Feds to fulfil pledge to drastically cut wait times for sponsorship spouses
OTTAWA — The length of time it takes to process spousal sponsorship applications for immigrants is dropping to months from years under a multimillion-dollar revamp of a key, the federal government said Wednesday.
Current wait times ranging from an average of 18 months for overseas applications to upwards of two years for spouses already in Canada will plunge to 12 months, Federal Immigration Minister John McCallum said.
“I have always felt it was wrong for the heavy hand of the Canadian state to keep people apart for two years,” McCallum said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The changes mean anyone with an application currently in the system will see a decision on their case by December 2017 at the latest, while about 80 per cent of new applications will be processed within the 12-month timeline.