With over a year into the grip of a global pandemic, and no clear ending in site, immigration applicants to Canada are facing delays due to general closures and other COVID-19 related issues. It is certainly difficult to gather all necessary documents in support of a candidate's application if the institutions and public offices who would normally be issuing them are closed until further notice. Equally frustrating are irregular operating schedules and in some cases, full closures of consular services and VAC offices, which make it impossible to send a passport for visa stamping, or submit biometric information, and thus complete application processing.
The problem is particularly stark in India, where the recent drastic increase in COVID-19 cases has forced the Canadian High Commission to announce the closure of all but most urgent consular services on May 3. Consequently, VFS centres closed for regular services indefinitely. This echoes similar measures last year, when VFS centres in India were closed during the beginning of the pandemic [in March 2020], only to finally reopen in late November. Although there are no official directives on when the centres will reopen, and thus many people are left with no concrete idea of how long they will have to wait for the processing of their applications, there are some positive developments that should at least alleviate some concern. When services resume, VFS centres will waive deadlines for passport submission and biometric collection (30 days and 90 days respectively). This means that no further action is required from applicants presently, and the letters they have received will be valid despite expired dates once things get back to normal.
This scenario does not apply to all countries. In countries where VACs have already reopened, there is no longer a blanket waiver of deadlines and candidates are expected to produce the required documents on time. In those circumstances, IRCC will contact each candidate to request the required documents if available or give them an opportunity to provide a reasonable explanation of how COVID-19 related disruption prevents them from obtaining the required information. IRCC will try to be as flexible as possible in granting extensions of time, but they will be looking for explanations like "city-wide pandemic lockdown forced closures", or "temporary closure of regional VAC" in order to grant the request. Requests that IRCC determines are reasonable will receive an additional 30-day extension. If IRCC does not deem the justification reasonable, they will finish processing the application based on information they have on file, which may likely result in a refusal.
Best advice to applicants affected by this situation is to keep consulting IRCC's website for current information. If unsure of how to proceed, consult an immigration lawyer who can help you identify and navigate the rules that apply to your situation.
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