Deadlines For Document Submission To IRCC During The Pandemic
With over a year into the grip of a global pandemic, and no
clear ending in site, immigration applicants to Canada are facing
delays due to general closures and other COVID-19 related issues.
It is certainly difficult to gather all necessary documents in
support of a candidate’s application if the institutions and
public offices who would normally be issuing them are closed until
further notice. Equally frustrating are irregular operating
schedules and in some cases, full closures of consular services and
VAC offices, which make it impossible to send a passport for visa
stamping, or submit biometric information, and thus complete
application processing.
The problem is particularly stark in India, where the recent
drastic increase in COVID-19 cases has forced the Canadian High
Commission to announce the closure of all but most urgent consular
services on May 3. Consequently, VFS centres closed for regular
services indefinitely. This echoes similar measures last year, when
VFS centres in India were closed during the beginning of the
pandemic [in March 2020], only to finally reopen in late November.
Although there are no official directives on when the centres will
reopen, and thus many people are left with no concrete idea of how
long they will have to wait for the processing of their
applications, there are some positive developments that should at
least alleviate some concern. When services resume, VFS centres
will waive deadlines for passport submission and biometric
collection (30 days and 90 days respectively). This means that no
further action is required from applicants presently, and the
letters they have received will be valid despite expired dates once
things get back to normal.
This scenario does not apply to all countries. In countries
where VACs have already reopened, there is no longer a blanket
waiver of deadlines and candidates are expected to produce the
required documents on time. In those circumstances, IRCC will
contact each candidate to request the required documents if
available or give them an opportunity to provide a reasonable
explanation of how COVID-19 related disruption prevents them from
obtaining the required information. IRCC will try to be as flexible
as possible in granting extensions of time, but they will be
looking for explanations like “city-wide pandemic lockdown
forced closures”, or “temporary closure of regional
VAC” in order to grant the request. Requests that IRCC
determines are reasonable will receive an additional 30-day
extension. If IRCC does not deem the justification reasonable, they
will finish processing the application based on information they
have on file, which may likely result in a refusal.
Best advice to applicants affected by this situation is to keep
consulting IRCC’s website for current information. If unsure of
how to proceed, consult an immigration lawyer who can help you
identify and navigate the rules that apply to your situation.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.