Fortunately, the minister approved the policy on June 28, approving the processing of the 7,307 applications that the ministry had earlier received. However, the minister’s approval does not mean that the stream will be opened. Instead, the department will not penalize the applicants for its system error.
Nonetheless, the Canadian government might divert a significant percentage of the intended resources from other lines of business since IRCC had no initial plans to process the extra volume.
There being no more details included in the memo, CIC News has reached out to IRCC media relations for more information. According to the federal government, the immigration department does not anticipate that the other TR to PR streams will also have an excess of applications. Additionally, the live counter is monitored, and applications submitted simultaneously might be manually synced to the database.
However, the Canadian government is anticipating a mixed response from the public. Though some responses might be positive, considering that applicants will not be denied this chance at a permanent residency, other individuals might consider the move unfair or beyond the scope of the policy’s original intention.
Fortunately, the new pathways received lots of media coverage. While some outlets said the rollout went relatively smooth given the project’s scope, other media outlets had concerns about the technical issues with the electronic payment system and the speed at which the intake cap was reached. Additionally, some student graduate applicants from abroad had concerns since they were unable to edit their submissions after applying. Inability to edit a submission after an application meant that the applicants might be disqualified if they made an error.
An IRCC spokesperson had previously communicated to CIC News that going forward, TR and PR applicants whose documents were missing or found to be incomplete would be directly called by immigration. Responding via email, ICRR stated that it would assess incomplete applications basing on the provided information. Additionally, the processing officer will directly contact the affected applicants if their respective documents and applications are either missing or incomplete at the time of review.
However, IRCC will not accept unsolicited documentation. Therefore, applicants are requested not to send any documentation unless requested by a processing officer.
