Audit of the Immigration Program
Canadian Consulate General – Seattle
4.0 Case load management
This segment of the review focused on the procedures in place at the Mission for processing both immigrant and non-immigrant applications, and the identification of opportunities to develop efficiencies.
Because the Seattle office is a satellite of the Buffalo RPC, it was necessary to take the RPC’s yearly assigned targets into consideration when we evaluated Seattle’s resource and case output levels. In addition to the immigration applications—which include a large volume of business class applications, due to the Mission’s status as a Business Immigration Centre—we examined the overall quality of Seattle’s processing of non-immigrants, who include visitors, students and workers.
Overall, Seattle’s case processing is efficient, accurate and expeditious. The seasonal increases in visitor visa applications, combined with what the Mission feels is an unusually high number of rehabilitation and Minister’s Permit cases (mostly attributed to the Mission’s relative proximity to the Canadian-United States border), justify this mission’s requirement for emergency staff during the summer.
The IPM has concluded that the 2000 final disposition target assigned to Seattle was not realistic. However, over the past year, there have been more frequent and effective consultations between the RPC and Seattle on the Mission’s share of the target. It is hoped that this will result in the assignment of more realistic and achievable targets in future years. This type of consultation is an improvement that will allow satellites to participate in decisions regarding their workload.
- Date Modified:
