The Canadian government released instructions for temporary special measures to assist Iranian temporary residents in Canada on March 14, 2023.
To facilitate the travel of Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Iran, fee waivers have been granted on travel documents. These special measures, which include priority processing and fee waivers for temporary residents in Canada and Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Iran, will be in effect until February 28, 2024.
The PDIs outlined offer operational guidance regarding temporary special measures designed to support Iranian temporary residents currently in Canada who came for various reasons, including visiting family, studying, or working. As the situation in Iran remains unstable, some of these temporary residents may choose to extend their stay in Canada.
To facilitate this, these special measures waive certain processing fees, allowing for extensions of temporary status or transfers between temporary resident streams and enabling the issuance of open work permits to Iranians in Canada. Clients who utilize these measures will benefit from priority processing and maintain their status while their application is being processed.
Furthermore, these measures provide fee waivers for travel documents and citizenship certificates for Canadian citizens and permanent residents living in Iran, making it easier for them to travel.
Eligibility
The special measures may apply to the following clients:
- Iranian nationals currently in Canada with valid temporary resident status (holding an Iranian passport) who apply for an extension of their temporary resident status or a change in their temporary resident status. This includes applications for a work permit extension or new work permit, study permit extension or new study permit, visitor record extension, or temporary resident permit.
- Canadian citizens or permanent residents residing in Iran who have applied for a citizenship certificate but do not have a certificate for passport issuance. They may apply for a one-year limited validity passport without being charged a fee. However, they must pay the applicable fees to obtain a full-validity passport.
- Fees for the temporary passport will be waived at all times. Additionally, permanent resident travel document fees will also be waived.
To obtain more details about applying for a Canadian citizenship certificate, as it pertains to these special measures, the Citizenship Program Delivery team (CPD) will provide tailored processing instructions in collaboration with Passport Foreign Operations and Global Affairs Canada.
Regardless of the client’s processing channel to submit their proof of citizenship application, they are advised to choose the electronic citizenship certificate option for faster issuance and delivery.
