Is Immigrant Selection in Canada Racialized? Visa Officer Discretion and Approval Rates for Spousal and Federal Skilled Worker Applications

Canada's spousal sponsorship process: challenges of cross-national couples

“…This research project sought to provide a platform for cross-national couples to voice their concerns about the Canadian spousal sponsorship process. While my study did not reveal explicit and widespread racism in the sponsorship process, which make sense in consideration of neo-racism, findings from participants and government sources did suggest the existence of some forms of racial discrimination, which complement the literature on spousal sponsorship and immigration officers' discretion (Côté, Côté, & Kérisit, 2001;Forsyth, 2010;Martin, 2017;Satzewich 2013Satzewich , 2014aSatzewich , 2014b. Similar to other studies, my research also found evidence of socio-economic discrimination (Côté, Côté, & Kérisit, 2001;Martin, 2017), as well as bureaucratic influences within the spousal sponsorship process (Satzewich, 2013(Satzewich, , 2014a(Satzewich, , 2014b.…”

“…There is also limited research concerned with the discretion of visa immigration officers and the strategies used to identify genuine unions between Canadian citizens and their foreign spouses. Satzewich's (2013Satzewich's ( , 2014aSatzewich's ( , 2014b research on racialization and the discretion of Canadian visa officers in their evaluation of spousal relationships appears to be the most intensive body of work on the subject at this time. His research challenges the notion that visa immigration officials are influenced by individual and institutional levels of racism, as other scholars have argued (Abu-laban & Gabriel 2002;Galabuzi, 2006;Aiken, 2007).…”

“…For example, his interviews with visa officers show that a profiling technique is developed and used to examine potentially fraudulent cases and target countries with lower levels of socio-economic development (Satzewich, 2013(Satzewich, , 2014b). Satzewich's (2014b) conclusion in his other study, which questions that immigrant selection in Canada is racialized by looking at approval rates for spousal and Federal Skilled Worker applications must also be examined further. Satzewich (2014b) himself acknowledges that the findings of his study were based on "an alternative but imperfect way to measure the racialization of discretion" (p. 1027); since IRCC does not publish visa approval rates for race of applicants, Satzewich (2014b) uses statistics for outcomes of decisions at different visa office locations as a proxy for race of applicants.…”

“…An interesting comment about the inadequate support made by one participant notably mentioned the issue of how to address the system overseas in terms of corruption abroad, which sheds light on the difficulties of enforcing consistent policies, particularly in a large transnational bureaucracy. Satzewich (2013Satzewich ( , 2014aSatzewich ( , 2014b examines the results and impact of immigration visa officers' discretion and the impact of bureaucracy on their work. His study establishes that productivity targets influence visa officers' decision of each spousal case and that visa officers are aware of the time constraints they have to process a large volume of applications.…”

Canada's spousal sponsorship process: challenges of cross-national couples

“…While administrative structures and practices may shape the process, and affect approval rates of spousal cases, Satzewich fails to address the existence of differential and inconsistent treatment by immigration officers toward nationals from certain countries, which would put these often racialized groups at a disadvantage. For example, his interviews with visa officers show that a profiling technique is developed and used to examine potentially fraudulent cases and target countries with lower levels of socio-economic development (Satzewich, 2013(Satzewich, , 2014b). Satzewich's (2014b) conclusion in his other study, which questions that immigrant selection in Canada is racialized by looking at approval rates for spousal and Federal Skilled Worker applications must also be examined further.…”