Every day, the number on the sign outside Azizi’s London, Ontario, the home goes up for a digit.
The number represents the number of days he says he has been waiting for visa applications for their Iranian parents to open through the Canada backward immigration system.
On Friday, the number reached 500.
“I graduated from Western University, I bought a house here in London, as a year ago. I want my parents to see my house, my city, my work, my car. I miss them all,” Azizi told CBC News.
Looking for updates, he says that he has routinely review the status of his application online, which is affecting his work.
“I am depressed, to be honest. My wife always (tells me), we can handle it, we can do it. But you can see my face that I am always upset.”
Azizi, a permanent resident, says he requested a temporary resident visa, or visitor visa, for his parents in January 2024, with the plan that come from Iran and visit a few weeks.
More than 16 months later, and despite numerous consultations about immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada (IRCC), the application remains in limbo without signs of a final resolution.
Since he submitted the application, Azizi says he also contacted his then MP Lindsay Mathyssen four times to get help. IRCC told Mathyssen, he says that his father’s request was still experiencing a security control, and that “his military history is outstanding.”
Azizi says he presented the military records in February 2024 and sent the documents again last March.
“I don’t know what I can do, because I have done everything. Web forms, mp, pre-guide letter. I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer to convince IRCC to do their job. “
In a statement sent by email to CBC News, IRCC said that the temporary requests of the residents they received for Azizi’s parents would end once they conclude the “security detection” for their father.
“As the agencies carried out by the agencies outside the IRCC, the processing times can be outside the processing times published by IRCC,” said the spokesman. They could not say how long the process has been on average.
Azizi speculates his father’s period in the body of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) in the 1980s may be the reason why the projection has taken so long. Five months after Azizi submitted the applications, the federal government declared the IRGC A terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada.
It is the mandatory military service of Iran that prevents Azizi from visiting his parents in Iran. Men in the country must complete 18 to 24 months of military service when they turn 18, a rule that even applies to Dual Canadian citizens-Iranian born in Canada, says the federal government.
Azizi says it did not work because he was studying to obtain a title in civil engineering, and the service could be deferred until after graduation. After graduating, Azizi emigrated to Canada and graduated from Western with a master’s degree in 2023. He says that if he returned, he would have to serve.
Hamed Heydarzade moved to Canada from Iran for Peace, but now he is in Limbo with his permanent residence in uncertainty and all life plans in Pause.
The last time Azizi says he saw his parents was in October, when they met during a week in Türkiye, which limits Iran.
“During the game, I saw that my father was crying. It’s difficult … Every day, I’m talking to my parents and ask me about their application.”
CBC News has previously reported in it Challenges They will look for Visitors either Permanent residence They have faced security detection delays, in some cases last several years.
The processing time for a visa visa application from outside Canada was 162 days starting Wednesday. The IRCC emphasizes that it is an estimate, not a guarantee.
“Real processing times vary according to a series of factors, such as: How good and how quickly applicants respond to any IRCC communication, how easily IRCC can verify the information provided, as well as the safety detection requirements,” said the spokesman.
The Canada immigration system has an accumulation of increasing cases that currently number more than 760,000, According to IRCC. Some 54 percent From temporary resident visa applications, they were linked as of April, below a peak of 75 percent in December.
IRCC has said that it plans to reduce its workforce by 3,300 for three years to 2021.
Applications such as those submitted by Azizi generally have a lower priority for processing, but still 500 days are unusual, said Elena Ashford, main immigration lawyer in Siskinds LLP.
“But, again, you never know what is in the background of the person, right? Even a non -conviction makes someone inadmissible in Canada,” he said. If any problem arises during an IRCC background verification, the application may fall outside the general processing times.
“It is possible that an individual does not know when their application is processed, whether problems arise,” he said.
Given the low priority given to visiting visas applications, and the challenges communicate with embassies outside Canada, Ashford says that most of his approach is now in qualified workers, a part of the immigration system that also sees significant delays.
