One of the founding principles of Canadian immigration is the reunification of families within Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, led by Minister Chris Alexander, intends to make this easier by reducing serious immigration backlogs throughout the system.
In particular the backlog in parent and grandparent super visas is receiving most of the focus.
Parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents can come to visit in Canada for rather lengthy periods of time with the PGP super visa. The super visa also remains valid for ten years.
Previously, Citizenship and Immigration Canada had a very difficult time handling the sheer popularity of the program and the backlog was becoming uncontrollable.
“Had no action been taken, it was predicted that the backlog could increase to 250,000 persons with wait times of 15 years by 2015,” according to a Citizenship and Immigration Canada News release “Because of the Government’s aggressive actions, wait times are now expected to be just one fifth of that time.”
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced that the backlog will be reduced by fifty percent by the end of this year, further reducing the total wait time. In addition, a further 20,000 super visas will be issued to parents and grandparents in 2014.
The increase of visa issuance is a result of the sheer popularity and so far 26,000 visas have been granted for this program.
Although the super-visa is not technically an immigration visa (as it does not confer permanent status to the holders) it is still a highly effective visa category. It allows its holders to live in Canada for periods of two years at a time.
This is a longer period of time than allowed for any other visa category.
Interested applicants should inquire with Citizenship and Immigration Canada for more information regarding the program.
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