Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19
With the rapid growth of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada as well as globally, Canada has announced several protective measures to help individuals who might be affected by the virus. Although Canada has closed the border to most foreign nationals, IRCC has put in place special measures trying to limit the impact for immigration applicants as well as foreign workers and students. All in all, there is still positivity for individuals who is in the process of using one of Canada’s immigration programs. Helen Han of MacLean Law will be summarizing the details of Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19 in today’s blog.
Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19 -IRCC services and PNP services 1 877 602 9900
On the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s part, the online Web Form is still available for applicants who need to communicate with IRCC, despite their call centers being closed due to the COVID-19. Also, the applicants can still access pre-recorded information about the immigration programs as well as check their application status online. Here is the Canadian Government COVID 19 Coronavirus Bulletin.
Regarding the BC Provincial Nominee Program (“BC PNP”), the Vancouver office has temporarily closed its in-person inquiries service. However, email service is still available should you have any questions about BC PNP. Moreover, the BC PNP will continue to respond to email and telephone inquiries within 5 business days. Invitations to apply and Post-Nomination Support will continue to be processed; all types of applications are continued to be received and proceed. More details on Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19 will be found at https://www.welcomebc.ca/Immigrate-to-B-C/B-C-Provincial-Nominee-Program/COVID-19-Updates.
Immigration Exemptions for travel restrictions
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Canada is currently denying boarding to all foreign nationals who are not Permanent residents nor Canadian citizens, as well as some foreign nationals traveling from the US who have already been in the United States for the past 14 days and asymptomatic by air. As of midnight on March 20, 2020, Canada and the US have agreed to temporarily restrict all non-essential travel across the Canada-US land border.
However, there are certain other exemptions for Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19 according to the Canadian government which was announced on March 30, 2020:
Foreign workers:
All temporary foreign workers are exempt from travel restrictions and can travel to Canada by air or land.
International Students:
If you’re an international student who has a valid study permit or were approved for a study permit on or before March 18, 2020, you are exempt from the travel restrictions.
Visitors:
If you are a person such as registered under Canada’s Indian Act, a protected person, an immediate family member of a Canadian citizen or Permanent Residence in Canada, transiting passenger, etc. will be exempt from travel restrictions. More details can be found at Immigration Canada.
Approved permanent residents
If your PR application was approved and your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR) was issued on or before March 18, 2020, but you haven’t traveled to Canada yet, you will be exempt from travel restrictions.
Therefore, the international students, foreign workers and certain visitors such as spouses/common-law partners of Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents still can enter Canada if you pass a health check conducted by the airlines before boarding the plane. You must self-isolate for 14 days after you arrive in Canada.
Additional time to provide documents
For applicants who have submitted permanent/temporary residence applications, if IRCC requests for additional documents such as police certificates or certain actions such as taking medical exams, biometrics, IRCC will automatically have an extended deadline of 90 days to comply with those requests.
For candidates who received an Invitation to Apply for permanent residence through Express Entry, if they are missing documents necessary for passing the completeness check, they can still submit the PR application without these documents, if an explanation is provided.
According to IRCC, applications will not be refused or closed due to a lack of documentation during this critical time.
To summarize, as we face this difficult challenge, the IRCC and the BC PNP is taking steps to respond to the impacts of COVID-19, while doing their best to minimize the impact of immigration programs and maintain normal operations so that applications are still being processed. MacLean Law will also ensure that our immigration clients continue to receive the services they need from us.
Things are changing rapidly with COVID-19 and more additional measures or policies may be announced shortly. If your application is being processed but taking too long, or you are having difficulty contacting IRCC, contact MacLean Law Immigration at 1 877 602 9900 for advice, and our professional immigration team will provide you the best support on your applications. We will keep an eye on the news and share more information on Dealing with Immigration Matters During COVID-19 as we navigate through this difficult time. Stay tuned!
