The following is a summary of issues which have arisen recently which may affect those seeking temporary or permanent relocation to Canada:

Warsaw Relocates:

Following over a year in temporary facilities, the Warsaw visa office has relocated its operation to a permanent establishment. Although the relocation caused some disruption to service, the long term effect is expected to be beneficial.

The address of the new office is:

Canadian Embassy
ui. Piękna 2/8
00-482 Warsaw
Poland

Spousal Pilot Project made Permanent:

Following an evaluation of the program which allowed the spouses of certain foreign workers to be granted employment authorizations if in possession of a job offer, the program has been made permanent. It is believed that this will help attract skilled temporary workers to Canada by allowing their spouses to pursue their own careers.

Spouses and common-law partners of skilled professionals such as management and professional employees as well as those of technical and skilled tradespersons with Canadian employment authorizations are now granted “open” employment authorizations. Of course, the spouse must meet the standard assessments of security, criminality and health.

Visitor Visas Required for Eight New Countries:

Applicants from the following countries are now required to obtain visitor visas in order to be eligible to appear at a Canadian port of entry:

Dominica, Grenada, Hungary, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Zimbabwe.