Vienna Mission
Final Audit Report

3.0 BACKGROUND

3.1 Overview of the Vienna and Regional Environment

The Vienna Mission is a Regional Processing Centre and has responsibility for nine countries (Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Yugoslavia [including Kosovo]), as well as for all immigration applications submitted by persons in Bulgaria before October 1, 1999. The Vienna Mission has a complement of eight Canada-based officers (CBOs), including the medical officer (MO); two designated immigration officers (DIOs); one non-immigration officer (NIO); and 22 other locally engaged staff (LES) members.

The Belgrade and Prague satellite offices are staffed by CBOs, locally engaged program officers (LEPs) and LES members. These offices handle the non-immigrant programs for Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic, respectively, and they have full access to the Secure Integrated Global Network (SIGNET). The micro missions of Sarajevo, Skopje and Zagreb are without immigration program [please check this change; it seemed as though something was necessary because the next sentence says there are OTHER CBOs at these missions] CBOs and do not have full SIGNET or CAIPS. In case of an emergency, the CBOs from other programs at these three micro missions may issue visitors visas with individual authorizations from the Vienna Mission. LES members in the three micro missions are responsible for providing information on the application process, handing out visa forms, answering inquiries and reporting on immigration related developments. There continues to be political pressure to establish visa offices in these countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Croatia).

Approximately 90 percent of the Vienna Mission’s outstanding case load is split equally between refugee/humanitarian and independent categories, with the family class accounting for the remainder.

Low waiver rates and the need for extensive area travel are two of the principal challenges facing the Vienna Mission. This affects the case processing time frame and adds to the program cost. Interviews in Belgrade commenced in January 2000.

Another main challenge is the “Source Country” Refugee Program for Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. The program has a low yield of successful applicants but continues to consume resources because of the legal requirement for file creation and application assessments.

High numbers of immigrant and non-immigrant applications are screened for war crimes and crimes against humanity. These initial assessments and further investigations affect both resources and processing time.

The Vienna Mission has a high calibre of LES with a variety of linguistic skills to serve clients from the various countries within the territory.

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