Canada to speed up processing for spousal sponsorship applications

Today, September 24, 2020, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, is announcing action to speed up spousal application processing by increasing the number of decision makers on spousal applications in Canada by 66%. IRCC will leverage on new technology in a pilot to digitize paper applications allowing the IRCC employees working remotely to process applications more quickly and efficiently.

In addition to implementing facilitative biometrics measures, IRCC will also be piloting technology to conduct interviews with applicants remotely in the upcoming weeks. IRCC aims to accelerate, prioritize and finalize approximately 6,000 spousal applications each month from October until December 2020. This initiative is expected to result to about 49,000 received decisions by the end of this year.

IRCC noted that the coronavirus pandemic has created uncertainty for Canadian citizens and permanent residents looking to sponsor their spouse. It will continue to seek innovative and compassionate ways to reunite families. Under the Immigration Levels Plan for 2020-2022, Canada targets to welcome 70,000 spouses, partners, and children in 2020.