Loulou79 said:
they have already increased the fees by more than the double. have they expedited the process as promised? NO. Whats the point then?
Aside from the fact that the fees are already a huge burden for many immigrants, especially those with families, actually processing times have decreased by a lot. That said, there was
NO promise to
"expedite" the process. Processing times were so long as to be unreasonable. The promise was to reduce those times toward more reasonable processing times, not to expedite applications generally. And indeed, processing times have improved (vastly so compared to two years ago).
Moreover, a huge part of the blame for lengthy processing times belongs to scores of applicants for citizenship, and similarly for scores of PRs applying for new PR cards, given the extent to which so many recklessly make an application even though they barely meet the minimum requirements. Consider how many citizenhship applications there were by applicants with less than 1150 days physical presence under the old requirements, and how many appear to be applying now with less than 1500 days physical presence under the current requirements. These applicants outright demand elevated scrutiny, further inquiries, and longer processing, all of which taxes the limited resources of IRCC resulting in longer processing times for everyone.
Similarly for the scores of PRs who are not actually
permanently residing in Canada, thus not really in fact
permanent residents, seeking to renew their Permanent Resident status card based on barely meeting the minimum residency obligation for retaining PR status. These individuals likewise share a huge amount of the blame for long PR card processing times, and yet ironically many in turn blame IRCC because their cases demand elevated scrutiny, further inquiries, and longer processing times . . . again, taxing the limited resources of IRCC resulting in longer processing times for everyone.
itsmyid said:
I fully support paying higher fees for expedite processing -- CIC always blames lack of funding and resources for slow processing, if some people want to pay more to get faster processing, it would provide extra funding for CIC to hire more people and invest in better technology, eventually make it faster for everybody, it is a win-win situation
As to increasing fees as a means of paying for faster service: that would be contrary to Canada's values. In Canada affluence, the ability to pay, should have little or no influence in providing government services.
While there are some services for which the federal and provincial governments do provide
expedited services for an additional fee, these are limited and in particular are available only for entirely administrative functions (such as provinces which will expedite issuance of marriage or birth certificates for an additional fee, or the federal government expediting the issuance of passports).
Relative to Canadian values, the concept of expedited processing of citizenship applications for an additional fee, in contrast, would be an anathema.
itsmyid said:
CIC is asking for suggestions
https://secure.cic.gc.ca/consultations/ViewsOnImmigration-en.aspx?_ga=1.91927386.1599696099.1330634748
Actually it is Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which is soliciting input from the public, recognizing that CIC has not existed since last year. The difference may seem to be largely symbolic, but as this particular action by IRCC illustrates, there are real substantive differences between how IRCC, under Liberal leadership, is approaching immigration compared to how CIC operated under Conservative leadership.
In terms of opportunities to make suggestions, in particular, CIC did things like make huge policy and practice changes without any input, none at all, not from the public, not from Parliament, not from the Conservative caucus even, not from stakeholders, not even any real input from those at CIC who did the work and had the experience in actually implementing immigration policies and practices. The most salient example of this was OB 407 in April 2012, which was so disastrous it nearly shut down citizenship application processing for six or eight months and resulted in a huge backlog of RQ'd cases (in which the overwhelming majority of applicants affected were qualified) that delayed citizenship for many tens of thousands, and for many the delay was more than a year, even two years or more. That scheme was conceived, drafted, and fully composed within a small circle in Harper's PMO, and it appears that much or most of it was designed by one person, Benjamin Perrin, in consultation with only Harper and Kenney.
All that said, I suspect many immigrants do not agree with what many or most of the Canadian public will advocate. Which is to acknowledge that the result of public consultations may have, in the view of many in a forum like this, a more negative impact on immigration policies and practices.
Points to advocate from my perspective:
I tend to steer clear of
how-it-should-be most of the time, so as to clearly separate observations about
how-it-really-is (toward helping some to navigate the process and, if possible, avoid pitfalls), but of course I do have some views about how this or that might be improved.
To my view, one of the biggest issues right now is that applicants for citizenship do not have a right to appeal a negative decision. The capacity to ask the Federal Court for permission to obtain judicial review does not provide sufficient judicial oversight of the process. It is particularly unfair given that IRCC does have a right of appeal.
Another huge area of unfairness is the current law regarding cessation of refugee status automatically resulting in loss of PR status, no matter how long the individual has been a PR, no matter how well or long established in Canada the PR is, and with no consideration for H&C factors. This was a draconian change implemented in December 2012, which similar to OB 407 was probably a Harper-Perrin-Kenney plan adopted and implemented with virtually no consultation outside the PMO. At the least, unless cessation proceedings have already been commenced, once such a PR is qualified for citizenship and applies for citizenship, that individual should be allowed to have his or her citizenship application processed and if qualified allowed to become a citizen.
And then there is the ongoing issue of transparency. While IRCC, under Liberal leadership, appears to be trending toward more transparency than there was under the Harper government, there is still a great deal of room for improvement. There will always be a tug-of-war between transparency and efficient governing, but people should be able to see how their government actually works.
