Re: ***Petition to mayors to keep processing time consistent accross Canada***
Dear Sir/Madam:
We are citizenship applicants that have been severely affected by the delays and inconsistent timeline in processing time. We are from Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Vancouver, and anywhere else, that are deeply concerned about how CIC process our citizenship applications.
Delays in application processing, which range from 24 to 36 months, have left hundreds-thousand individuals waiting in limbo to take the final step in their journey to becoming Canadian. Since 2006, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) says that an increase in Canadian permanent residents has led to a 30% increase in demand for Canadian citizenship. Without sufficient resources to process this growing demand, significant backlogs have formed. While the government is taking steps to ensure that processing times are reduced, change has been slow for those already waiting in the queue. In June 2014, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-24, Citizenship Act Reforms.
The recent issues with citizenship application not only about delays, but also the huge gaps, or inconsistencies, in processing time and processing methods for different geographical areas in Canada. For examples, most applicants living in Atlantic provinces and Ontario enjoy a much faster processing timeline for citizenship test invitations and oath ceremony, upon their files received at CIC local offices. It’s been widely witnessed that most routine applicants in these areas finish the whole process in 6 to 12 months; whereas, in most Western cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina and Vancouver, the timeline for test invitations ranges from 12 months to 18 months, followed by an unpredictable number of months for oath calls.
We demand that all people living in Canada applying for citizenship be treated by government with due diligence on equality basis. It is undeniable that people living in all geographical areas of Canada, who are qualified for citizenship grants, have fulfilled their rights and responsibilities as Canadian residents, have paid the same percentage of tax as set out by government, have paid the same amount of application fees and all live within Canadian legal system.
We demand the Government of Canada and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to adequately investigate and address this issue in a timely manner, by:
· Adopt a one-line processing standards so applicants from all across Canada will be processed on first-come-first-served basis, by centralizing processing at one CIC office. Local offices will only need to host citizenship tests and oath ceremonies. This model is widely seen in USA, Australia, New Zealand, and most of European states.
· Re-distribute financial and manpower resources to the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Vancouver to rectify severe backlog issues at these offices immediately.
· Re-design citizenship grant processing model so that further backlog will not occur and the existing inventory be cleared as soon as possible.
· Implement changes that was adopted by Bill C-24, as promised, to bring the processing time down to under one year for all citizenship applicants nationwide.
We expect the management staff at local offices in affected areas as mentioned above to address your backlog concerns to CIC.
We expect all mayors of cities with affected citizenship applicants to follow up with the federal government for plans to fix the long overdue system that exists in your jurisdictions. All affected cities receive large shares of newcomers every year – a considerable portion of your jurisdiction are residents that have some sorts of immigration history. While immigration is within federal government’s scopes, keeping residents happy and being satisfied with government works are parts of your mandates as mayors.
Canada is an advanced first world country that attract immigrants worldwide. When it comes to citizenship applications for those who have devoted their many years for our country, allowing backlog to grow uncontrollably and ignoring consistency standards across the country are making Government of Canada less credible to immigrants in Canada and a shame to other peer countries.
Regards,
