Slow Processing traps client in Caribbean!

When one pays their processing fees to renew a permanent residency card, they expect a result in a reasonable amount of time from Immigration. I do understand that due to COVID-19 certain Case Processing Centers have reduced staffing situations, BUT permanent residency cards are renewed at the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia. My client (TOM) applied in February to renew his card and Sydney CPC stamped it received in April three months later. They then returned his whole application at the end of August for being incomplete after he was advised that he could leave the country in July by the Call Centre employee.

Sydney, Nova Scotia is on Cape Briton Island. Sydney, NS is located at the eastern end of the province of Nova Scotia separated by the Strait of Canso. Sydney, Nova Scotia only has a population of 29,000 inhabitants with no international airport. The province of Nova Scotia is one of the provinces that have been least affected by COVID-19 with only 1,583 infections. As of February, 03rd, 2021 all of Cape Briton Island has only THREE active COVID-19 infections.

Thousands of friends and families have not been able to say their goodbye’s to family and friends let alone attend their funerals. Tom’s long-time friend died in July not of COVID but he wanted to attend his funeral to show his respect. Tom called and called the call centre 1-888-242-2100 and was informed it was ok for him to travel without his PR card because his application was “IN PROCESS”!  Tom asked if there was any problem with his application and the person at the call centre said there was nothing listed. Tom was told no problem just apply for a permanent resident travel document (PRTD0 at the Canadian High Commission.

The IRCC website claims processing of PR cards take 90 days BUT……. there is that disclosure from IRCC stating “Due to the impacts of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we can’t process applications normally or provide accurate processing times”!

While in Jamaica, Tom heard his whole application had been returned 7 months after he had submitted it, so he travelled in August to the Canadian High Commission in Kingston, Jamaica and applied for a permanent resident travel document (PRTD). He completed the IMM  5524 PRTD in an internet café. I did not know that there is still such a thing as internet café in any country. Tom is not computer literate and does not even have his own email address.

Four months later an extended family member got an email stating that some person at the Canadian Embassy in Jamaica thinks from the information Tom submitted led them to believe he had not complied with his residency obligations. Tom did submit incomplete information by believing the Call Centre employee that he could DIY.

Now I have been tasked with correcting Tom’s errors and proving that he has more than sufficient H&C factors to approve his PRTD application. Tom is the sole caregiver of his son who was severely injured in a car accident.

Even if Tom obtains his permanent resident travel document getting a flight back to Canada is highly unlikely since the Federal government cancelled all flights from the Caribbean. If Tom was able to get a flight into Toronto, he would be forced to stay in a COVID-19 detention hotel at $2,000.00 a night which he can’t afford.

Should Tom sue the Federal government for their total mess up of his applications and their response to COVID-19?