Permanent residents feel “held hostage” as they have been waiting for their permanent resident card for months. This step, which should only feel like “a piece of plastic”, as one of them put it, is in addition to “chain delays” and radio silence from the Federal Ministry of Immigration.
More than a dozen permanent residents told the Duty that they have been waiting for 4 to 12 months to receive this proof of their status. These delays have real consequences on their lives, they denounce.
For Mohamed Amine Daoud, this wait meant the breakdown of a romantic relationship. Arrived in 2013 to obtain a master’s degree in aerospace engineering, he lived on several different permits before obtaining permanent residence in February 2021, after almost two years of treatment.
“I thought the journey was coming to an end, but I’ve been waiting for the map for a year now,” he says, discouraged. A first card would have been sent to him on August 29, 2021, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC). “We are in February now, and still nothing. It is beyond my understanding, ”slips Mr. Daoud. In his home country, his girlfriend also “couldn’t understand” why he hadn’t visited her for more than two years, he said.
Bruno also says that he lost his grandfather after having to postpone a trip to wait for this card. “I didn’t have the chance to visit him one last time,” says the man who prefers to keep his real name secret to preserve his family’s privacy.
Without this small official rectangle, these new permanent residents fear that they will not be able to return to Canada.
Nathalie Dupouy has not seen her family for four years, postponing stays in France several times to wait for immigration papers. With his spouse, they have been waiting for their card for seven months: “We show that we want to live here. I work in a hospital, I haven’t stopped for a single minute for two years, I pay my taxes. Where is our file, fallen behind a piece of furniture? »
The only other option is to apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) in the very country where they are located. But this path is too uncertain and too long, say most of them. You must send an original passport to a Canadian consular representation and wait a minimum of 10 days before obtaining this title.
The majority of those interviewed have waited almost two years to obtain their permanent residence and are thus burned by the “erratic” and “unpredictable” bureaucracy of IRCC, in the words of Ms.me Dupouy.
“It’s just to print a piece of plastic, there are no more background checks to do”, also says Cédric Moula. He explains “very badly” this new delay: “We are traumatized by the delays in the chain and we have the impression that there will never be an end. »
No explanation
This card should indeed be only a rather mechanical formality, since they have already obtained a letter of confirmation of permanent residence.
In late May 2021, IRCC made it possible for new permanent residents to submit their photos electronically, a tool that was supposed to “speed up” the issuance of cards, a spokeswoman said. Duty last July.
Eight months after the portal went online, the situation is far from being resolved, as these testimonials show. The ministry had not been able to answer our questions at the time of this writing. It would take 89 days on average to receive that proof of status, according to its website, up 20 days from last summer.
It is also impossible for these new permanent residents to know if their file is progressing or even if the photos sent are valid, adding to the weight of uncertainty. “When we try to call, the line hangs up on us after an hour of waiting,” reports Mme Dupouy.
Mr. Moula resigned himself to making an access to information request, since nothing is posted in his IRCC online space. The only proof that his photos “did not fall into a bottomless pit” is a confirmation of receipt of registered mail issued by Canada Post, he points out ironically.
In a May report, the Information Commissioner concluded that such requests had indeed increased “dramatically”, as “requesters are unable to obtain the information they seek by other means “.
Laetitia Batut obtained “a human on the phone” at IRCC after calling relentlessly for days. “I’m told that it was printer problems that created this delay for my file,” she says.
An excuse that “is not valid” in his eyes: “They just have to buy printers. We feel held hostage and helpless during this time, ”says Mme Beat.
Her husband received his card in two weeks, but she has been waiting for almost five months. Another element that seems “completely random”, she says. Same case for the family of engineer Samia Tlili and that of Roger Pereira, where similar disparities occur in the same family unit.
“Did someone stop halfway through our case?” We do not understand how it is possible, ”also slips Bruno.
Last week, federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser confirmed investments of $85 million to hire more staff to “return to processing service standards,” including for permanent resident cards.
“It’s very heavy mentally, we feel abandoned while waiting,” retorts Mohamed Amine Daoud.