28-month wait for spousal support in Quebec: Minister Mark Miller announcement

A group of Quebecers who have been waiting more than a year for their family reunification files to be processed say Federal Immigration Minister Mark Miller says the delays Quebec applicants face compared to elsewhere in the country are “unreasonable.”

• Read more: Waiting years for her husband to settle: “I feel betrayed by my Quebec, which I love so much.”

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data, the sponsorship deadline for a spouse living outside the country is 28 months for applicants from Quebec and 12 months for those elsewhere in Canada.

“The significant differences in processing times for the requests filed by the Quebec respondents are, in our humble opinion, unjustifiable,” we read in the formal notice, a copy of which was obtained by TVA Nouvelles.

That's why they're asking the minister to establish a “clear and orderly” processing schedule for applications that have already received the Québécois Qualifier (CSQ) issued by the provincial government and return it to visitors.

The eight applicants, who were assisted in their process by the Quebec Immigration Lawyers Association, are demanding that their file be processed within 30 days of receiving formal notification by the minister on Friday.

Absent concrete action in this direction, the plaintiffs will bring their case to the Federal Court of Canada with the intention of obtaining an injunction, forcing the Department to act.

We note in a 12-page document sent to the minister that “unreasonable processing delays have serious consequences for sponsorship applications in the family reunification category originating in Quebec.” For some, they have been separated from their children or their spouse for years.

“For others, being separated from their spouse prevents them from starting a family, while a woman can't always have children,” we add. For a large number of them, this state of uncertainty and instability causes mental health problems, especially anxiety, as well as financial, career and family problems.

The immigration minister's office said in an email that family reunification is an “absolute priority.”

“We have begun to increase the processing of family reunification applications in Quebec in order to slow the growth of files and processing times associated with family reunification in this province,” we maintain.

“Given the range of places in Quebec, a backlog has accumulated in recent years that will take time to reduce, but we are committed to reuniting families in Quebec,” we say.

We have been waiting for 20 months

Laurianne Lachapelle, coordinator and member of the group of applicants, waited more than 20 months for her Guatemalan husband to arrive in the country.

Since receiving his CSQ in January 2023, he has not heard from the application he submitted in August 2022.

“There's nothing moving forward,” she said.

Even her husband's attempts to visit her in Quebec are being denied temporary visa requests.

“It actually prevents a couple from seeing each other,” she adds. I don't know why IRCC is targeting Quebec families. I find this unacceptable.

In an interview with TVA Nouvelles in September, Ms I thought of leaving the province because of the delay For processing his file.

Despite 17,246 CSQs issued by Quebec in 2023 for sponsorship files, only 10,295 applications were processed by the federal Ministry of Immigration during the same period.