INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada or IRCC recently announced that the temporary policy allowing students to work more than 20 hours per week off campus ended on April 30, 2024, and therefore will not be extended. Starting September 2024, international students may work off campus per week to 24 hours. International students who have a scheduled academic break can continue working unlimited hours.
According to IRCC, studies in Canada and the US have shown a considerable decline in the academic performance of students who work over 28 hours per week. It also showed that working more than 24 hours a week increases the chances of students dropping out of their programs.
INCREASE OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE FEES STARTING APRIL 30, 2024
Processing fees for all permanent residence applications have increased on April 30, 2024. IRCC said these fees increase every 2 years to manage growing program and service delivery costs and to keep up with inflation.
Please see the chart below which lists the impacted programs and fee increases.
IMPROVING ESTIMATES FOR APPLICATION PROCESSING TIME
IRCC recently announced that they will now publish anticipated processing times online using forward-looking processing times.
This improved online processing tool will help applicants predict how long it will take to process a complete application.
Forward looking processing times are now available for the following applications:
- Canadian Experience Class
- Provincial Nominees Program (Express Entry and non-Express Entry)
- Federal Skilled Workers (Express Entry)
- Quebec Skilled Workers
- Citizenship Grants
- Citizenship Certificate ( Proof of Citizenship)
- Spouse or Common-law Partner living inside Canada
- Spouse or Common-law Partner or Conjugal Partner living outside Canada
- Parents or Grandparents
What does it mean “ Forward Looking processing times”? Forward looking processing times estimate how long clients applying today should expect to wait before a final decision is made on their application ( or to take the oath of citizenship, for citizenship grant applicants). The estimates will be updated monthly, and will provide realistic and up-to-date information so clients can make travel and life plans based on an accurate timeline.
You must be wondering how about the other types of applications. IRCC said that applications not listed above will continue to use backward -looking, historical processing times. Backward-looking processing times are calculated based on how long it took IRCC to process 80% of applications in the past 6 months for permanent residence programs, and 8 or 16 weeks for temporary residence programs.
IRCC advised that to those who are waiting for their application to be processed, the new forward-looking times may show estimates that are less than the amount of time that you have been waiting. The tool reflects the amount of time that a person submitting a new application today could expect to wait, starting at the end of the queue. This is due to various factors that impact IRCC’s projected processing times at any given point in the year.
IRCC advised do not reapply!
IRCC strongly advised not to re-apply as this will put your application at the end of the queue and it will take longer to process.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Contact Marjorie at [email protected]
A word of caution: You should not act or rely on the information provided in this column. It is not a legal advice. To ensure your interests are protected, retain, or formally seek advice from a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) in good standing of CICC. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RCIC’s.
