Dubai, Jun 8 (Emirates 24x7) : Thousands of people, of whom many live in the UAE at the moment, want to migrate to Canada. They have registered their application, paid the fees, but never received any feedback on their application.

The Canadian government has realized the severity of this problem, and this year serious plans to solve the problem have been discussed. However, differing messages come from the Western front, and until now it is not entirely clear what hope is left for people eager to make the move.

Since February 2008, when new rules came into existence as to what is required for a successful immigration application, 280,000 applicants have been left unanswered.

“The Federal Skilled Worker Program backlog is a major roadblock to Canada’s ability to respond to rapidly changing labour market needs,” Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney is quoted as saying on the official Canadian Citizenship and Immigration webpage. “Having to process applications that are as many as eight years out of date reduces our ability to focus on new applicants with skills and talents that our economy needs today.”

On March 30, 2012, the same websites reports:

"Under proposed legislation, CIC will close the files of FSW applicants who applied before February 27, 2008, and for whom an immigration officer has not made a decision based on selection criteria by March 29, 2012."

Coupled with the return of these applications would come a refund.

However, Transcend, a Canadian immigration consultancy office, reports on May 24, 2012 on its website:

"Canada’s Immigration Department has directed its visa officers to continue processing Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Applications in the backlog, and not return those to the Applicants."

And furthermore:

"The Government wants to do this right and hence has directed Canada embassies to not return the applications and the processing fee, till the Budget 2012 is passed by the parliament. They have been further directed to continue processing the applications as per their existing processing priorities."

In the Transcend report it is explained:

"Canada has traditionally had a first-in first-out system. Applicants know that their applications will be processed sooner or later, and hence do not mind waiting many years. This decision places these applicants in difficult situation, as they have been waiting for many years in the hopes that their application will be processed."

"It would be unfortunate if this is the case," says also Walid Ahmed, Dubai-based immigration consultant at Krisko and Associates. "It will affect a lot of people who have been hoping to be accepted for a long time."

Applicants would theoretically be able to apply again, however, chances are dim due to the restrictive requirements that were proposed in 2008.

In an interview end March this year, Dubai-based Kim krisko, Canadian lawyer and immigration consultant at Krisko and Associates explained that applying for immigration to Canada is not advisory, because the government has seriously limited the options.

Application criteria are based on labor categories, which each have a cap and only reopen in June each year. Due to the high number of applications, the category caps are reached within days.