Processing time and expedited processing questions she

[Aboumichael]

Hi, I'm helping one lady from Saudi Arabia, who fled Saudi Arabia because of her faith. While on her way to NewZealand and in transit in Hong Kong she was stopped from continuing her trip. And to protect herself from getting extradited back to Saudi Arabia she applied as refugee with the UN in Hong Kong. She is locked there since 4 years. Her case in Hong Kong was rejected, and the appeal rejected and she is in danger of being extradited back to Saudi Arabia, where she will get a very long term prison and lashing and she is in a real danger of being killed for dishonourring her family.

She applied for Permanent residence under the private sponsorship of refugee, a church is sponsoring her.
It's already a year since she applied and so far no news.

1- Any rough idea how long these cases takes? And what to expect?
2- considering her case and the life threatening situation she would be in case she returned to Saudi Arabia, can't we ask for expedited processing? Isn't she considered woman at risk?

and can your firm help us getting an expedited processing?

Please any help is appreciated

 

[scylla]

1) Likely around 3-4 years based on the info on the CIC web site. http://www.cic.gc.ca/EnGLIsh/information/times/index.asp
2) There's no real expedite processing available. You can request it, but up to CIC if they consider it or not. The Hong Kong refusal significant complicates her case.

BTW: You aren't talking to a firm by posting here. Everyone on this forum is a normal person just like you. If you want legal immigration advice, you'll need to contact the immigration firm that owns this site via email or phone and pay for a consultation.

 

[Rob_TO]

Do you know what the reasons were that the UNHCR in Hong Kong rejected her refugee claim?

If a church is sponsoring her I assume this falls under "Community Sponsorship". It would seem the rejection from UNHCR may make her ineligible for sponsorship to Canada.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/sponsor/community.asp
Community Sponsors may only sponsor applicants who are recognized as refugees by either the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) or a foreign state.

The principal applicant MUST already have refugee status. Having refugee status means that an authorized body has found that a person meets its refugee definition. This authorized body can either be the UNHCR or the government of the country (i.e., foreign state) where the refugee is now living.

You must include the document proving recognized refugee status with the refugee sponsorship application you submit.