𝗙𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

IRCC uses advanced analytics to automate positive eligibility determinations and process applications using an automated triage system. This system ensures applications are distributed between officers based on the characteristics of the application and annotations that are created to summarize basic information on applications.

The input of Chinook or artificial intelligence in rendering visa officer decisions has been determined by the Federal Court not to be a breach of procedural fairness and not relevant to whether the decision is reasonable.

According to the Federal Court, 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘩𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘴 2023 FC 464,

𝘈𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘰𝘧 “𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘬” 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘢 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘝𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘷. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

Canadian immigration officials most of the time processed applications according to the order in which they were received. The use of AI is now determinative of whether permanent immigration applicants may experience a simpler and faster journey. This will boil down to whether applications are sorted initially into a “Green Bin” or “Standard Bin” for processing. Complex cases will be presumed to take longer to process, and anyone who has been waiting for years could keep waiting for years, but fresh applicants can advance them.

Being put in this Green Bin against the Standard Bin can mean the difference between years in spousal sponsorship, where processing durations can range up to 24 months. Additionally, it explains why applicants are frustrated and confused by the procedure because they observe that others who submitted before them have received approvals while they have been delayed.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸

The government gave the system its mark of approval in April 2021 for use in handling sponsorship applications for foreign spouses residing in Canada.

According to an internal memo, this is how it functions:

• The automated method recognizes the low-complexity cases that would have a high probability of being authorized without officer review based on “evidence-based, data-driven rules” from past applications and decisions;
• Officers will continue to conduct medical, criminal, and security checks to ensure the sponsored spouse is eligible for admission to Canada once these cases are placed in what is known as the “Green Bin.”
• The remaining applications are referred to the Standard Bin, where officers evaluate them for eligibility and admissibility per established protocols.

According to the memo, the model was constructed and tested using 40,000 inland spousal applications, which were processed in 2018 and 2019 with the anticipation that 50% of all new applications will be placed in the Green Bin for faster processing.

According to IRCC, the automated approach proved effective and efficient in identifying routine and simple cases for expedited processing. The trial program began in April 2021 and has been permanently utilized to process inland spousal application requests.

The automated system never recommends or refuses an application. Instead, when there is a refusal, the officer decides based on a manual application review.

𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 𝗜𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘄𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗶 is a Toronto based law firm with a trained immigration attorney, excited to take you through the immigration documentation process to ensure it is as seamless as possible. Get it right this time!