ohk7 said:
Thanks AJK_9
Long wait - i wonder if all secondary review cases pending for more than one year could jointly request CIC to help expedite.
One long year should be more thn enough to check recheck and deicde the course, if any more documents required or else??
best rgds
The main problem with attempting a joint effort is that the reasons why the application is in Secondary Review vary widely from individual to individual, and even when there are similar
issues involved, the specific circumstances and details in each respective individual's case have a big influence on how it goes and, in particular, what recourse there is in the Canadian legal system.
The overall slow processing of applications in SR may indeed be addressed by way of typical advocacy, ranging from petitions to letter campaigns, repeated pressure on MPs, and in particularly egregious cases perhaps the assistance of the media. But this will not accelerate the processing timeline for any particular individual.
Otherwise, the wheels of justice turn slowly. The vast majority of cases bogged down in the truly lengthy SR process involve real issues, notwithstanding protests to the contrary. The fact there are real issues does not justify inordinate, let alone excessive delays, but it does take the case off routine processing tracks and that inherently puts the case into unpredictable and highly variable non-routine processing. Note, however, if you read back through reports by those dragged into SR, you should note that for more than a few (tending to be those with the stronger cases) the process does not drag on so long. More than a few of those with strong residency cases, for example, have reported successfully applying for urgent processing (in appropriate circumstances) or otherwise their SR getting resolved sooner rather than later.
While it is impossible to get a clear statistical read, it appears most likely that the vast majority of SR cases which drag on for the extra-long haul tend to involve individuals whose history or patterns or circumstances suggest they have not fully settled into living in Canada permanently, or did so only recently. And of course these individuals tend to face higher risks of problems if they go abroad and apply for a PR Travel Document (which is what IRCC recommends if a PR's application for a PR card is bogged down in SR and the PR needs to travel abroad).
And remember,
Canadian PR status does not confer any international mobility rights. A PR's international mobility is entirely dependent on the PR's passport. So any complaints about not being able to travel internationally should be directed to the jurisdiction/government which issued the PR's passport, not to the Canadian government. International mobility rights in Canada specifically apply
only to Canadian citizens. (The grant of PR status does not confer or promise or in any way provide or protect an individual's international mobility.)
Immigrants who want Canadian protection of international mobility rights, including the right to leave and return to Canada, need to qualify for and obtain Canadian citizenship. The Canadian Charter of Rights gives PRs mobility rights
only within Canada.
And this, in turn, tends to mean the inconvenience of processing delays, insofar as the impact on Canadian rights and privileges, is considered relatively minor. In other words, so far as how the Canadian immigration system works, particularly since a PR does not need to possess a valid PR card, the impact of a delay in issuing a new card is considered relatively minor . . . recognizing, again, that the absence of a PR card does not impinge on any PR mobility rights as provided by Canadian law.
The practical impact is much larger, indeed, and while this can be presented as a basis for demanding reasonable processing times, my impression is that the courts are not likely to be receptive to claims about how important a PR card is for a PR whose history or circumstances do not support the conclusion the PR is fully-settled and living permanently in Canada.
Overall, the best approach to getting the PR card application processed timely is to be sure to be well-settled permanently in Canada for well more than two years prior to applying for the card, and of course to be living permanently in Canada while the application is pending. Sure, some will still encounter SR even in this scenario. But the odds of SR are much lower, and then the odds are the SR will not take nearly so long.
Beyond that, either following IRCC's advice, which is to travel and then obtain a PR TD for the return to Canada, or going to a lawyer to begin the process for seeking Mandamus relief, are more likely to accelerate a decision for a given individual . . . and again, some have been successful in applying for urgent processing.
