Canada extends temporary medical exam exemption till March 2022

Canada has decided to extend a temporary medical exam exemption that already exists for some foreign nationals, until March 31, 2022. The policy, which originally came into effect in June 2021 exempts immigration candidates who are applying from inside Canada from undergoing medical examination.

When these candidates apply for permanent resident, they need to provide an immigration medical exam or a unique medical identifier number from their previous exam. Because of this, they need not undergo medical examination for a second time if they have already completed one.

• To be eligible for this exemption, the candidates must also meet the following criteria:
• They must have applied for permanent residence and have not completed a new immigration medical examination.
• They must have already undergone a medical examination in the last five years and have come out with a positive result. In other words, they must have been found to pose no threat to public health or safety or they must have met the requirement to report to health authorities for monitoring.
• They must not have left Canada for more than six months in the last one year and lived in a country which is on federal government’s list of countries that require an immigration medical exam.

Incidentally, India is on this list and if you have left Canada and lived in India for more than six months in the last one year, you may not be eligible for the exemption.

The family members of the principle applicant will also be eligible for the same exemption if they are in Canada and meet the above-said criteria.

According to a media release issued by the immigration department, the IRCC will be contacting those individuals who are not eligible for this exemption to discuss further steps. According to the IRCC, the exemption will help them to streamline the application processing of a number of applicants and make it faster.

Though Canada has succeeded in achieving its immigration target set for 2021 by welcoming 401000 new immigrants, the country is now focusing on reducing the backlog of applications.

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