Temporary visa and eTA processing still has not begun in Canada

Speculations have been rife as to how Canada is going to lift its pandemic restrictions. However, nothing can be ascertained at the moment because the situation is still being monitored.

IRCC, on June 8, announced on its website that they are planning to begin the processing of temporary resident visas (TRVs) that have been submitted online during this period on June 9. They also mentioned that they would initiate the processing of electronic travel authorization (eTA) applications at the same time. However, IRCC took down the above-mentioned web pages on June 9, altogether causing a lot of confusion among candidates who depend on the website for necessary updates.

What happened?

When CIC News reached out to IRCC in order to confirm the state of affairs, they said that the web pages had wrong information because of which they had to be taken down. No strict decisions have been taken as of yet when it comes to processing TRV applications again. IRCC is continuing to process TRV applications from individuals who can travel to Canada at the time. IRCC also mentioned that they would start the manual processing of eTA applications up to a particular extent.

Why is the IRCC not processing applications?

IRCC has stated that all these measures are in place to deal with the after-effects of the pandemic efficiently. It is being projected that there is going to be an expected increase in the number of applications when the travel restrictions are removed. While IRCC is continuing to accept both TRV and eTA applications, they are not able to process them temporarily because of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The candidates who took any important decisions based on the erroneous announcement are advised to step back and reassess their options. IRCC will definitely not close or refuse any application because of the ongoing service disruptions.