In a bid to raise its economic and other related sectors, the country’s immigration department has announced plans to fully digitise its application process for the majority of those seeking permanent residency in Canada.
The Department of IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has also proposed exempting from a mandatory medical examination for applicants already in Canada. This will also apply to applicants who would seek to be either a permanent resident or apply for a temporary residence, if they meet certain criteria.
The IRCC department facilitates the arrival of immigrants from across the world and offers protection to refugees. Besides, it also provides programming arrangements in helping newcomers to settle in Canada.
A release from the IRCC department on Thursday, September 1, 2022 stated, “Access to the online application portal for clients has now been expanded to the majority of permanent residence applicants. IRCC will begin transitioning to 100 percent digital applications for most of our permanent residence programmes on September 23, with alternative formats available for people who require accommodations.”
It also cited the mention of the simplification of the medical examination required for those present in the country. Now the exemption from a mandatory medical examination would give a huge relief to about 180,000 applicants by ‘helping them save time and money on the medical examination process and reducing wait times on their applications’.
Both these measures are likely to benefit immigrants from India, as they comprise the largest source country for permanent residency.
As per 2021 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, Indians accounted for 42,876 permanent residents admitted in 2020, making for nearly a quarter of the total 184,606. The second largest source country was China, with 16,535.
The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Hon’ble Sean Fraser said, “As we look to strengthen our immigration system by updating our technology, people – our clients – must be at the centre of all that we do. By adding resources where they are needed, and leveraging technology to make processing faster and applying easier for our clients, we can give newcomers and new citizens the welcoming experience they deserve.”
With the augment of autumn in October later this year, IRCC will publish ‘forward-looking estimates of how long it will take to process an application, increasing predictability for applicants’, as stated in the release.
In a bid to expedite processing and provide newcomers with exciting experiences, IRCC is striving hard to modernise and digitalise its immigration system.
