Twitcher1958

Anyone see this in the Star recently?

ttps://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2017/09/10/customer-service-a-new-concept-for-canadas-immigration-department.html

Just a taste:
One surprising finding was that those interviewed said they were more concerned with the department’s reluctance to disclose information during the waiting period then they were with the actual length of the processing time.
“This was the most important revelation for the department. To learn from them saying, ‘we can live with 12 months, but what we really want to know is what’s happening over the course of the 12-month period’ and the sense of assurance they are seeking from us is something we hadn’t anticipated,” noted Lattimore, who worked at Service Canada and Passport Canada before joining the Immigration Department’s program integrity branch in 2010.
“They have no clue what’s going on. They don’t know if we’ve forgotten about them. They don’t know if we need other information. They are worried they’ve missed an email or a letter. Processing times take what they take and we don’t need to get in touch with clients every week but that paralysis impacts their lives more significantly than processing time itself.”

Hopefully we'll see some changes!

BristolUK

My first reaction to this is disbelief. But then I think "no it's not really" which is quite damning.

I'm renewing my PR Card right now. There's no urgency at all and I'm not getting worried but the processing time has been quoted as 63 days, unchanged for well over a month. Last week I looked and it said they were currently working on applications received about 70 days earlier.

Now it shows working on applications 63 days ago, so maybe back on schedule.

You can check status but there's only something showing when they start processing it.

So, to sum up, it takes them 7 weeks to process it and you can check the status only 7 weeks after they've had it, by which time it's likely finished with.

This is a perfect illustration of the point made. You spend 2 months wondering if they got it?; was there something missing?; is there a query?; and, if you need it soon, you worry about it.

How difficult would it be to have it at least registered upon receipt?

PMM

HI

1. my question would be "do you want IRCC to process the applications or to take time away from processing (thus increasing processing times) to report on every action?"

kimilseung

The only time involved should be the set up of the system, no additional time should be required from anyone really. As the triggers are hit at each stage a notification can be sent. Seamless and opaque to those doing the processing.

BristolUK

It's a case of finding the right balance.

Some sort of indication that these things are underway - forms received, all docs checked off on the document checklist are present, that sort of thing. Maybe even a progress bar like on mail tracking.

It may take a little extra time to do but then it would likely save time through not having to deal with the inevitable "what's happening?" interruptions from anxious people.

In terms of sponsorship/PR, it was a long time ago for me but there was a certain indication of progress wasn't there?

Twitcher1958

I think you're right on finding a balance, and not deflecting effort away from processing.
I seem to remember it being a black hole, with no info coming back, but in the meantime reading 'horror stories' on BE and elsewhere of rejected applications. It's inevitable that you wonder whether you have done everything correctly so I would have appreciated an automatic message along the way, saying things were on track. I think there was an initial acknowledgment of receipt, but nothing after that until approval.

BristolUK

My PR card renewal has now been cleared - in the target time of 63 days but status only checkable during the final 5 days, which is not really much good from a reassurance side of things. I've thought a little more about this. My first reaction was based on 30+ years in the UK civil service which, with it's well publicised complaints and compensation procedures, charters and other fluffy things became very customer service influenced as long ago as the 80s.

I've always felt that in Canada there's this "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" (but it is broke) "it's the way it is" approach to everything. I know I'm not alone in this.

And re-reading the article there's a part that's maybe illuminating.

So she's surprised to discover the dissatisfaction with being left in the dark.

I can't help but think that in those first two roles she's essentially been dealing with Canadians and now she's dealing with non-Canadians.

No wonder she's discovering people who believe it doesn't have to be the way it is.

In the absence of a smug smilie...

bc2015

Arguably by generating more updates they might also invite more enquiries.

Vulcanoid

It's unfortunate I was reading this in the library; having dealt many many times with the tender minions of HMRC, I wouldn't ascribe a single one of those attributes to the UK civil service

BristolUK

Ah, well, individuals will sometimes behave like an individual despite charters and objectives. I had a couple of colleagues who took great delight in being obstructive

It's the openness and systems I'm speaking of not the individuals. There was something you could do about poor service and sometimes compensation to make good losses resulting from poor service.