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House Hansard - 195

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 11, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 195 - May/11/23
Mrs. Salma Zahid (Scarborough Centre, Lib.)
  • May/11/23 3:09:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have heard concerns from many constituents and members of the Pakistani community in Canada about processing times for temporary resident visas for Pakistani applicants. Currently the IRCC website gives a wait time of 802 days, compared to a few weeks for nearby countries. I know the Minister of Immigration is personally engaged on this issue. Could he please explain why this number is misleading, and what is really happening with processing times for Pakistan?
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Context: House Hansard - 195 - May/11/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/11/23 3:10:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her advocacy on behalf of the Canadian Pakistani community, as well as my other caucus colleagues who recently approached me to discuss this issue. I have good news. Today an application for a TRV from a Pakistani applicant is expected to take 60 days. We anticipate, very soon, returning to the 30-day standard we enjoyed before the pandemic. The website shows an extended period because we have gotten through such a significant volume, about 80,000 cases in recent months, that we are now tackling applications that were submitted during the pandemic when travel was not allowed. That is why we see an inflated wait time on the website, but the truth is things have improved dramatically and people should expect timely resolutions to their immigration decisions.
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