Audit of the Immigration Program
Canadian Consulate General – Seattle
4.1. Case Processing Efficiency
Overall, case processing in Seattle is conducted efficiently. The office is effectively resourced, allowing for a dedicated program assistant for each DIO. The only exception is the NIO, who does not have a dedicated program assistant.
Core activities, whether they are related to the client at the reception desk or to paper, receive timely attention. Non-core activities are limited to support staff replacing the Mission’s telephone receptionist during her breaks for periods of 15 minutes a day, once or twice a week per employee during the winter. Since many of the Mission’s incoming telephone calls are visa related, this participation by immigration staff is considered necessary and appropriate.
Over 95 percent of the immigrant work volume involves offshore applications. That, coupled with the fact that the office is a Business Immigration Centre, adds considerable complexity to the operation.
One operational challenge, which is particular to missions near the border with Canada, imposes additional processing effort. Such missions need to respond promptly to American citizens turned away at the border because they are criminally inadmissible. Truck drivers with drunk driving offences, for example, may be refused entry at the border and instructed to apply at the nearest visa office for rehabilitation or Minister’s Permit processing. While the Mission correctly ranks these cases as a low operational priority, it has indicated that there are increasing numbers of such cases due to increased screening at the border. A recent decision by the Mission to return such applications to the sender if all of the required documents are not enclosed, or if the application is incomplete, has made the process more efficient, as it allows staff members to focus their efforts on complete applications.
The audit team was unable to detect any significant differences in individual workload assignments. Interview scheduling for given periods of time reflected equal distributions among officers. Similarly, all officers, including the IPM, took their turns serving as NIO backups.
While the Mission appears to be adequately resourced to meet its immigrant class workload, it will again require temporary seasonal help to cope with the non-immigrant component of its workload. The use of temporary employees is an efficient method of dealing with the higher levels of non-immigrant workload that occur during the summer.
- Date Modified:
