Important Update: Canada Revises Immigration Processing Fee

There is an important update for foreign nationals who wish to immigrate to Canada permanently. Lately, the Candian Government has announced to increase the permanent residency fee for all the main immigration programs with effect from April 30, 2020, at 9 a.m. EDT. Applications that have been completed and received by the Immigration department before this date and time will be processed as per the current fee structure. But those applications that are sent post this date and time need to include the revised fee, otherwise, they will be returned to the applicants and termed as incomplete. Following are the details of the increased processing fees for permanent residency applicants:

Economic Business Class: The fee is increased from $1,050 to $1,575 for applicants who belong to the economic business class (self-employed, start-up visa immigrants, Quebec self-employed, Quebec investor, and Quebec investor)
Economic Non-business Class: Principal applicants who belong to the non-business class will be required to pay a fee of $825 rather than the previous fee of $550. However, applicants and their families who apply through the caregiver program will be exempt from this increased fee schedule.
Fees for spouses or common-law partners will be increased to $825 from $550.
Dependent Children: Earlier the fee for dependent children paid by the applicant was $150. Now, the fees required to pay for dependent children will be $225.
The fee for the Right of Permanent residence is increased by 2%, from $490 to $500.

Evidently, the Permanent Residency application fee has been increased by 50%. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations are revised by the government to ensure that the costs of managing the services related to immigration programs are fairly shared between the Canadian Government and permanent resident applicants. Further, the IRCC clarifies that since 2012 the fees for permanent residence applications have not increased. Now, the fees would be increased in two years as per the increase in the Consumer Price Index rounded to the nearest $5. Next, the fee revision would be implemented in 2022.