But Grigorieva persuaded them to leave with the promise that they would be safe in Canada and with their family. they could stay with her temporarily in Toronto and spend time with their granddaughter. However, three months after Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) received a visitor visa application as part of an accelerated program for Ukrainians fleeing the war, Grygorieva’s parents are still waiting to be received by Canadian officials and other officials. . volunteers in Warsaw, Poland. The government says it is trying to process the applications within 14 days, but many of them take longer and more than 164,000 Ukrainians are still waiting. “I just love my parents and I want to help them and I feel I can not help them,” said Grigorieva, who moved to Toronto from Ukraine three years ago and is a permanent resident. Help her parents apply for a visa through the IRCC Canada-Ukraine Emergency Travel Authorization Program (CUAET). Grigorieva says she does not know where else to turn for help, as her parents have been waiting more than three months for their Canada-Ukraine application for an emergency travel plan to be processed and accepted. (Angelina King / CBC) The Canadian government has introduced a temporary residency program to help bring Ukrainians and their families to Canada “as soon as possible”, while enabling them to work and study in Canada for up to three years, according to the her website. The latest IRCC figures show that as of June 8, 296,136 CUAET applications have been received and 131,763 have been approved. The IRCC says it is trying to process most CUAET applications within two weeks, but Toronto-based Ukrainian immigration lawyer Ksenia Tchern says it takes an average of four to six weeks. He says the case of Grigorieva’s three-month-old parents is unusual. “Any extra day for them already adds to their trauma and fear of what is going to happen,” Tchern said. IRCC spokesman Rémi Larivière says the CUAET program is the fastest and most effective way for Ukrainians and their families to come to Canada. “We recognize that many Ukrainians are willing to obtain their visas and come to Canada, and we are working around the clock to help Ukrainians and their families arrive in Canada as quickly and safely as possible,” Larivière said in an email. . Larivière said the IRCC is unable to comment on specific cases without written consent due to privacy law. While Grigorieva is desperately trying to figure out why the application has been stopped, she says her parents are losing hope of coming to Canada and are considering returning to Kharkov – a city where Russia has committed war crimes. according to Amnesty International. “They are destroying the infrastructure; houses, schools and hospitals,” Grigorieva said. “I say, ‘How can you go home?’ It’s not just safe, we’re not even sure your home is there. “ A man walks through Barabashovo in Kharkov, one of Europe’s largest clothing markets, on May 21 after being destroyed by bombing during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Grigorieva’s parents are currently living in Poland and are considering returning to Kharkov, but she worries that their home may no longer exist. (Sergei Bobok / AFP / Getty Images)

Leaving Kharkov

In early March, Grigorieva’s parents left their home and crossed Ukraine from Kharkov to Lviv – a journey that took them five days. They took a train from Lviv to Warsaw, Poland, where Grygorieva helped them find volunteers who were receiving temporary refugees. After a week in Warsaw, they were able to find a family friend living in Istanbul, Turkey, and he was able to receive them. However, there is a 90-day limit for Ukrainian refugees to stay in Turkey before they need to apply for a tourist permit, so her parents recently returned to Warsaw. The couple is currently hosted separately by two different volunteer families. “I have no idea what else I can do,” Grigorieva said. The IRCC says some complex CUAET cases can last more than two weeks. for example, if the application is missing documents or family members of different nationalities. However, Grigorieva says that the IRCC has not requested any additional documentation and that her parents’ case is as formal as possible. “They are ordinary people,” he said.
The application portal of Grygorieva’s parents shows that their applications were received on March 18 – the day after the start of the program. In late April, her mother’s work permit and biometric data – a fingerprint and a photograph of an applicant – were approved, but not her visa. There has been no progress with her father’s request and she does not seem to be able to get answers as to why there was a delay. CLOCKS How Canadian rules create barriers for Ukrainian refugees:

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Advocates say federal requirements for refugee status, including biometric data, are creating obstacles for Ukrainians trying to escape to Canada. “They just said they were being processed and that’s it,” he said. Upon receiving her parents’ request, Grygorieva says she helped other families and friends in Ukraine with their applications and these people have already been accepted. “I feel like something went wrong there and nobody sees it.”

The IRCC says more staff has been deployed to speed up processing times

When the CUAET program first launched in March, Tchern says there was an influx of applications and some were processed within the two-week period. Applications then slowed because he said some in Ukraine hoped the situation would improve, but as the war continued, applications increased again. “When you are dealing with a mass of people, [two weeks] “It may not be the most realistic,” he said. “I think the more people who started applying, the more the schedule definitely increased.” Tchern says visa application centers in some areas are delayed longer than others because offices are operating at full capacity. Many work with limited staff and resources due to the pandemic. Toronto-based immigration lawyer Ksenia Tchern says applications under the federal program take an average of about four to six weeks to process. (Submitted by Ksenia Tchern) The IRCC says it is monitoring the operational capacity of IRCC offices and visa application centers and has developed additional staff, supplies and equipment. The Canadian government also says it is setting up additional biometric data collection sites in Europe to help speed things up. The IRCC says processing at visa application centers has doubled in recent weeks and officers complete more than 18,000 appointments on a weekly basis. Tchern says it would be helpful if the IRCC and visa application centers were more transparent about the length of waiting times to alleviate the stress of applicants. “Just to give the applicants a warning, so that they do not have to worry that something is wrong with their application or that Canada does not want them.” CLOCKS Growing frustration over delays in the process for Ukrainian refugees:

Disappointment grows over delays in resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in Canada

Families hoping to resettle relatives fleeing the Ukraine war are increasingly frustrated by delays in the immigration process in Canada.