After fearing his file had stalled, young Londoner has permanent residency status approved

A young man who shared his story with CBC News about an unusually long wait to process his permanent residency application got news on Wednesday that his application has been approved. 

"When I got this news, I was really, really excited," Aravind Shaju, who is 25, told CBC News. "Now I can work legally here and really, my life no longer is on hold."

Shaju was born in India and came to Canada as a student in 2017. He had been unable to work legally because his application for permanent residency status wasn't moving forward. 

Shaju, who completed a mechanical engineering program at Fanshawe College in London, Ont., filed his application in April 2020 under the Canadian experience class stream. At the time, he was told a response time of six to eight months is typical.

A year and a half later Shaju was still waiting, as were others who'd applied at about the same time. Long application processing delays for people who'd applied in the spring of 2020 led to the creation of the #Finalize2020Q1Q2InlandPR hashtag on Twitter. 

A statement sent to CBC News from the office Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the COVID-19 pandemic had led to delays in getting applications processed as the federal government adjusted to having its employees working from home. The same statement said the ministry had taken steps to modernize the immigration system in ways that will speed up applications.  

And while he's had a good outcome, Shaju said he's in contact with people who applied before him but whose requests are not resolved.

"There are people who applied months before me and they're still waiting for confirmation," he said. "Most of them are getting general responses."

Shaju plans to apply for citizenship after he meets the five-year requirement. He's hopeful others who are waiting for their files to be processed will get decisions soon.