Yes, you are fine so far

Do you think that it will not effect spouse sponsorship? If so, I am not planning to wait on my husband 3 years. I am going to States.

Hi Sam

The selection decision was made, so you have no worries. If you are residing in the US, CIC will probably extend the medicals an additional 3 months.

PMM

Spousal cases are processed at highest priority and what is happening with economic classes applications doesn't really affect spousal process.

Hi Andrew

What should prove interesting is where Dfait and CIC is going to get the staff to process the applications, with all the staff that were transfered to CBSA in December from the the POEs.

PMM

They probably won't even try to get new staff as annual targets won't be changed and all visa posts have enough resources to meet their quotas.

Settlement will only cause some delays for other cases, but it is only fair as those affected by sudden and retroactive change deserve their chance after waiting for so long. Currently reported processing times (rather short) are the direct result of those 100,000+ cases being put on hold and once they are back in the mill they will slow down processing for everyone. To what degree? It depends from visa post and the number of cases at a time. Spreading those cases over 3 years period will most likely prevent substantial delays, but some will be there.

The Quebec Immigration Service (SIQ) will likely not be pleased in that case.


Jeremy

I think one thing to remember is that the settlement would not take effect until April 2005 when a final decision is expected. I could be wrong, but the affected cases probably won't begin to be processed until that time; individuals covered by the settlement have until April to opt out, so they won't have a definitive "applicant pool" until April.

Based on the expert opinions given by Jim, Andrew, and PMM, it might be safe to say that those who receive a positive selection decision before April can expect to notice a minimal impact on the processing time of their case.

Let's all hope for the best...

Hi Miller,

I applied before 2002.

Now all pending cases who sumbitted application before 2002 will stop further processing until april 05 who did not receive selection decision. Should they wait upto 2008 for selection decision.

Please advise.

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Hi Mr. Miller,
I have been a long admirer of your responses and service that you have been offering to the immigrant community.

I didn't quite understand your reply. You mentioned that all pending cases at the time of settlement will be affected. The Class definition is:
"whose applications had not received a selection decision before April 1, 2003"

I applied in Oct 2001 and received Interview Waiver, did my medicals, paid RPRF and sent other required documents in April 2004. I am worried because I received a letter today from "Operational Coordination and Policy Liasion-Selection" regarding the law-suit.

Does receiving this letters imply that the settlement affects my application?

If yes, then what do you suggest for people like me who have been waiting for Passport request for month now. Should we opt-out of the said benefits of the settlement?

Thanks.

Lawsuit doesn't apply to your case.

Andrew

We have only just applied through London, got our AOR in Jul 04. I guess all these new cases coming back into the system will affect our processing time? We were hoping to hear something around Dec 05, interview or waiver. It's not that I begrudge all those people who have been waiting so long, but it's hugely frustrating for everyone else. Surely, London should ensure it has enough staff to cope with this? I've heard grumblings about Human Rights Act etc but I think it's a bit churlish when we're asking a country to take us in. Besides Canadian immigration don't actually have a legal obligation to process alications in a set amount of time do they?

Like everyone else I really appreciate your help, your comments were really useful when we were putting our application together. Just a pity about the sad people on some of the other forums. Please don't take offence and give up helping the rest of us.

Regards
Claire

There is no set time limit to process applications, it will take as long as needed. And yes, influx of cases being frozen for almost 2 years now will affect processing times for everyone. And no, adding staff won't help as visa posts already have sufficient staff and resources to meet their annual targets. And annual targets won't be changed to accomodate additional cases.

Andrew
So if CIC raise the pass mark from 67 to 72 (for example) to choke off demand, what's there to stop another lawsuit from those who have applications currently in the system with 67-71 points and who want to be assessed against the 'old' pass mark.

The other points I would make are:

- the thousands of people who will get visas under this 'deal' are by definition not the immigrants Canada wants, as they don't meet IRPA skill requirements. Correct?

- with delays of almost 10 years between application and visa, how many people will end up not using the visas they've been given due to changes in life circumstances meanwhile?

Jeremy

Hi JA

If the points are raised, it will only appear to effect applications submitted after Jan/01/02 (I stand to be corrected). What is going to delay things is that the applications effected by the propsed settlement will be governed by the previous Act and Regualtions. So unless CIC can get around it, (As there was not a ILETs requirement) to assess language ability is going to require an interview. Also you could select any number of NOC categories that you wished to be assessed against. Its gonna be fun.

PMM