needs, and examines complaints to determine how and where service could be improved. I can assure you that your complaint will be considered carefully as part of CIC's on-going effort to improve the quality of service provided globally.
Your sponsorship application was sent to the visa office in Islamabad August, 2011. The processing time for the application starts when a completed application is received at the visa office. They will notify you if further information is required or when a decision is made.
Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to the Minister's attention. I trust that this information is helpful.
A. Korteweg
Ministerial Enquiries Division
This electronic address is not available for reply.