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November 2011 - The new PhD stream under the federal skilled workers program
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Ever since the introduction of the ministerial instructions in 2008, the FSW has been subject to changes on a number of occasions.
This most recent amendment will allow PhD students who are currently studying and even those who recently graduated to apply under this program. 1000 applications will be considered for processing in addition to the 10000 cap set for the program.
Students currently studying:
They must be currently enrolled in a provincially or territorially recognized private or public post secondary educational institution located in Canada.
They must have completed two years towards their PhD program
They must be in good academic standing
They must not be in recipients of a government of Canada award requiring them to return to their home country.
Gradutes of PhD programs
Applicants who have completed their PhD program at a provincially or territorially recognized private or public post secondary education institution in Canada may also submit an application under this stream. They are however subject to a time limit, in that their application must be received at the CIO in Sydney within 12 months of the completion date. These applicants must also not be recipients of an award requiring them to return to their home country. In the event they were, they should have complied with the requirements of the award at the time of their application.
The parents and grandparents sponsorship program
The government announced a temporary pause to the parents and grandparents sponsorship program. This pause affects all applications received as of November 5, 2011. It announced that the pause will be used to deal with the backlog in this category as of 2012. Instead and in an effort to help families reunite, it announced the introduction of a super visa which should facilitate travel plans for families.
October 2011 - Crossing the US border for Canadian business people
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Many Canadians cross the US border everyday to conduct business in the US. They attend conferences and meetings, they set up new businesses and negotiate business deals. Not all border crossings are the same and not all of them qualify as visitors. When the intention is not clear or there are doubts as to whether the applicant qualifies under a given category, they are sent to secondary inspection for further questioning. This can be an unpleasant experience and a source of anxiety.
It is therefore important to be aware of various business related categories under which a business person can be admitted to the USA.
Canadians are visa exempt and as such can present themselves at the US border for admission holding just a valid Canadian passport. They don’t require to present a visa save for very limited circumstances.
That being said, every person who presents at the border is subject to admissibility requirements and will be admitted under a defined category depending on the intention they express at the time of entry. Also it is against the law for an “alien” that is a non US citizen or permanent resident to work in the USA without the proper permit and authorization.
One of the very commonly used categories is that of a business visitor. Business visitors (B1 visitors) must commonly present a valid Canadian passport, an un-relinquished residence in Canada and proof of return. It is perfectly acceptable for a business visitor to attend meetings and conferences, negotiate deals, litigate and even engage in commercial transactions.... so long as the source of remuneration is not a US source and they are not involved in gainful employment in the US. This seemingly straightforward category can easily become a source of problems as soon as a US entity linked to the applicant is involved. For example Canadian companies with affiliates or subsidiaries in the US must be extremely cautious when sending managers and executives to the US for business purposes. As well, Canadians planning on starting a business project in the US must be cautious not to start drawing any type of remuneration prior to obtaining the requisite visa or permit.
Another very useful category is created by the NAFTA treaty. A number of professionals, including engineers, lawyers, technical writers, management consultants etc....may use this category to take on employment in the USA. The clear advantage of this category is that the process can be done relatively quickly at the border by presenting the requisite documents such as academic credentials, proof of employment etc....the status can be renewed in the US or by presenting at the border. The obvious limitation is that only a handful of jobs as listed in appendix D qualify under this category.
The intra-company transferee or the L category allows managers, executives and people with specialized knowledge who worked for at least one year for the foreign subsidiary to be transferred to the US branch to work in the same capacity. They are also allowed to come in to open a new office or new branch. Clearly there must be a US entity, either existing or coming to life and a Canadian branch. Interestingly enough the source of remuneration is irrelevant but there must be an element of control exercised by the US entity over the transferred beneficiary for the beneficiary to qualify as L1.
It may be a safe practice for companies with branches in the two countries to submit an L petition on behalf of their managers and executives if the US entity is the controlling one and the activity involves matters other than internal ones.
In light of the potential complications associated with the admission of business visitors and the complexities of immigration law, it is important for companies and their employees to be aware of these distinctions, to plan ahead and to prepare accordingly. Taking the necessary steps ahead of time, by discussing potential issues with an immigration lawyer licensed to practice in the US and reviewing some of these requirements online will help with an easier transfer of Canadian work force across the border.
July 2011 - Economic immigration program changes
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As of July 1, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will implement changes to its economic immigration programs in an effort to reduce backlogs and long processing times. The Federal Skilled Worker Class, the Investor class as well as the Entrepreneur class will all be affected.
Applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker program will be limited to 10,000 a year for the 29 occupations determined to be priorities by CIC. Within that 10,000 limit, a cap of 500 applicants will be set for each occupation. This cap does however not apply to applicants who have an arranged employment in Canada.
In addition to last year’s changes raising the minimum net worth and investment requirements, federal Investor applicants will now be limited to 700 per year. As for the federal Entrepreneur program, there will be a temporary moratorium on new applications.
CIC will no longer be accepting new entrepreneurs in order to process the applications that have already been received. More information about these changes will follow on July 1, 2011.
June 2011 - Recent changes in the Canadian immigration system
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On the 26th of June, 2010, CIC announced a number of changes to its immigration programs by way of ministerial instructions. This is the second set of Ministerial instructions since they were announced in 2008.
This short article is designed to give the reader an idea about those changes. It does not constitute a legal document or legal advice and does not replace legal advice.
Changes in the federal skilled workers program
On the 26th of June 2010, CIC announced new changes to the Federal Skilled Workers program. The announced changed will affect only those applications received on or after the 26th of June 2010. The Federal Skilled Workers program allows individuals who wish to settle anywhere in Canada except for Quebec to be selected based on six factors. Those factors are age, experience, education, adaptability, language abilities and arranged employment. The pass mark remains the same and an applicant is allowed to consider his or her work experience in the past 10 years. All applicants now have to use and include the new payment form with their preliminary application.
New restricted list of occupations and quotas
For an applicant to be eligible, one year's worth of full time or full time equivalent work is required. Additionally, the applicant must show at least one year's worth of full time or full time equivalent work experience in one of the listed professions. The changes announced as of the 26th of June affected that list and reduced the number of eligible professions to 29. Some of the occupations which were eliminated from the original list announced on the 28th of November, 2008 are vocational instructors, construction managers, accountants and occupational therapists. New occupations added to the list are Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management, Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners, Biologists and Related Scientists, and Architects.
An annual quota
An interesting change is that CIC announced quotas not only for the overall number of applications to be processed in a given year, it also imposed a quota on each occupation. According to the new system, a maximum of 20,000 applications will be "considered for processing" in the following 12 months, and within that newly imposed cap, a maximum of 1000 applications in each occupation will be considered for processing. The only relief is that these caps will not apply to those with an arranged employment.
A Full Application
Another change imposed by this most recent announcement is the manner in which an application is submitted. Prior to June 26th, 2010, an applicant, applying from outside of Canada, could submit the necessary application forms, along with a copy of his/her passport and the processing fee. With the current system, applicants are to submit all the supporting documents, proof of language proficiency (IELTS test results for English and/or TEF for French) including police certificates, along with their preliminary application.
Other Considerations
Applicants must also demonstrate their financial abilities by submitting proof of settlement funds at the time of their initial application. Applicants are to include the results of their language proficiency test along with their application. Such results may not be older than one year. This is now a mandatory requirement for all applicants regardless of their background. It is worth noting that under the FSW category those streams allowing international students and foreign workers to apply under this program have also been altered. In fact international students having studied in Canada for one year or more, may no longer use the FSW program. Those applicants on a work permit may now consider applying under the "arranged employment" stream of the new FSW program. If the application is approved by the centralized intake office for completeness and meets all the eligibility criteria at the time of submission, the application will be forwarded to the visa office with jurisdiction over that person's place of residence.
June 2011 - Changes in the Canada experience Class program
- A temporary foreign worker with at least two years of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada, or
- A foreign graduate from a Canadian post-secondary institution with at least one year of full-time (or equivalent) skilled work experience in Canada
Another program that was affected by the announced changes late in June 2010 is the Canada Experience Class (CEC). CEC was introduced in the recent years to allow for those individuals either studying or working in Canada to apply for permanent residence in Canada from within the country. It introduced two main streams of applications:
The two streams shared the language requirements and had separate requirements for each category.
As of June 26, 2010 all applicants are to submit current proof of language proficiency with their initial applications for them to be considered for processing. No other changes have been imposed by the recent ministerial instructions.
June 2011 - Federal immigrant investor program
CIC imposed an administrative pause on its immigrant investors program effective as of June 26, 2010. This is until proposed regulatory amendments can be implemented in the fall of 2010. These amendments will affect the minimum net worth and an applicant has to show and the minimum investment required in order to qualify. It is worth noting that at the present time, the Quebec immigrant investors program will continue accepting new applications until the proposed regulatory amendments are implemented.
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