Canada has processed a record number of visa applications from the beginning of the year until November 2022.
According to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), around 4.8 million visa applications have been processed so far this year, representing an almost twofold increase compared to the same month last year, when the country issued 2.5 million visas, VisaGuide.World reports.
Announcing the good news, IRCC suggested that the country was able to issue such a high number of visas thanks to digitization and the increase in the number of employees.
In addition, IRCC emphasized that the department remains on track to reach the goal of processing 80 percent of new applications with service standards for the majority of programs.
“IRCC continues to reduce backlogs and process visitor visas more quickly to respond to the growing number of people who want to visit Canada,” the statement of IRCC reads.
In November 2022 alone, the Canadian authorities processed more than 260,000 visas, significantly higher than in the same month in 2019, when around 180,000 applications were processed.
Apart from the above-mentioned, IRCC explained that the 4.8 million applications include 700,000 work permits, 670,000 study permits, as well as hundreds of thousands of visitor visas.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, said that the country has shown once again that it is ready to welcome and support newcomers.
“Our government has reduced its pandemic backlogs by nearly half a million, while also processing a record-breaking number of immigration applications this year,” Fraser stressed.
Except for issuing a high number of visas, Canada has also issued a high number of permanent residence permits. Figures show that Canada is on track to set a new record this year as it aims to grant 421,000 new permanent residence permits by the end of 2022.
As for citizenship, IRCC emphasized that Canada continues to have one of the highest rates of naturalization. The same pointed out that they encourage all newcomers to complete their journey by becoming citizens of Canada.
IRCC expects a record-breaking number of new Canadian citizens in 2022-2023. Around 251,000 new citizens were welcomed in Canada from April to November, surpassing the number of new Canadian citizens registered in the last fiscal year.
Accordingly, over 70 percent of applications in the inventory of citizenship are within service standards.
Read More:
Canada Visitor Visa for Tourism and Visits
The post Canada Has Issued Around 4.8 Million Visas So Far This Year appeared first on VisaGuide.World.
