{"id":129017,"date":"2023-10-25T13:33:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T17:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/immigration.ca\/asylum-claimant-applications-surge-as-canada-waives-some-requirements-for-visitor-visas\/"},"modified":"2023-10-25T13:33:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T17:33:18","slug":"asylum-claimant-applications-surge-as-canada-waives-some-requirements-for-visitor-visas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/immigration.ca\/fr\/asylum-claimant-applications-surge-as-canada-waives-some-requirements-for-visitor-visas\/","title":{"rendered":"Asylum Claimant Applications Surge as Canada Waives Some Requirements for Visitor Visas\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Canada is witnessing a sudden rise in the number of asylum claimants<\/span><\/a> at domestic airports after Ottawa eased certain requirements for thousands of visitor visa<\/span><\/a> applicants.<\/p>\n

From January through September 2023, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) processed a total of 52,240 asylum claimants, which includes numbers from land, air, and marine ports of entry, and claims made at inland offices.<\/p>\n

Of these, 26,585 claims (which is roughly half of the total number of asylum claims processed by CBSA) were at airports, an increase of 54 percent from 2022\u2019s total. While numbers have been on the rise since last year, the trend accelerated in spring.<\/p>\n

1,595 applications were processed in March, which increased to 2,285 in the following month, and 4,350 in June.<\/p>\n

In March, Ottawa closed Roxham Road<\/span><\/a>, which is a popular route into Quebec for asylum seekers. Would-be claimants have thus started relying on finding new entry points into Canada.<\/p>\n

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The Globe and Mail Matt Lundy asserts that a less-publicized factor further contributed to this trend, however \u2013 Canada\u2019s waiving of some eligibility requirements for visitor visa applicants.<\/p>\n

In particular, they do not have to show the availability of sufficient funds or demonstrate that they will leave the country when their visas expire. Implemented on February 28, this policy is set to carry out through to the end of 2023 as a means to clear the immigration application backlog in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inventories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accumulated visitor visa inventory is limiting Canada\u2019s attractiveness for tourists and business persons, in addition to keeping families separated. Facilitating the processing of applications currently in the inventory by streamlining eligibility requirements will position Canada for a clean start and a return to pre-pandemic processing times, thereby ensuring our international competitiveness moving forward,\u201d read the IRCC website page on this public policy.<\/p>\n

IRCC was reported to be considering such a move in January, after a leaked government document outlined ways to reduce a large number of visa applications.<\/p>\n

The memo said that not all temporary resident visa (TRV) applicants would be \u201cgenuine visitors,\u201d and that in waiving eligibility requirements for those individuals, an additional 8,600 asylum claims could be sent in.<\/p>\n

Waiving eligibility requirements, as per the memo, would apply to 450,000 TRV applications in the system.<\/p>\n

Although Ottawa did not make any public disclosures till June, it went ahead with the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe percentage of people coming to Canada on a TRV and claiming asylum remains low compared to the overall volume of TRVs the department typically issues each year,\u201d IRCC spokesperson Mary Rose Sabater said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the current reality of increasing global migration, Canada, like many other countries, is experiencing a rise in the number of people claiming asylum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several experts have issued criticism on the expedited processing of applications, as they argue that IRCC is not screening visitors and putting additional burden on an already-struggling refugee system.<\/p>\n

IRCC\u2019s inventories had more than 2.6 million applications at times last year, including visitor visas, work and study permits, and permanent residency applications.<\/p>\n

As of August 31, 2.2 million applications are in the queue.<\/p>\n

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Watch video:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n