Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) now has a 30-day processing schedule for spousal applicants seeking Temporary Resident Visas (TRVs).
The rule applies to spouses who have already sought for permanent status in Canada. Rather than being required to remain in their home countries while awaiting IRCC’s judgment, applicants can now come to Canada while their application is being processed.
In short, Canadians and permanent residents with spouses and dependents abroad will be able to reunite with their family and start settling in their communities sooner.
Spouses and dependents on a TRV are not permitted to work or study in Canada unless they are granted permanent residence or a work or study permit.
On May 26, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser introduced the service standard in Vancouver. He went on to claim that spousal candidates had a TRV approval rate of more than 90%.
The high approval rating is attributed, in part, to IRCC’s expanded use of advanced analytics to pre-screen TRV applications before they are reviewed by an IRCC officer for a final judgment. Minister Fraser stated that the use of this technology enables the department to examine a variety of indicators on a person’s application to help determine the chance that they would be accepted for permanent residence and place them in a category that is more easily approved by IRCC officers.
Processing time for family class sponsorship
Permanent residence applications under family class sponsorship take 12 months to process. However, because spousal TRVs are now processed in 30 days and IRCC has a service standard of 60 days for work permits, it could take as little as three months (90 days) for a sponsored spouse, partner, or dependent child to arrive in Canada and begin working while they await IRCC’s decision on their permanent resident application. Any Canadian citizen or permanent resident who can sign an undertaking agreement to become financially responsible for the sponsored family for several years may be eligible to sponsor a spouse, common law partner, or conjugal partner for permanent residency. When there are dependent children to support, the amount of money required to sponsor changes.
Other family reunification measures
The TRV statement was issued alongside another, stating that spouse applicants and their dependant children who stay in Canada with their sponsor and have temporary residence status may be eligible for open work permits. They may apply for an Open Work Permit once they have completed an application for permanent residence with IRCC. Previously, spousal applicants could only apply for an open work visa if they were sponsored from within Canada.Fraser also stated that open work permit holders whose current permission expires between August 1st and the end of 2023 will be eligible for an 18-month extension through a free assisted process. This extension will apply to most temporary employees’ spouses and dependents, as well as international students’ and permanent resident candidates’ spouses.
