Cancelled Canada visa policy halted

Citizenship and Immigration Canada has reportedly issued a directive to its embassies around the world with the instruction to continue processing Canada visa applications as usual.

The decision to cancel the applications was announced in March as part of the federal budget. In an effort to reduce a growing backlog of applications, the Canadian government were hoping to legislate away the backlog to, according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, allow the Canadian immigration system to react to the changing needs of the country's workforce.

All applications made before 2008 were reportedly to be cancelled with fees, totalling CA$130 million (£85 million), returned to the client along with the advice to reapply.

A group of disgruntled applicants had attempted to sue Mr Kenney over the decision but the case was quashed by a federal court which ruled that it could not force Mr Kenney to keep applications open.

However, an Ontario based immigration consultant has revealed that the government's policy has since been put on hold and applications are being processed as before.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their application to the Canadian Embassy.