According to this article from the Toronto Star, legal action has been filed against the Canadian government for taking too long to process immigration applications.
Imagine filing a Canadian immigration application between 2004 and 2008, and still not having any word on whether the application was approved or denied – because they haven’t gotten to it yet.
Then, imagine a new law created in 2008 to fast-track skilled worker applications – new ones – when yours has been sitting there all along.
An estimated backlog of 900,00 immigration applications has caused almost 300 people to file legal notices against Citizenship and Immigration Canada for not processing their immigration applications in a timely manner, despite having accepted application processing fees. And some are even accusing the government of not bothering with older applications at all anymore.
So far, the federal court has not said whether or not they would hear the cases, but they have confirmed that they have received the notice.
In 2003, the federal government paid out a multi-million dollar settlement to applicants after a similar rule that pushed aside pre-existing applications was removed. The current filing is not a lawsuit so there would not be a settlement, just a court ruling.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
