Nature of CSIS Advice to CIC
The Service's security screening assessments are provided as advice to
CIC in one of four forms:
No Reportable Trace (NRT)-a report given to CIC when the Service has no
adverse information on the immigration applicant.
Inadmissible Brief-advice provided when the Service has concluded, based
on information available to it, that the applicant meets the criteria
outlined in the security provisions of the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act.
Information Brief-advice provided by CSIS that it has information that
the applicant is or was involved in activities as described in the
security provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, but
that it is of the opinion that the applicant does not fall into the
class of persons deemed to be inadmissible under the Act.
Incidental Letter-provided to CIC when the Service has information that
the applicant is or was involved in non-security-related activities
described in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (for example,
war crimes or organized criminal activity) or any other matter of
relevance to the performance of duty by the Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, as set out in section 14( b) of the CSIS Act.
Immigration Security Screening Programs
Under the authority of sections 14 and 15 of the CSIS Act, the Service
conducts security screening investigations and provides advice to the
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Generally
speaking, the Service's assistance takes the form of information-
sharing on matters concerning threats to the security of Canada as
defined in section 2 of the CSIS Act and the form of "assessments" with
respect to the inadmissibility classes of the Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act.
Immigration requests for security screening resulted in 445 briefs from
CSIS to CIC-242 information briefs and 203 inadmissible briefs. Of those
requests, the median time required for a "no reportable trace" (NRT) was
57 days, for an information brief 400 days and for an inadmissible brief
461 days. For the year previous, the median figures were 55 days, 401
days and 498 days, respectively.
Unlike previous years, the Service reported on citizenship applications
as a separate category. An information brief with respect to a
citizenship application took a median time of 129 days.
Applications for Permanent Residence from Within Canada
The Service has the sole responsibility for screening immigrants and
refugees who apply for permanent residence status from within Canada. In
2008-2009 the Service received 33, 837 such screening requests. Of these
requests, 21, 950 were immigration applications and 11, 887 came through
the Refugee Determination Program.
According to the statistical information provided by the Service, the
time required for the Service to issue a recommendation on an
immigration application varies considerably depending on how the
application was filed. Those applications filed using the Electronic
Data Exchange from within Canada took a median of 45 days, and
electronic filings within the Refugee Determination Program took 55
days. For those applications filed on paper, the median turnaround time
for immigration applications from within Canada was 70 days; for
applications from the U. S. it was 150 days, and for paper applications
from within the Refugee Determination program 94 days.
Application for Permanent Residence from Outside Canada
Immigration and refugee applications for permanent residence that
originate outside Canada or the United States are managed by the
Overseas Immigrant Screening Program under which the Service shares
responsibility for security screening with CIC officials based abroad.
Generally, CSIS only becomes involved in the screening process either
upon being requested to do so by the Immigration Program Manager or upon
receiving adverse information about a case from established sources.
CSIS reports that this division of labour allows the Service to
concentrate on higher-risk cases.
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