Blue Bird Blog

New Pilot Program by IRCC Aims to Simplify Passport Issuance for New Canadian Citizens

The "Passport During Citizenship Processing" initiative has been launched by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Under this initiative, a select group of 100 individuals awaiting their citizenship grants will have the opportunity to apply for their passports simultaneously.

This new approach introduces a more efficient passport application form. This form will leverage the data already acquired during the citizenship application, eliminating redundancies. The responsibility of printing these passports will be undertaken by the IRCC, thereby reducing the workload on the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) offices.

The primary goal of this initiative is to make the passport application process more straightforward, hinting at a potential unified system in the coming times. For those who have been invited and have completed their citizenship oath, they can expect their passports to be processed and ready within a span of 20 working days, once the IRCC receives their application.

The broader vision behind this pilot is to explore the possibility of merging the procedures of citizenship and passport issuance. This comes after both the citizenship and passport programs faced extended processing times in 2022, failing to meet their service benchmarks. With new citizens bearing the brunt of these delays, this pilot aims to alleviate such issues. The effectiveness of this pilot will be closely monitored, and based on its outcomes, recommendations for its wider adoption will be proposed by the close of December 2023.

A look at Express Entry for the remainder of 2023

The summer of 2023 has seen some major changes to how Canada’s Express Entry application management system chooses which candidates receive Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
While Express Entry has been unpredictable recently, over the past few weeks some patterns have begun to emerge that may set the tone for the remainder of the year.
The most notable change so far this year has been the introduction of category-based selection invitations for candidates with specific attributes.

Express Entry: Reviewing the first half of 2023 and a preview of the next six months

The first half of 2023 has been an interesting chapter in Express Entry history. In some ways, Express Entry has been unpredictable, as it has worked to re-establish itself after a months-long pause throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the resumption of all-program draws in July last year, Express Entry draws occurred every two weeks on Wednesdays and resumed the pre-pandemic established patterns. Draw sizes increased by predictable increments while the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score decreased slightly with each draw.

Exploring the Benefits of Canada Immigration

In recent years, Canada has emerged as one of the most popular destinations for immigrants all over the world. The country provides a conducive environment for people looking to relocate in search of better opportunities, safety and security, and social welfare programs.

Quebec holds biggest Arrima draw of the year