Maple News reports a growing number of permanent residence applicants in Canada face heartbreaking delays due to a quiet administrative hurdle: immigration files are being paused if the applicant has dependents currently living outside the country.
Arsheveer Kaur, a resident of British Columbia, has been separated from her husband, Jugraj Singh, for over a year since returning to Canada in May 2020. The couple married earlier that year in India, and she updated her ongoing Permanent Residence (PR) application—originally submitted in July 2019 through a Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)—to include Singh as a dependent.
However, their reunion has been halted. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been placing inland PR applications on hold if an applicant’s dependent, such as a spouse or child, is located abroad. This policy, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to cause long and often indefinite delays for many applicants, especially families impacted by border closures and travel disruptions.
Kaur gave birth to their son in Canada without her husband at her side. “It is a burden on my heart,” she told Maple News. “During that kind of period, you need family support. You need your husband.”
Their efforts to reunite temporarily also fell short. In early 2020, Singh applied for an open work permit to join his wife in Canada. His application was denied by a visa officer who determined he might not leave the country after his authorized stay—a common reason cited in spousal refusals.
Since then, Singh has remained in India, unable to meet his child or support Kaur, who has been navigating motherhood alone in a foreign country.
Cases like Kaur and Singh’s illustrate the unintended emotional consequences of Canada’s immigration backlog and policy interpretations. Advocates argue for more transparent criteria and a push for family reunification, especially as Canada continues to champion immigration as fundamental to its post-pandemic recovery.
While IRCC has not publicly clarified when paused applications will resume full processing, families like theirs continue to wait in hope.
Maple News will continue monitoring developments as affected families seek clarity and compassion in Canada’s immigration process.