New Democrats have demanded Immigration Minister for immediate changes to CIC’s current spousal sponsorship policy, which allows officials to deport the spouse if their application decision is delayed beyond the allowable grace period of 60 days resulting in separation of married couples.
Last week, New Democrat immigration critic Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) has brought a motion into the Parliament to stop the deportation of spouses sponsored by Canadians. The motion was adopted by the Parliament’s Immigration Committee and it will be debated in the House of Commons following voting by all MPs in the spring.
"Instead of wasting resources to track down spouses of Canadians who are not guilty of any wrong doing, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) should focus more on deporting the criminals," says Chow. "Before, a spouse could be deported during the application process even though they are being sponsored by a Canadian. Now, this will not happen."
The wording of Olivia Chow’s motion is as follows:
That the Committee recommend that the government allow any applicant (unless they have serious criminality) who has filed their first in-Canada spousal or common law sponsorship application and the accompanied permanent residency application to be entitled to an automatic stay of removal and a temporary work permit until a decision is rendered on their application.
"This practice was cruel and wasteful of public dollars. When an applicant had to file paperwork all over again while overseas, it delayed the family being reunited," said the New Democrat’s West Coast Citizenship and Immigration critic, Don Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway). "I am glad that common sense prevailed at the Immigration Committee. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, let’s hope Immigration Minister Jason Kenney can bring love back to these needlessly divided Canadian families by enacting a small change in policy."
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