Canada - October 2005 Immigration News Headlines

Canada speeds up immigration for Pakistan's quake affected

Published on: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 11:31:41 GMT

Ottawa, Oct 14 : The Canadian government has announced a slew of fast track measures to expedite the immigration process for family members of Canadians seriously affected by Pakistan's Oct 8 earthquake. "The Government of Canada is committed to helping reunite close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are seriously and personally affected by the earthquake," said Citizenship and Immigration Minister Joe Volpe in a press statement.

"Immigration officials acted quickly after the tsunami and are taking a similar approach to this crisis," he said. As it did after the Dec 26 South Asian tsunami disaster, the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has decided to expedite existing Family Class immigration applications under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act for the immediate family members of individuals badly affected by the earthquake. The release said priority was being given to spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners and dependent children. It added that new applications under the Family Class would be dealt with as expeditiously as possible. The department will also be considering, on a case-by-case basis, other close family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents who are seriously and personally affected by the disaster. All medical and security requirements will be respected. CIC will also be waiving new application processing fees and the Right of Permanent Resident fee for persons seriously and personally affected by the disaster.

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