All immigrant applications must first be filed through the Regional Immigration Programme Centre (RPC) located within the Canadian Consulate General in Buffalo. Applications are processed through to the interview stage (unless the interview requirement is waived), and then transferred to the appropriate visa office for an interview. Applicants can express a preference for their interview to take place at a particular consular location, and this is generally accommodated. For business category cases, the only interview options are either New York or Seattle.

The RPC is a huge operation which processes close to 25% of all immigrant applications to Canada. Processes are streamlined, consistent, and processing times are quick compared to other Canadian visa offices around the world. Canada does not have chargeability issues, and applicants are currently quite free to shop around and submit their immigrant applications to the visa processing office of their choice, notwithstanding country of origin, with the RPC in Buffalo being a popular choice. Also, there is no separate petition stage for Canadian immigrant processing (except for family class cases), with applications currently being filed directly by applicants to Canadian visa offices overseas. However, this is expected to change in favour of a single, universal front-end processing centre to be located in Canada by 2005, with overseas visa offices, including in the United States, being limited to interviews, reporting, quality assurance and related duties only.

At time of writing, immigrant applications filed through the RPC in Buffalo are being processed to interview within approximately 14 to 18 months. This is considered quite slow by historical standards, and is projected to accelerate again in the coming year. Because medical and security clearance procedures are generally completed before interview, time to visa issuance after interview can be from 1 to 3 months.

It should be noted that there is an unwritten preference for applicants who have worked or studied in the United States, with a much higher preponderance of these applicants having the immigrant interview requirement waived, saving 3 - 5 months off of normal processing times.

In terms of non-immigrant processing, visitor visa applications are processed within approximately 3 weeks if mailed in, and within the same or succeeding day if the application is presented at the Consulate in person. Appointments are not required, but if the applicant arrives after 10:00 a.m., they may not be seen that day.

Student authorizations are processed within about 4 to 6 weeks, except where an interview and/or medical examinations may be required, which adds an additional 8 to 12 weeks processing time. In the majority of cases, interviews are waived.

Employment authorizations are also typically processed within 4 to 6 weeks. Most employment authorization applications are filed at the Canadian Consulate General in New York where they are resourced to handle a large volume of employment authorization applications, although Buffalo has added additional non-immigrant processing staff, and the other consulates will accept and process applications as well. Again, if an interview or medical examinations are required, an additional 8 to 12 weeks processing time will be added. The majority of employment authorization applications are adjudicated without the need for a personal interview.

Finally, with respect to processing fees, AILA attorneys will find Canadian government processing fees for immigrant cases in particular somewhat exorbitant. A fee schedule is included at Appendix I.

Dependants and Age-Out
Canada has somewhat flexible definitions which allow for all unmarried children under 19 years of age to accompany the principal applicant and spouse. Unmarried children over 19 years of age, without limit, are also entitled to accompany as long as they have been continuously enrolled and in full-time attendance in program of study at an educational institution from the time of turning 19 up until the time of visa issuance. There is provision for breaks in study for an aggregate period of up to a year, without impacting eligibility to accompany the principal applicant.

The current provisions have created some hardships in the context of children subject to compulsory military service after the age of 19. The new Immigration Act will address this by raising the basic age for inclusion from 19 to 22.