Family’s immigration application was ‘in process’ for 57 months

Abdulrhman Taskia had been kept in the dark by immigration officials for almost five years, not knowing why his family’s permanent residence application was taking so long.

Finally, in February 2020, the Toronto man asked the Federal Court to do something about it and push Ottawa to expedite his case.

Last month, in a rare ruling, the court agreed the 57-month wait in the queue was “unreasonable” and ordered Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to render a decision in 30 days and to pay Taskia’s family $1,500 in costs.

“Even in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has slowed IRCC processing times, I find the delay in question is prima facie longer than the nature of the process required,” wrote Justice Shirzad S. Ahmed, referring to the normal processing time of just 21 months.
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