OTTAWA - Canadian immigration lawyers say they're worried more permanent residents will be stranded overseas because of the new identification cards that are now mandatory for all landed immigrants.
So far, 48 people have been told they can't return to Canada until they get proper ID cards.
Some immigration lawyers say they took hundreds of phone calls before the holidays from people leaving the country who wanted to know if they'd be allowed back in. "I felt that most of them would not have a problem getting back into the country, only on the strength that there would be hundreds of people in the same boat," said Halifax lawyer Lee Cohen.
But there are problems. At last count, 48 people were banned from flights back to Canada because they don't have the card. Maria Iadinardi, spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, says the 36 landed immigrants aren't stranded. "It takes eight to 12 weeks to receive the card," she said. "That's why we have a contingency plan, which is the one-time travel document."
That document is available at Canadian consulates and takes about a day to process.
The Department of Citizenship and Immigration has already handed out close to 1 million ID cards. It says about 100,000 are still being processed.
