Identifying who may be eligible to come to Canada is an important first step in meeting Canada’s commitment to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February 2016.
Canada is working with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and foreign states to identify registered Syrian refugees who are interested in resettlement to Canada.
Canada is focusing on identifying vulnerable refugees who require immediate resettlement.
The UNHCR reviewed their existing database to identify a list that will include vulnerable individuals who:
- are Syrian nationals or stateless persons who are former residents of Syria;
- are living outside of Syria;
- are registered with the UNHCR; and
- were registered prior to November 11, 2015.
As individuals are identified, the UNHCR will send out a text message, followed by a phone call, asking individuals in this group to go to their local UNHCR office if they are interested in resettlement to Canada. This work began on November 17, 2015.
Canada is implementing a similar process in Turkey, where refugees are registered with the state and not the UNHCR.
Contacted refugees will arrive at the UNHCR centre where they will have their identity verified against their photo registration card and through an iris scan. They will participate in an information session, and those interested in resettling to Canada will be directed to officials onsite to schedule an interview with a Canadian visa officer.
In an effort to maximize the success in resettlement while minimizing security risks, and to provide a new home for vulnerable refugees, Canada has asked the UNHCR to prioritize vulnerable refugees such as:
- complete families;
- women at risk; and
- persons identified as vulnerable due to membership in the LGBTI community.
Refugees who will be privately sponsored have already been identified by their sponsor. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has their information and applications.
To quickly and efficiently process Syrian refugees destined for Canada, interested refugees will be scheduled for processing in one of two new dedicated contact centres in Amman and Beirut. These temporary offices are staffed by experienced immigration officers, other government departmental officials and security partners. More than 500 government officials are being deployed to the region to support this work.
To facilitate the initial interview and screening, the UNHCR will provide the Government of Canada with certain basic information.
Because most Syrians who have fled their home country in recent years meet the criteria to be considered a refugee, visa officers have been instructed to focus their interview process on security, criminality and medical screening.
Visa officers will take the time to screen all refugees carefully before they are accepted for resettlement to Canada to make sure that they have not committed any serious crimes, and that they are not security risks. IRCC works with its security partners, such as the Canada Border Services Agency, to complete this work.
Security screening will include collecting biographical information and biometrics, such as fingerprints and digital photos, which will be checked against immigration, law enforcement and security databases. Sharing biometric data collected from persons applying for refugee resettlement to Canada will allow visa officers to establish identities, determine the existence of a criminal record and make sound decisions.
Immigration screening also includes a full immigration medical examination, including screening for communicable diseases such as tuberculosis. These examinations are being conducted by either the International Organization for Migration (IOM) or local panel physicians, and supplemented by National Defence medical teams where needed.
All cases will be processed per existing procedures. If during the course of the interview or screening process there are any potential concerns that require additional assessment, such as requests for additional documentation, those applications would naturally take longer to process.
Upon completion of the screening, selected refugees will be given permanent resident visas and preparations will be made for their transportation to Canada.
