Looks like proposed immigration changes will happen ...

[Richter]

Latest news on proposed changes to immigration:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/435822

[Papafaith]

Richter, i have a feeling this will not benefit those of us that applied before Feb 08, bcos the new law says those in queue will continue to be treated with the old rules, that means we will continue to be on the queue, while those who apply after , under the discretion of the immigration officer can be processed before anyone else.
Can you please clarufy this.

[Richter]

The way I see it, from info given out so far on the new proposals, is that those in the queue (pre 27 Feb 07) will not be subject to the new rules and processing will go on as before - every application will be processed.

My understanding is that those in the queue after that date may be processed or may have their application returned to them immediately if they do not meet the criteria (ie required job). But I have read that these people will not be processed until the backlog has been cleared. So, everyone in the 5-year queue will be processed before they reach the post Feb 07 applications.

I have also heard that resources could be put in place to speed up the 5-year queue. One comment I read was that they were trying to drastically reduce post Feb 07 applications so the queue doesn't continue to grow too much, then they are going to focus on the 5-year queue.

It's all speculation at the moment isn't it?

[Richter]

... sorry, meant Feb 08 of course.

It's interesting that CHC are saying they are currently processing Oct/Nov 05 applications, but they are actually well into Feb 06 applicaitons and they are issuing 60-day letters as well as 90-day letters. Things do appear to be speeding up, but I think they are trying to manage expectations,

[Papafaith]

Thanks for the explanation.

[meshell230]

It seems everyone keeps saying that the application process is taking upto 5 years but i have just sent off our forms and was told it would be a maximum of 18 months before they started to process them do you know how long this takes as the phone message said 3 to 6 months, do you know if this is true??
Many thanks

[Richter]

When you get your AOR (acknowledgement of receipt) confirming they have your application and cheque it will tell you when they are likely to start processing your application. If you have applied for a skilled worker visa (with no job lined up) via London office it will most likely say 42-48 months. If you have applied for a work permit, family visa or other, times are different.