The following message was sent to me by my MP. The text in bold is from a VO representative in Ankara. Nothing really new is included here except for the claim that they are still in the process of transferring files and that it should be completed by March.
"Many of you are eagerly looking for updates from the Damascus office about sponsor cases. I have done a more general inquiry with their office to try and get some information on the status of files that are in the process of being transferred. This is the update I received and I thought I would pass on the information to you:"
Due to the closure of the Visa Section of the Canadian Embassy in Damascus, active Permanent Residence applications have been transferred as outlined below:
Citizens and Residents of Iran
• All Permanent Resident applications have been transferred to Ankara, Turkey.
Citizens and Residents of Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
• Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Business Immigration Categories – All applications have been transferred to Ankara.
• Quebec, Provincial Nominee, and Family Class Sponsorship categories – Applications have been transferred to the following offices:
o Amman – Jordan, Syria, Iraq
o Beirut – Lebanon
o Tel Aviv – Cyprus
We are currently in the process of transferring several thousand files - physically and electronically - to the correct offices. This is taking some time, but we do expect to have the task completed in March. As you noted, processing times in Ankara have historically been much quicker than in Damascus. It is too soon for us to say what processing times will be in the future, but there is little hope that they will be reduced in the short term.
Please be assured that we will contact the applicants as soon as we are able to advance their files to the next stage of processing.
I will continue to update you on any more information I receive.
"Many of you are eagerly looking for updates from the Damascus office about sponsor cases. I have done a more general inquiry with their office to try and get some information on the status of files that are in the process of being transferred. This is the update I received and I thought I would pass on the information to you:"
Due to the closure of the Visa Section of the Canadian Embassy in Damascus, active Permanent Residence applications have been transferred as outlined below:
Citizens and Residents of Iran
• All Permanent Resident applications have been transferred to Ankara, Turkey.
Citizens and Residents of Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
• Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Business Immigration Categories – All applications have been transferred to Ankara.
• Quebec, Provincial Nominee, and Family Class Sponsorship categories – Applications have been transferred to the following offices:
o Amman – Jordan, Syria, Iraq
o Beirut – Lebanon
o Tel Aviv – Cyprus
We are currently in the process of transferring several thousand files - physically and electronically - to the correct offices. This is taking some time, but we do expect to have the task completed in March. As you noted, processing times in Ankara have historically been much quicker than in Damascus. It is too soon for us to say what processing times will be in the future, but there is little hope that they will be reduced in the short term.
Please be assured that we will contact the applicants as soon as we are able to advance their files to the next stage of processing.
I will continue to update you on any more information I receive.
