GLOBE AND MAIL
Ottawa eyes streamlining immigration applications
Sunday, April 17, 2005 Updated at 5:09 PM EST
Canadian Press
The Liberal government wants to streamline the citizenship application process and make it easier for immigrants to reunite their families by bringing parents and grandparents to Canada.
Sources say Immigration Minister Joe Volpe is also set to loosen rules on foreign college and university students, to allow them to work off-campus during their schooling in Canada and — in some cases — for up to two years after they graduate.
The moves are expected to be announced Monday by Mr. Volpe at a pair of news conferences in Toronto and Montreal.
The aim of the citizenship changes is to reduce the current backlog of cases that can see applicants wait up to two years for a decision. The government wants to cut the wait time to 12 months.
On family reunification, the goal is to triple the number of applications processed in a year, from the current 6,000 to about 18,000. The aim there is to cut down a massive backlog of about 100,000 cases currently on file.
Mr. Volpe's initiatives come as the Liberals ready a flurry of policy announcements in the hope of taking the public's mind off the sponsorship scandal that has shaken Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority government.
But federal officials say the immigration reforms shouldn't be seen as an effort to buy votes in the event of a spring election campaign. They say Mr. Volpe is making the moves because they're the right thing to do, not to curry political favour in ethnic communities.

Great News, Hope they consider the Parents immigration time also. Applied for my parents 2 years, no answer so far. I hope this news bring a good news for my family

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