Rejected applicants to receive Canada visa after technical error

The minister confirmed that the 50 applicants formed part of 280,000 strong backlog of applications that were cancelled in a controversial move earlier this year. The almost decade-long backlog was simply legislated away as part of the government's efforts to introduce a more streamlined immigration system.

"We're in the process of changing over our IT systems and so apparently some visas were automatically issued in error affecting 50 applications in 12 countries," said Mr Kenney.

Like the majority of the applicants in the backlog, the 50 had gone through all the proper checks and were eligible to move to Canada therefore Mr Kenney said they would receive their visas despite the error.

"They are admissible so I've made the decision this afternoon to use a special ministerial power to grant them legitimate visas so they have permanent residency.

"They have nothing to worry about. They have status in Canada. They didn't act in bad faith; it was an administrative error on the part of my ministry."

The move to legislate away the backlog has proved highly controversial since it was first announced in May and this latest error has provided more ammunition for the minister's critics.

"I am pleased that the minister has acknowledged a mistake has been made and he is going to redress that," said New Democratic Party's immigration critic Jinny Sims.

"But the real mistake is the deletion of all those files in a very unfair manner and the fast pace in which the minister is changing immigration policies."

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