The Canadian government has stated that about 180,000 applicants for temporary and permanent residents who are currently in the nation will not be required to complete medical exams.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, made the same announcement earlier this week on Twitter. He added that certain requirements must be met in order for applicants for permanent and temporary residents who are already in Canada to be exempt from immigration medical examinations.
More than 180,000 applications in Canada will benefit from this new measure’s ability to speed up processing, he continued.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has implemented a temporary public policy that exempts some low-risk, in-Canada foreign nationals from submitting an immigration medical examination (IME) as part of their application when their prior IME has expired, according to a notice published in the official government journal. This encourages quicker application processing to aid qualified foreign nationals in obtaining temporary or permanent residence status as soon as possible.
Those excluded:
- a fresh or pending application submitted from within Canada for a permanent resident visa, permanent or temporary residence, or both.
- completed a medical examination for immigration during the last five years without posing a risk to public health or safety, or, as necessary, submitted to public health authorities for monitoring.
However, while submitting the new application, the applicants must provide the special medical identity number from their prior medical examination. The deadline for this is October 6, 2024. The applicants who are not qualified under this temporary public policy must, nevertheless, submit to an IME in accordance with standard health screening protocols. Those who are not qualified for the exemption will be contacted by IRCC to discuss their options.
Currently, as part of the Immigration Levels Plan 2022–2024, IRCC is aiming to reach the target of about 432,000 new permanent residents.
News Mania Desk
