Operational Bulletin 172 – December 18, 2009

Expiry of Sri Lanka Initiative

Background

In response to the situation in Sri Lanka, as of June 3, 2009, the Case Processing Centres (CPCs) and the Canadian High Commission in Colombo, Sri Lanka, began expediting the processing of new and existing applications from:

Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in Sri Lanka (specifically, spouses, common-law and conjugal partners, dependent children, parents, grandparents and orphaned family members) who identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current humanitarian situation and who notify Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

The details of this initiative were set out in OB 119 of June 3, 2009.

Expiry of the initiative

The initiative will expire on December 18, 2009.

Pending applications/requests and applications/requests received after the expiry of the initiative

Sponsorship applications received at the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M), or requests received at the Call Centre to expedite processing of sponsorship applications in CPC-M’s inventory before the expiry of the initiative should still be dealt with on a priority basis.

Sponsorship applications or requests received after the expiry of the initiative should be dealt with routinely.

Applications for permanent resident visas from members of the family class and dependants of protected persons in Canada should also be dealt with routinely at the visa office. Within the family class, priority will continue to be given to spouses and dependent children. Dependants of protected persons in Canada will continue to be given priority as well.