A group of Canadian immigration lawyers threatened the immigration minister in a letter to take him to court due to the delay in examining immigration cases, especially in the field of spousal sponsorship. The letter calls on federal Immigration Minister Mark Miller to come up with a written plan within the next two weeks to reduce “unreasonable delays” for spousal sponsorships and to roll out the reduction in average processing times to all other provinces. Otherwise, they will complain to the court about the immigration department.
The Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association (AQAADI) also wants eight individual applications to be finalized within 30 days.
Lorien LaChapelle’s case is one of the eight mentioned in the letter. In 2022, he applied for spousal sponsorship. But nearly two years later, he still lives in his native Guatemala.
He also says that he applied for a tourist visa on five occasions, but each time his visa was rejected. He also added: “We want to be together, just have a normal life, but we can’t see when that will happen.
Quebec’s family reunification program is about 10,000 applicants a year – a cap not found in other provinces.
In March, Miller announced that Ottawa would bypass Quebec’s immigration cap to speed up the process, saying it would grant more than 20,000 people permanent residency.
This is the story of thousands of people who have tried to reach their families and are still undecided. As of October 1, 2023, the number of people waiting to receive permanent residence and family reunification in Quebec was more than 38,000. By February 1, that number had risen to more than 43,000, according to the Quebec Ministry of Immigration. Activists say that more than three quarters of these families who are waiting for the family reunification file experience anxiety and stress and spend the night and day without hope.
