Hundreds of Iranians living in Canada have united in their effort to pressure the federal government into addressing what they say are inexplicable delays with their permanent residency applications.

According to participants in the #DelayedIranianApplications movement, there are at least 200 Iranians currently awaiting word on their application and their wait times have been considerably longer than those of applicants from other countries. The inexplicable delay has them facing an uncertain future and questioning whether they are being discriminated against.

Mojtaba Eslami has lived in Canada with his wife for four years. The couple, who reside in Calgary, applied for permanent residency 16 months ago and, to date, have not received an update regarding their status.

“We are living in limbo right now,” said Eslami. “Aside from the mental stress and uncertainty associated with it, we cannot make any long-term decisions. We cannot expand our families, having kids. We cannot buy a house.”

“We are skilled and educated people so we can add value for this society.”

Negar Behzadi Fard and Mohammadreza Shyegh of Edmonton have been waiting two-and-a-half years for the outcome of their application while the average processing time is normally 57 days. They say the delay has hurt their job prospects.

“When you say work permit, you don’t hear back from them,” said Negar Behzadi Fard of her job search frustration. “Sometimes when you call them for follow-up they say ‘sorry, we got a person with permanent residency’.”

Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair has written the federal government on behalf of the Iranians seeking permanent residency stating ‘a roadblock has been placed in their paths, causing them significant prejudice’.

Federal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says there are no known delays with the permanent residency application process. “There’s no delays as far as I’m concerned,” said Hussen.”There are, of course, individual cases with circumstances that may be unique that cause delays due to extended security checks.”

Calgarian Keivan Monfared, who is awaiting his permanent residency, says he questions Hussen’s claim. “We firmly believe that that’s just an excuse because there are a lot of other cases that have been processed just in a matter of a week or two.”

Officials with the Canadian-Iranian Congress have been pressing the Immigration Minister to review the longer than average processing time of Iranian applicants seeking permanent residency.

With files from CTV’s Shaun Frenette