Operational Bulletin
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2016/ob634.asp
Randomized selection intake management process for sponsors of parents and grandparents
Summary
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will manage the intake of the parent and grandparent (PGP) sponsorship program differently than in the past. New Ministerial Instructions that come into force on January 1, 2017 have been issued to support the implementation of a new Randomized Selection Intake Management process while maintaining the cap of 10,000 complete applications.
Issue
The purpose of this OB is to provide instructions to staff on the new Randomized Selection Intake Management process that will govern application intake into the PGP program.
Background
Since January 2014, an application intake cap of 5,000 complete applications has been in place for the PGP and each year, the cap has been filled within days. Ministerial Instructions were published on February 27, 2016, to increase the cap from 5,000 to 10,000 applications.
The Program previously used the first-in first-out principle to accept applications for processing and many applicants used courier services to ensure that their applications arrived as quickly as possible at the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M) in order to be included in the cap. There have been concerns that courier services may give an unfair advantage to applicants who are able to pay additional courier fees, and, in turn, concerns regarding couriers potentially overcharging applicants.
In order to ensure that all clients have the same opportunity to have their application accepted for processing under the PGP program, and manage an intake cap of 10,000 applications, the Department has decided to launch a Randomized Selection Intake Management process. Under this process potential sponsors will have thirty days to indicate their interest in sponsoring their parent or grandparent and from among those who have indicated interest in sponsoring, the Department will randomly select 10,000 potential sponsors and invite them to apply to sponsor their parents or grandparents.
Procedures
The program will reopen annually at 12:00 noon Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the first working day of the year. Potential sponsors will have until 12:00 noon EST 30 days later to indicate their interest in making an application to sponsor their parent or grandparent using the
Interest to sponsor web form made available on IRCC’s website for that purpose. The
Interest to sponsor web form is not an application for sponsorship. Potential sponsors must complete all the required information on the form to be considered eligible for randomized selection.
Potential sponsors who are successful in submitting their web form
If the potential sponsor is successful in submitting their online
Interest to sponsor form, a computer generated confirmation number will appear on the webpage that the applicant is expected to retain.
Potential sponsors who are not successful in submitting their web form
Potential sponsors who fail to complete the required information on the web form or potential sponsors who experience technical issues and are unable to successfully transmit an
Interest to Sponsor form will see a message on their computer screen inviting them to try again later.
- Step 1:
The Interest to sponsor web form will be available beginning at noon, Eastern Standard Time on the first working day of the year.
Potential sponsor must complete the web form available on the IRCC’s website.
Note: Potential sponsors will have 30 days to express their interest in applying to be a sponsor in the PGP.
Potential sponsors who cannot fill out the form online due to exceptional circumstances including a disability must contact the IRCC Call Centre for a paper copy. The Call Centre will forward a referral to Immigration Program Guidance Branch and a paper copy will be mailed to the potential sponsor.
Description
The potential sponsor will provide the following information on the web form
- Last Name
- First Name
- Date of Birth
- Country of Birth
- Main Home Address
- Postal Code
- Email Address (email address to be used for future communication by the Department)
- E-signature
- Step 2:
Once a potential sponsor submits an Interest to sponsor form they will receive a confirmation number
Description
If the potential sponsor is successful in submitting their online form, a computer generated confirmation will appear on the webpage. This number must be included in the sponsor’s application form if they are among those randomly selected to apply.
If the potential sponsor’s online form is not successfully submitted, they will see an error message on the webpage, advising that their submission was not transmitted and they should try again later.
- Step 3:
Information submitted via the Interest to sponsor form will be automatically collected in a database.
Description
The potential sponsors bio-data information and alphanumerical ID will be automatically exported to a Master list in GCdocs.
- Step 4:
At the end of the 30 days, the Interest to sponsor form will close and duplicate Interest to sponsor forms will be removed.
Description
Centralized Network (CN-RHQ) will review the Master list and remove duplicate Interest to sponsor forms.
- Step 5:
CN-RHQ will provide the final number of Interest to sponsor forms received to Operations Performance and Planning (OPP) for randomization.
10,000 persons randomly selected will be invited to submit a complete application to sponsor their PGP to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M).
Persons not randomly selected will receive an email advising them that they were not chosen.
Description
OPP will randomly shuffle the numbers and provide CN-RHQ with the randomized list of numbers.
Persons who are not invited to submit an application to sponsor will be notified
Persons who are not randomly selected to apply will be notified via email and informed that they may submit an
Interest to sponsor when the program reopens.
Persons who are invited to submit an application to sponsor
If a potential sponsor is randomly selected, the person will be sent an email inviting them to submit an application. This invitation is not transferrable. The person who submitted the
Interest to sponsor form must be the sponsor or the application will not be accepted for processing.
The application must be:
- Complete
- Include all the supporting documents as per the document checklist (PDF, 251.35 KB), and
- Submitted within 90 days of the date the email was sent by IRCC inviting them to apply.
Note: all processing fees must be paid in full online.
Procedures to accept Parent and Grandparent applications into the cap.
All applications to sponsor a PGP must be sent to the CPC-M. Upon receipt of the application, CPC-M will verify that the person was invited to apply and that their information matches the associated information submitted on the web form. CPC-M must be satisfied that the person was invited to apply and that the information provided in the
Interest to sponsor form matches the information on the application and supporting documents.
The application will be checked for completeness as per sections 10 and 11 of the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). The Ministerial Instructions further require that applications include the documents required by the application package. Complete and documented applications from persons who were invited to apply will be accepted in the cap of 10,000,
provided they are received within the required timeframe.
Incomplete or undocumented applications will not be accepted into the cap and will be returned. The sponsor will not be issued another invitation to apply and will have to resubmit an Interest to sponsor form when PGP re-opens.
Randomly selected persons who do not submit their application to sponsor under the PGP within the prescribed time
Persons who fail to submit their applications to sponsor their parents or grandparents within 90 days of the day the email was sent to advise them that they were randomly selected to apply will no longer be eligible to have their application processed.
If their application is received after 90 days have passed, their application will be returned to them and they will have to resubmit an Interest to sponsor form when PGP re-opens.
Processing priorities
The Department will process applications to sponsor parents and grandparents received after persons have been invited to apply as per regular office procedures.