Haiti immigration rules working: Quebec minister

Quebec expects that by the end of the week, it will have approved 1,000 immigration applications from Haitians affected by the Jan. 20 earthquake who want to join family members in the province, Immigration Minister Yolande James announced Monday.

Those applications still have to be sent to Ottawa for final approval.

Another 2,000 people whose applications are still winding their way through the system will be approved for permanent resident status by the end of the summer, James said.

The last day to submit applications under the special family sponsorship rules Quebec put in place after the catastrophic earthquake is July 20.

'The delays are there, but there are reasons for them.' —Yolande James, Quebec immigration minister

The province expanded its family reunification program, allowing Quebecers to sponsor their own children over the age of 21, as well as brothers, sisters, siblings' spouses, nieces and nephews.

Previously, Quebecers had only been allowed to sponsor parents, grandparents and children under the age of 21.

James said in a news conference Monday that the new immigration rules are working but acknowledged there have been delays.

"We had to be able to make sure that this was, [for example,] a brother, and use alternative ways of identification," said James. "So, the delays are there, but there are reasons for them."

James said many Haitians were left without their official identification documents after the earthquake, making the fast-tracking process even harder.

Process too slow, Montreal Haitians say

Members of Montreal's Haitian community have complained that despite the looser rules, the sponsorship process is bogged down and bureaucratic.

"The community is desperate," said Marjoire Villefranche, program director at the Montreal Haitian community centre La Maison d'Haiti. "They are very frustrated to see their families in the streets in Haiti

"They know they need the few members left of the family; they need them here."