Pending the instructions from the Immigration Minister, those who filed their permanent resident visa application after the passage of changes to Canada’s immigration legislation under Budget Bill C-50 will only receive a provisional file number.
Here's an excerpt from acknowledgement letter (with provisional file number) issued by Canadian Embassy Manila:
You may be aware that the Parliament of Canada has enacted ammendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). These amendments permit the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to give instructions to officers regarding the processing of certain types of applications filed on or after Feb 27, 2008.
Because no instructions have been issued by the Minister as yet, we are not able to inform you at this time whether, and how, your application might be affected.
The government of Canada is still in the process of consultation on immigration priorities. After these consultations, the Immigration Minister will be issuing instructions on immigration priorities. Only then that we will know which occupations will be processed quickly, will be hold or will be returned unprocessed. There are speculations that those in those in the list of of occupations under pressure will be included in the priority list.
