Question Period Note: COVID-19 MEASURES FOR FOREIGN NATIONALS OUTSIDE CANADA

IRCC has put several measures in place due to Government of Canada travel restrictions implemented and the temporary pause of most visitor applications in response to COVID-19.

• Due to COVID-19, Canada put in place a number of measures, including travel restrictions, to protect the health, safety and security of Canadians.

• Certain foreign nationals whose travel is non-discretionary during the COVID-19 pandemic are exempted from the restrictions. These include temporary foreign workers in essential occupations and international students with a valid study permit or who were approved for a study permit on or before March 18, 2020.

• As well, to better support families in Canada, the Government has updated its rules to make it easier for immediate family members, such as spouses, partners or children, of Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents to travel to the country.

• Under the limited exemption, these family members can come to Canada, provided they are admissible and are staying in the country for at least 15 days. They must also meet all mandatory public health protocols and measures, including going into mandatory quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Canada.

• Given the current circumstances, the Department will not refuse any application in progress if clients are unable to submit a complete application, or to provide requested documents, biometrics, or proof of a medical exam. Applicants are being given more time to complete these steps.

• In addition, to support the Canadian agricultural and agri-food sector, seasonal agricultural worker applicants will be able to give their biometrics on arrival at a Canadian port of entry.

Visitor Processing (Temporary Resident Visas and Electronic Travel Authorizations):

• Ministerial Instructions were signed on April 9th to temporarily suspend the processing of non-essential (discretionary) temporary resident visas (TRVs) and electronic travel authorizations that cannot be automatically approved. These were put in place to allow IRCC to assess the impact of the travel restrictions and focus its resources on serving those clients who are still eligible to travel to Canada given limited processing capacity at offices both in Canada and overseas. These Ministerial Instructions are in force until June 9th, 2020.

• Under the Ministerial Instructions, only applicants who self-identify as meeting one of the exemption criteria and who are travelling for an essential (non-discretionary) purpose will be processed; this includes both new applications and those whose applications are currently pending. Application fees still apply and applicants must continue to meet all eligibility and admissibility requirements as per the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).

• Approved applicants will be granted multiple entry TRVs valid for 10 years or until passport expiry, whichever comes first. eTAs are also multiple-entry and valid for 5 years or until passport expiry, whichever comes first.

• In exceptional circumstances, only when a physical counterfoil cannot be issued as per regular procedures due to the closure of IRCC Migration Offices or Visa Application Centres overseas, the Department has developed a process, in collaboration with the Canada Border Services Agency, to issue counterfoil-less visas of short duration to permit travel to Canada.

• All in-progress TRV and eTA applications submitted prior to the temporary suspension on processing will remain on hold (with the exception of those that meet the travel restriction exemptions), while study or work permit applications submitted online will continue to be processed, albeit at a reduced capacity.

• Applications for clients who do not meet a travel restriction exemption or who are deemed to be travelling for a non-essential (discretionary) purpose will remain open. They will be assessed for eligibility and admissibility once normal operations resume.

International Students:

• Foreign nationals who hold a valid Canadian study permit or who were issued a letter of introduction dated on or before March 18, 2020, are exempt from the travel restrictions if they travel for a non-discretionary purpose. These foreign nationals can self-identify to airlines at check-in by providing a valid study permit or a letter of introduction, along their TRV or eTA, dated on or before March 18, 2020.

• Applicants will not be refused for non-compliance if they are cannot provide a complete application due to service interruptions, and all applications currently in progress will continue to be processed, but may experience delays.

• IRCC acknowledges that some students may be unable to travel to Canada and may need to start or continue their program through distance learning abroad.

• Students who fall into one of the following categories will remain eligible for the post-graduation work permit, if at least 50% of their total program of study is completed in Canada. Time spent studying outside Canada will be included in the time accumulated towards the length of their post-graduation work permits for:

o Study permit holders who had already begun their studies in Canada, but left Canada and are continuing their courses online from their home country; and

o Applicants who have been approved for a study permit to begin a program in spring, summer and fall 2020, and who will begin their program online from their home country instead of trying to travel to Canada at this time.

• Under normal circumstances, all distance-learning courses completed outside Canada are excluded from the time accumulated toward the length of the post-graduation work permit. However, for students in the above categories, the duration of time spent in distance learning abroad will not be excluded from the time accumulated toward the length of the post-graduation work permit (until December 31st for applicants starting a program of study overseas in the fall semester). Applicants may have to submit additional documents from their Designated Learning Institution confirming which part of the program was completed in Canada.

Temporary Workers:

• Temporary workers who have valid work permits and were already established in Canada can still travel to Canada. New workers, who are approved for a work permit, and who have work arrangements that are not impacted by the mandatory closure of non-essential businesses can continue to come to Canada to work.

• Applicants outside Canada can continue to submit applications online. This also applies to applicants who are normally allowed to apply at the port of entry.

• A key priority will be the processing of work permit applications for foreign nationals to support the needs of various sectors such as health and agriculture.

• IRCC is working on providing maximum facilitation for agricultural workers under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) and the Agricultural Stream.

Biometrics:

• Visa-required foreign nationals are required to submit biometrics, as well as all study and work permit applicants. Deadlines for clients to submit biometrics have been extended globally from 30 days to when biometric collection service points reopen.
• Considering the closure of the majority of Visa Application Centres around the world as well as all 133 Application Support Centers in the United States and Service Canada locations in Canada, an extension has been provided until biometric collection points of service resume operations. As of June 5, 2020, 34 of the 161 Visa Application Centres are open and are offering some services to clients. As local government restrictions ease up, more Visa Application Centres are expected to reopen in the coming days and weeks. Application Support Centers in the United States are expected to gradually resume services towards the end of June or July.
• For those applying for a work permit in critical sectors, namely agriculture, agri-food and health care, a public policy was put in place to exempt them from the biometrics requirements, if there are no biometrics service points available in their country of residence. This measure will ensure that these workers can quickly arrive to Canada to fill critical labour needs. (The CBSA has agreed to enroll and assess the biometrics of clients at the port of entry upon arrival, whenever feasible.)
• If the applicant has already provided biometrics in support of a previous Temporary Resident application within the past 10 years, they are exempt. If the applicant has not previously provided biometrics and if it is unfeasible for the client to provide biometrics, a designated officer may choose, in exceptional cases, to provide an exemption, if the need to travel is non-discretionary and bona fides of the case outweigh the risk of forgoing this requirement and related screening.

Immigration Medical Exams:

• Canada requires that all permanent resident and certain temporary resident applicants undergo an Immigration Medical Exam to determine health inadmissibility, and hold a valid medical certificate based on this medical exam, which must have taken place within the previous 12 months. Depending on when the medical exam was conducted, the medical certificate may expire prior to the completion of an immigration application.

• In response to global travel restrictions and limited processing of medical exams abroad, the department is facilitating medical reassessments for certain permanent and temporary resident applicants whose current medical certificates have expired since January or are set to expire in the coming 4 to 8 weeks.

• To qualify for a medical reassessment, every applicant must meet specific requirements, including that they posed no risk to public health at the time of their original medical examination.

• Following a review of the client’s existing medical records, a medical officer may issue a new medical certificate of two possible durations, at no cost to the applicant, in lieu of a new medical exam:
o Six months for a client residing in a tuberculosis (TB) designated countries

o One year for a client residing in a non-TB designated countries.

• This facilitative measure will ensure that clients will not have their applications negatively affected on the basis of not having a valid medical certificate for reasons beyond their control, while still managing any incremental public health risk in Canada.

Family Reunification Travel Restriction Exemption:

• The Government of Canada understands the importance of family reunification, particularly during these unprecedented times.

• As such, specific exemptions to the travel restrictions allow for family reunification. The objective is to facilitate reuniting immediate family members who have been separated as a result of the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

• More specifically, immediate family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents are exempt from the travel restrictions, including demonstrating a non-discretionary purpose of travel, if they intend to stay in Canada for a period of at least 15 days. If their period of stay is less than 15 days, the immediate family members will need to show that they are travelling for a non-discretionary purpose.

• Additionally, foreign nationals, who are travelling from a country other than the U.S., and who are seeking to reunite with an immediate family member who lives in Canada, but is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, may be eligible for an exemption. The foreign national must be travelling for an essential (non-discretionary) purpose.

• Affected individuals must seek written authorization from IRCC, by contacting the Department through a specialized channel. At the time of travel, air carriers will require this written authorization to permit the foreign national to travel to Canada.

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