Don’t delay the family reunion

The New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow said that even though the applications are processed, married couples are being brutally separated from each other due to the cruel immigration policy.

The New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow said that even though the applications are processed, married couples are being brutally separated from each other due to the cruel immigration policy.

The immigration committee of the parliament adopted the motion of Chow on Wednesday to stop the deportation of spouses who are sponsored by Canadians. The motion will be the topic for debate in the House of Commons and it will be voted by the MPs in the spring.

Chow’s motion states that the Committee recommends the government to allow applicants without any serious criminal record, who have filed their first in-Canada spousal or common law sponsorship and accompanied permanent residency application to get immediate stay on removal and also be granted a temporary work permit till the time a decision is made on the application they have filed.

Chow said that the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) should primarily focus on deporting the criminals and not waste their time and resources tracking down spouses of Canadians who are not guilty of anything wrong. She said that the earlier, spouses were deported even while their applications were processed in spite of the fact that they were being sponsored by a Canadian, but this will not happen any more.

Under the present scenario, Canadian officials provide the applicants a grace period of sixty days, but if the decision on the application gets delayed beyond this time frame, the spouse can be deported.

New Democrat’s West Coast Citizenship and Immigration critic, Don Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway), said that this practice was harsh and used to waste the money of public. He said that when an applicant had to file the paperwork again from overseas, it delayed the reunion of the family.

He said that he is glad that common sense was acknowledged at the Immigration Committee.