Since they must give up the passport of their country of origin, people who have obtained refugee status are forced to apply for a special travel document to leave Canada. Gold, The duty has learned that the deadlines for obtaining it are exploding: more than 20,000 applications for travel documents for refugees (TVR) are still being processed, approximately half of which have exceeded the guaranteed deadlines of 20 working days. Some refugees who have to leave Canada urgently, particularly to attend funerals, have even been waiting for more than a year for their TVR.
“It’s serious, it’s very serious for a developed country like Canada,” he told Duty an immigration officer who wishes to remain anonymous because she is prohibited from speaking to journalists. This agent notes that more and more so-called “urgent” TVR requests, for example to go to the bedside of a loved one or attend a wedding, are not processed in time. “When I hear someone say […] that because she was waiting for this document, she was not able to see her living relative [ni même] going to his funeral, I find it serious. »
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as of November 15, 2023, some 6,000 TVR files filed in 2021-2022 had still not been completed.
Before, questions about deadlines could be counted on the fingers of one hand. “There, I have 10 or 15 a day. Colleagues too. So much so that, when we meet in a team meeting, everyone complains about it,” argues the agent.
Beyond frustration, she says she feels a lot of helplessness. “First of all, you are already anxious because you know that you have nothing to say to the person,” she admits. What do you say to him? “I’m sorry, is your document still being processed?” » She said she saw that TVRs requested urgently in 2021 had still not been delivered.
Several lawyers with whom The duty interviewed, they also observe that the delays are very long. “All refugees automatically request the TVR, even if they have no immediate intention of traveling, because they know that it takes a long time to obtain it,” notes Stéphanie Valois, co-president of the Association of Immigration Lawyers.
Requests that have gone unheeded for several months are strangely those that take the longest to come to fruition, she noted. However, this should only be a formality, according to Me Valois. “When customers tell me that they have been waiting for a year, the strategy is to resubmit a new request. »
More than a year of waiting
This is precisely what Erika did, who is on her third request for TVR for her child.
This Colombian refugee, who is withholding her last name so as not to harm her current procedures, requested in October 2022 a travel document for herself, her husband and her son. “We wanted to go to Mexico for Christmas to reunite with family members. It was the first time in four years that we could see them. » She and her husband obtained their TVR in less than a month. “But not my boy,” she explained. Even today, more than a year later, he is still waiting.
Scheduled for Christmas last year, the reunion trip had to be canceled. Since then, Erika has called and written almost every month, even every week, to IRCC to inquire about the status of the file. She even asked her MP’s office for help in trying to obtain more information. “The immigration officer said it took a long time, even for urgent cases,” Erika reports.
The submission of a second identical request last June yielded nothing. Erika hopes that the third one will be the right one. For her, the most frustrating thing is not having a clear idea of the deadlines. “If Immigration had told us it would take six months, we would have waited the six months without any problem. But we’re told it’s 20 working days and we’re supposed to be at the last stage. But we’ve been at the last stage for months! What is going on with the system? »
If Immigration had told us that it would take six months, we would have waited the six months without any problem. But we’re told it’s 20 working days and we’re supposed to be at the last stage. But we’ve been at the last stage for months! What is going on with the system?
Of Ugandan origin, Mike, who remains anonymous so as not to interfere with his current residency application, says he experienced the same stress in the face of IRCC’s radio silence. Last February, this refugee requested a travel document to be able to go to China, where he had studied for a doctorate, in order to recover personal effects and money left there in a bank account. “All you do is wait, and you get no answers, no emails, no nothing. You don’t know what happens to your request, he explained. I was anxious and confused. I did not know what to do. »
It wasn’t until late June that he learned the delay was due to a problem with his photo. “I finally got my travel document in August, six months later. But on the site, it said 30 days! » He was finally able to go to China, but it was too late: the apartment where he had lived had been emptied of his belongings.
Untreated emergencies
In addition to long delays, urgent requests are not processed… urgently. The three days of processing promised by IRCC often become months. “I have two cases [urgents] where it took 30 months,” says the Immigration Canada agent. In one of them, the plaintiff’s mother was very ill. “The woman just wanted to make sure she could see her mother one last time. It’s really sad. »
According to this agent, IRCC is unable to manage the large number of refugees who have arrived. “There is something happening, the deadlines are not good. » For her, such a batch of requests is not normal.
According to IRCC, as of December 12, approximately 300 so-called “urgent” files had still not been resolved. “In recent years, our offices have seen a significant increase in the number of requests and we have taken the necessary measures by recruiting additional staff,” we responded by email to Duty. In a small number of cases, the processing time may be longer, when we carry out validations such as security checks. »
For Benjamin Brunot, immigration lawyer for Juste humaine, there is “a lot of absurdities” surrounding the issuance of the TVR. During the pandemic, in particular, IRCC had issued this travel document by email. “We were able [de procéder ainsi] when the offices were closed for health reasons, but now that there is no longer a pandemic, the TVRs must be redone on paper and sent. It’s absurd,” said the lawyer. For his part, Me Stéphanie Valois would like to increase the validity period of the TVR, which is only one year, and to allow passport office staff to take care of it. “It’s not complicated, he would be able to treat them. »
Asked about the slow processing of applications, IRCC reiterated its commitment to respect its service standards, i.e. 20 working days, otherwise “the client will be reimbursed part of the costs”.