Perhaps you should reconsider your plan to postpone
Canadian immigration. Nevertheless, the facts that are
going to unravel here will definitely change your mind.
Canada is currently in the middle of the COVID-19
pandemic. Its borders are closed to discretionary
travel.Civil servants are largely working from home. The
Royal Bank of Canada is forecasting that 170,000 fewer
people will become immigrants than what was planned
pre-COVID-19. At the same time, many provinces have
begun reopening their economies. The Orders in Council
closing the Canada – US border and Canada’s airports to
international travel are supposed to expire on June 21 and
June 30 respectively.
Logically thinking,good news for prospective candidates
is that Express Entry-FSW Program is still the primary
program for Immigrants. CEC is only the secondary
mode.
Soon the gateways will open up and there are
speculations of the CRS going lower to make up for the
number of intakes that were affected in the last 3-4
months impacting the Immigration Levels plan.
Smart way is to have everything ready and to have your
profile running, to seize the opportunity while it
happens.
1. Backlogs
While the processing of most temporary residence applications has been
suspended during COVID-19 the ability of foreign nationals to submit
them has continued. The implication is obvious. When COVID-19 ends
there will be a massive backlog of applications. Significant processing
delays should be expected but if one sees them positively, they are still
ongoing.
Prior to COVID-19 the deadline to give biometrics after being instructed to
do so was 30 days. At the start of COVID-19 this was extended to 90 days.
New biometric instruction letters do not have a deadline. It would not be
surprising if applicants in the future will be told that they have six months
to provide biometrics until the backlog is clear.
Alternatively, and hopefully, IRCC may temporarily remove the biometrics
requirement for all applicants, as it recently did