Canada Announces Special Groups Whose Families Qualify for Immigration Fee Exemption
- Canada's government has announced a public policy exempting certain Indigenous persons and their family members from paying immigration processing and biometrics fees
- The policy covers First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities divided by Canada's international borders with the United States and Greenland
- Eligible applicants must be related to a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or person registered under the Indian Act to qualify for the fee waivers
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Canada has introduced a new public policy that waives immigration application and biometrics fees for certain Indigenous peoples and their family members who cross the country's international borders.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) published the policy, which targets First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities whose lives have been fragmented by international borders shared with the United States and Greenland (Denmark).
Source: UGC
The borders have historically disrupted familial bonds, traditional practices, language preservation, and economic participation for these communities.
Who qualifies for fee exemption
The policy applies to Indigenous persons who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or registered under the Indian Act, but who have a close family member residing in Canada with one of those statuses.
Qualifying relatives include spouses, common-law partners, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.
Eligible individuals applying for work permits, study permits, temporary resident permits, extensions of temporary resident status, or restorations of temporary resident status can have the associated processing fees waived. The exemption also covers biometrics collection fees.
Family members of qualifying Indigenous persons are equally eligible for waivers on temporary resident visa applications, work permits, study permits, and related extensions or restorations.
Roots in Canada's UN declaration commitments
The policy flows directly from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which received Royal Assent in 2021.
The subsequent UNDA Action Plan, released in June 2023, included 181 measures, including one that committed the federal government to pursuing legislative and regulatory changes to address the border-crossing challenges facing Indigenous communities.
The government acknowledged that the current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act creates difficulties for Indigenous persons who fall outside the citizen or permanent resident categories, as the existing framework classifies them as "foreign nationals."
Canada noted that addressing this terminology is central to longer-term reform work still underway, with the current fee exemption serving as an interim measure while it develops broader legislative changes in consultation with Indigenous peoples.
In a similar report, Legit.ng published that Canada exempted two age groups from biometrics for various visa applications.
Canada waives super visa fee for parents
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Canada announced the Super Visa fee waiver for visa-exempt parents and grandparents visiting family.
Eligible applicants can avoid both the standard application and biometrics fees, but approved travellers may still need an eTA before they can reach the Canadian border.
Source: Legit.ng
