Below is the reply that my husband received for the personal message that we had sent them several times to reduce the application processing time for Family Sponsership.
Dear XXXXXX:
I am replying to your correspondence of January XX, 2016 to the Prime Minister and to your emails of June XX, July XX, and September XX, 2016, addressed to the Honourable John McCallum, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, concerning delays in spousal sponsorship.
Please be assured that Citizenship and Immigration Canada 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.
We realize that those who have submitted their applications look forward to a decision being rendered within a reasonable waiting period after applying. We make every effort to deal with the applications we receive in the most efficient and effective way.
Family Class applicants are assessed under relaxed criteria. In addition to meeting the statutory requirements of being in good health and of good character, the visa officer must be satisfied that the applicant is not inadmissible to Canada and, in the case of spouses and common-law or conjugal partners, that the relationship is genuine and not entered into for immigration purposes only.
Family reunification is a core government priority. To this end, we have extended the pilot program which gives open work permits to eligible spouses or partners in Canada, whose in-Canada sponsorship applications have already been submitted. This allows applicants to work, provide for their families and contribute to the Canadian economy while waiting for their applications to be processed - 13,500 have taken advantage of this program and the numbers continue to rise (as of Dec. 31, 2015).
The increase in family class levels for 2016 will significantly reduce application inventories in this category. More families will be reunited with an increase in admissions for programs in the Family Class to between 75,000 – 82,000 admissions planned. This is higher than 2015 levels of 63,000 – 68,000 planned admissions.
The 2016 Annual Immigration Levels Plan will reduce the backlog and improve processing times in multiple programs, especially in the Family Class, by processing more applications and admitting 300,000 new permanent residents.
Regrettably, the Minister’s schedule does not allow him to meet with you at this time.
Thank you for writing and expressing your concerns. I trust that this information is of assistance.
