I emailed them about the processing time and they replied
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Dear ******:
I am replying to your email of *****, 2013, addressed to the Honourable Jason Kenney, former Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, concerning the processing times for applications for permanent residence.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) reviews all applications objectively and consistently to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all applicants. We assess each application on its own merit against the program requirements. CIC is committed to providing the best possible service to all clients within the context of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its Regulations, and that the decisions are neither discriminatory nor arbitrary.
Providing clients with as efficient and timely service as possible is one of this department’s major commitments. However, as with all Canadian government departments, CIC must administer its resources responsibly within its financial capacities and within the parameters of the immigration plan tabled annually in Parliament.
Applicants may wait longer at one office than that in another region. Some visa offices have a large inventory of applications waiting to be processed because the demand to migrate to Canada is greater in some countries than in others. Once visa officers start processing an application, however, the actual processing time in almost all cases is less than a year. This reflects the time it takes to verify the information in an application and make sure that the proper medical and security checks, required by law, have been done. The biggest factor affecting wait times is the number of applications waiting to be processed at a particular visa office. Other factors include the length of time it takes an applicant to complete a medical examination, and submit all the required documentation, and whether an interview is required.
Each visa office throughout CIC’s overseas network faces unique program challenges that reflect the type and volume of requests for immigrant and citizenship services processed, issues related to the extent of territorial responsibility, program integrity concerns and the infrastructure capacities of the region in which they work.
Many visa offices – including the ones in Pakistan - face exceptional processing challenges in delivering its programs, including a large geographic area of responsibility, regional security concerns that can restrict area travel, poor local infrastructure, including communications, throughout the region that negatively impacts on contact with clients and document reliability concerns that necessitates a high percentage of interviews and, in a large number of certain applications, DNA testing to establish relationships. All these challenges add to the length of processing times for the various applications submitted.
Please note that during the job action taken by the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers union members, CIC continues to closely monitor the situation and all visa offices remain open and continue to provide service to clients and process visas. Urgent humanitarian visa applications continue to be processed on a priority basis.
I hope that this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
G. Holmes
Ministerial Enquiries Division
