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Sub-Saharan Africa could now host a second visa processing office, after the one in Dakar, Senegal. For several months now, this part of the world has been experiencing delays in processing immigration files.According to the "Liberty Journal"many applicants for French-speaking permanent residence or study permits are complaining about processing delays of up to 48 months for permanent residence.

In response to these complaints, the Department of Immigration cited the reason for the pandemic, to justify these processing times. Addressing Francopresse, Aidan Strickland, Press Secretary to Minister Sean Fraser, said: « Travel restrictions for most of 2020 and 2021 delayed the processing of overseas applications, resulting in a growing processing inventory. » .

In this context, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes (FCFA) had clearly asked in February 2022 for the opening of a second visa office in sub-Saharan Africa, the paper said. This application has been received and processed as the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Sean Fraser, reportedly informally announced the opening of a visa office in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. This new office will " improve the processing of applications for West and Central Africa, in both official languages”, and will also be “a great opportunity to increase the number of newcomers from West Africa” and “recruit students who speak French ” said the Minister. However, the timeframe for opening this office is not yet known.

However, after the resumption of invitations for express entry on 06 July, this new announcement provides some relief for future Canadian immigration applicants from sub-Saharan Africa.

One should also note that the second session of Express Entry invitations held on July 20, 2022. 1,750 invitations were sent to candidates whose lowest ranked candidates were expected to have 542 points. This is an increase of 250 invitations sent against a decrease of 15 points in the required minimum score compared to the draw of July 06.

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