Canada proposes changes to Refugee Program

Giving details about the plans, Canada immigration minister Jason Kenney said such steps will help in cutting long backlogs leading to efficient PSR Program (Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program) while making the processing of Canada refugee applications faster.

Submission of forms together to cut delays in PSR Program—However, to avoid any incidence of delays in the processing of Canada refugee applications, all applicants need to submit both permanent resident application as well as sponsorship application form together to Canada immigration department-Citizenship and Immigration Canada(CIC).

Hence, all incomplete application forms will be rejected by the Canada immigration department.

Who can sponsor refugees under Refugee Resettlement Program—Following are eligible for submission of applications sponsoring refugees from overseas---

• CS(Community Sponsors- organizations without having signed any formal agreements with CIC);

• Private Sponsors;

• Group of five or more Canada permanent residents or Canada citizens commonly known as G5s (Groups of Five).

Main aim of proposed reforms to Canada Private Sponsorship of Refugee Program is to invite fewer but high quality applicants in the CS and G5 categories. Moreover, the CIC also wants to increase acceptance rate of such applications, improving efficiency

CSs or G5s are individuals of groups that provide a commitment to offer financial settlement assistance to refugees for a period of one year or even greater until they are in a position to financially support themselves, whichever is first.

Meanwhile, as part of the new regulations, CSs and G5s will not be allowed to offer sponsorship to applicants who deem to have recognition of being refugees either by a state or the UN (United Nations) High Commissioner.

Refusal of applications by CIC—Majority of the applications getting refused by Canada immigration department CIC are due to invalid or incredible refugee claims submitted by CSs or G5s.

As per present Canada immigration rules, two or more CS or G5 applications are reviewed by Canada visa officials for each application accepted.

Recent figures show that the number of applications received under Canada Private Sponsorship of Refugee Program are almost double than those received in the year 2000, informed immigration minister Kenney.

Hence, the need is to attract only high-quality applications to ensure priorities of private sponsor groups and protection requirement of refugees, he affirmed.