Immigration Minister: Immigration and Application Process

immigration minister: But that system has now been replaced by a random draw, the federal immigration minister announced Wednesday, according to The Waterloo Record. Were ensuring everyone can access the application process by giving them the same chance to have their name chosen, Immigration Minister John McCallum said in a statement. Applications for the always oversubscribed program had been accepted only via courier or mail at a single immigration office, and since they were processed in the order received, couriers had been doing brisk business promising to be at the front of the line, in exchange for fees that could be as high as 400. Beginning this Jan. 3, Canadians will have 30 days to fill out an online form indicating their desire to sponsor a parent or grandparent. The change comes after The Canadian Press first reported earlier this year that the previous first-come, first-serve process was seeing couriers charge more than 400 to guarantee applications would be at the top of the pile for the spots available in 2016. From those, immigration officials will randomly draw 10,000 individuals who will then be asked to submit the full application within 90 days. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.