Plase read the attached article from Toronto Star and spread it to everywhere you know.
Unspoken policy weights `family class'
ALLAN THOMPSON
Bringing families together is supposed to be a cornerstone of Canada's immigration policy. So, how do we explain the fact that our immigration department seems to use red tape and stalling tactics to slow down the movement of some family class immigrants ― particularly parents and grandparents?
The law gives Canadian residents the right to apply to bring their spouses, dependent children, parents and grandparents to Canada under the "family class." But the backlog for family-class applications continues to grow, particularly in parts of Asia.
And while the law says nothing about which type of family-class applicant should get priority, immigration officials decided some time ago to make a distinction between applications involving spouses and children and those from parents and grandparents.
Some observers contend the decision to put applications from parents and grandparents on the back burner has no basis in law. They see this as a legal challenge waiting to happen. All it would take is for one savvy applicant to go to court and say, "Wait a minute, my parents paid nearly $1,500 each when they applied to come to Canada. Why are they at the back of the bus behind spouses and children?"
Canadian residents who sponsor their parents and grandparents eventually get a form letter in the mail advising them that applications for the family class far exceed the projected intake of immigrants and the immigration department's capacity to process files.
"Working within available resources often means making some difficult choices," the form letter reads. "While these choices may lead to increased inventories and longer processing times, they are decisions that must be made in order to maintain a balanced and sustainable immigration program.
"To meet the government's stated commitment to spouses, partners and dependent children while keeping economic immigrant landings as close as possible to our target, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has made those difficult decisions.
"At this time, we have unprecedented demand in the family-class program and some components of this class will experience growing processing times, particularly those for parents and grandparents."
Vancouver-based immigration lawyer and researcher Richard Kurland recently obtained new statistics from the immigration department: a breakdown of the current inventory of family-class applications for every overseas immigration processing post.
Kurland did some number-crunching on the inventory of family-class applications from parents and grandparents at each processing post, as of Nov. 26.
Every post operates with a "target" or quota of the number of applications it expects to process each year in every immigration category. Kurland compared the 2005 "target" for family-class applications involving parents and grandparents with the number of applications from parents and grandparents in the backlog.
In Beijing, for example, officials expect to grant visas this year to about 100 family-class cases involving parents and grandparents. But the post has 1,094 applications from parents and grandparents in the backlog ― a ratio of nearly 11 to one. Does that mean it will take 10 years or more for all of those applicants to make it to Canada?
Kurland's analysis turned up some disparities. For example, parents and grandparents immigrating from Mexico City, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Havana are likely to be approved in a fraction of the time it will take for applicants living in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Taipei.
Do the applicants in these Asian posts have any idea how long it will take for their files to be processed? Did they know this when they paid processing fees and the right of landing fee totalling $1,475 per adult?
The immigration department website gives limited information to applicants about how long the wait will be.
Immigration officials are aware of these regional disparities. They also know their policy of treating parents and grandparents differently than spouses and children is on shaky ground.
But what choice do they have?
The only way to cap family-class immigration at current levels ― so the majority of newcomers to Canada each year come in as skilled workers and independent immigrants ― is to use what amounts to red tape and stalling tactics to slow down the family-class flow.
It is not just that the immigration department doesn't have enough officers to process these files. A SWAT team of officers could descend on Asia to clean up the family-class backlog and hasten processing times.
But that would bloat the number of family-class immigrants coming into Canada and tip the balance between newcomers chosen for their skills and those chosen for their family ties.
Is that what we want from our immigration program?
If so, someone had better tell the politicians.
Otherwise, we should start being more honest and forthright with family-class applicants, particularly parents and grandparents.
The United States and Australia tell these applicants up front that it will be years before they can get an immigrant visa, if at all.
We tell our applicants to sign on the dotted line and pay their fees.
Unspoken policy weights `family class'
ALLAN THOMPSON
Bringing families together is supposed to be a cornerstone of Canada's immigration policy. So, how do we explain the fact that our immigration department seems to use red tape and stalling tactics to slow down the movement of some family class immigrants ― particularly parents and grandparents?
The law gives Canadian residents the right to apply to bring their spouses, dependent children, parents and grandparents to Canada under the "family class." But the backlog for family-class applications continues to grow, particularly in parts of Asia.
And while the law says nothing about which type of family-class applicant should get priority, immigration officials decided some time ago to make a distinction between applications involving spouses and children and those from parents and grandparents.
Some observers contend the decision to put applications from parents and grandparents on the back burner has no basis in law. They see this as a legal challenge waiting to happen. All it would take is for one savvy applicant to go to court and say, "Wait a minute, my parents paid nearly $1,500 each when they applied to come to Canada. Why are they at the back of the bus behind spouses and children?"
Canadian residents who sponsor their parents and grandparents eventually get a form letter in the mail advising them that applications for the family class far exceed the projected intake of immigrants and the immigration department's capacity to process files.
"Working within available resources often means making some difficult choices," the form letter reads. "While these choices may lead to increased inventories and longer processing times, they are decisions that must be made in order to maintain a balanced and sustainable immigration program.
"To meet the government's stated commitment to spouses, partners and dependent children while keeping economic immigrant landings as close as possible to our target, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has made those difficult decisions.
"At this time, we have unprecedented demand in the family-class program and some components of this class will experience growing processing times, particularly those for parents and grandparents."
Vancouver-based immigration lawyer and researcher Richard Kurland recently obtained new statistics from the immigration department: a breakdown of the current inventory of family-class applications for every overseas immigration processing post.
Kurland did some number-crunching on the inventory of family-class applications from parents and grandparents at each processing post, as of Nov. 26.
Every post operates with a "target" or quota of the number of applications it expects to process each year in every immigration category. Kurland compared the 2005 "target" for family-class applications involving parents and grandparents with the number of applications from parents and grandparents in the backlog.
In Beijing, for example, officials expect to grant visas this year to about 100 family-class cases involving parents and grandparents. But the post has 1,094 applications from parents and grandparents in the backlog ― a ratio of nearly 11 to one. Does that mean it will take 10 years or more for all of those applicants to make it to Canada?
Kurland's analysis turned up some disparities. For example, parents and grandparents immigrating from Mexico City, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Havana are likely to be approved in a fraction of the time it will take for applicants living in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Taipei.
Do the applicants in these Asian posts have any idea how long it will take for their files to be processed? Did they know this when they paid processing fees and the right of landing fee totalling $1,475 per adult?
The immigration department website gives limited information to applicants about how long the wait will be.
Immigration officials are aware of these regional disparities. They also know their policy of treating parents and grandparents differently than spouses and children is on shaky ground.
But what choice do they have?
The only way to cap family-class immigration at current levels ― so the majority of newcomers to Canada each year come in as skilled workers and independent immigrants ― is to use what amounts to red tape and stalling tactics to slow down the family-class flow.
It is not just that the immigration department doesn't have enough officers to process these files. A SWAT team of officers could descend on Asia to clean up the family-class backlog and hasten processing times.
But that would bloat the number of family-class immigrants coming into Canada and tip the balance between newcomers chosen for their skills and those chosen for their family ties.
Is that what we want from our immigration program?
If so, someone had better tell the politicians.
Otherwise, we should start being more honest and forthright with family-class applicants, particularly parents and grandparents.
The United States and Australia tell these applicants up front that it will be years before they can get an immigrant visa, if at all.
We tell our applicants to sign on the dotted line and pay their fees.
aniel.Vaughan@international.gc.ca] On Behalf Of 
