Archives for October 2010

Want to study in Canada?

Canada’s first-rate academic institutions welcome international students from across the world. More than 130,000 students come to study in Canada every year and even more come to Canada to learn English or French. Foreign students bring a rich culture to Canadian classrooms.

Study permits as an avenue to Canadian permanent residency

Not only will studying in Canada prepare you for work in Canada, it can also help you fast-track your Canadian immigration application if you wish to stay in Canada after you finish your study program. Additionally, international students are eligible for Work Permits to obtain Canadian work experience both during and after their studies.

Introducing Canadavisa.com’s BETA version of the Online Study Permit Application Builder

If you have already been accepted to study in Canada, congratulations! Is the study period for your program longer than 6 months? If yes, you will need to apply for a study permit.

Prepare your study permit application the easy way! Try the beta (test) version of our online application builder to prepare your Canadian study permit application.

>>Read the full article on Canadavisa.com…

On June 26, 2010, the Government of Canada placed a limit on the number of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications it will process before June 30, 2011. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will process applications up to a maximum of 20,000. The limit does not apply to those applications with a job offer from a Canadian employer. To qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker category of immigration without a Canadian job offer, the principal applicant must have worked for at least one year in the past 10 years in one of the 29 listed occupations. Moreover, a maximum of 1,000 applications will be considered under any one of these eligible occupations.

For the first time last week, CIC released an update on the number of complete applications received for processing under the FSW category.

     Total applications received toward to overall cap of 20,000:
     2,785 as of October 27, 2010

To view the number of applications received by CIC for each of the 29 occupations, click here.

These numbers will be updated on a frequent basis according to data released by CIC.

Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guideline only.

Attorney David Cohen offers the following advice, “Be quick with your application, or risk losing your opportunity of qualifying for a permanent resident visa under the Federal Skilled Worker category.”

There are many other ways to qualify for Canadian Permanent Residency, primarily through provincial nomination programs or under the Quebec Skilled Worker category. The provinces, especially the province of Quebec, still believe in the human capital model, in which one’s total background is given greater importance than their experience in a particular occupation. According to Attorney David Cohen, “All it may take is a willingness to learn a little French.”

The Federal and Quebec immigration systems offer Canadian permanent residency to qualified business persons under their Immigrant Investor categories. The immigrant investor visas for the Investor and his or her dependents result in unconditional permanent residency status, except for the residency requirements applicable to all Permanent Residents. Both the Federal and Quebec Investor Immigrant Programs have been extremely popular, and there are significant benefits to Canada resulting from these investments.

The Federal government declared a moratorium on the acceptance of new applications in the Federal Immigrant Investor Program on June 26, 2010. Now, four months later, Quebec has announced a moratorium in effect from October 13, 2010 on the acceptance of new applications under the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program.

Canada’s criteria for investor immigration remained unchanged since 1999 and the investment amount was one of the lowest as compared to similar programs offered in the US, Australia, the UK, etc. The criteria were in need of an update to remain competitive with these countries. The moratoriums will allow Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Immigration Quebec to reduce the backlog of applications. Once the programs re-open, procedural changes implemented during the moratorium will facilitate faster processing times. Undoubtedly, this is something business persons will appreciate.

While immigration is a Federal subject in Canada, the Federal Immigrant Investor Program is only available to those destined for settlement outside Quebec, as Immigration Quebec has the authority to select immigrants destined for the province of Quebec. Both the Quebec and Federal Investor Programs have identical eligibility criteria, apart from minor differences.

When the Federal and Quebec Investor Immigrant Programs re-open, the following eligibility criteria will be applicable to new applications:

An individual must:
• have a net worth of at least CAD$1.6 million,
• have 2 years of managerial experience in the preceding 5 years; and,
• be willing to make an investment of CAD$800,000 for a period of 5 years at 0% interest. The return of the capital is guaranteed by the government.

Under the new rules, applicants will be able to choose one of the following two options for making the investment:

1. Invest the entire CAD$800,000 out of the applicant’s own funds: In this case, these will be kept by the government for a period of five years, after which the funds will be returned in full; OR

2. Pay a financing fee in the range of CAD$200,000: Due to the secure nature of the investment, Canadian financial institutions are willing to make the investment with the government on behalf of the applicant, for a one-time financing fee in the range of CAD$200,000. The financing fee is paid up front and is non-refundable.

Current expectations are that the Federal and Quebec Investor Immigrant programs will be open for new applications by December 2010. If you are interested in one of these programs, it is best to start your application now so that it is ready to submit as soon as the programs re-open.

To find out if you qualify, click here.

Learn more about Federal Investor and Quebec Investor programs.

The following is a summary of developments concerning Canadian Citizenship and Immigration that took place or were announced over the last few weeks. 

• Canada’s Citizenship Week 2010: Celebrating Canadian Citizenship

In October, Canada celebrated Citizenship Week 2010. It was a time for Canadians to reflect on what it means to be Canadian, and on the responsibilities and rights of citizenship. More than 155,000 newcomers to Canada became Canadian citizens in 2009. These new citizens embrace the Canadian values of human rights, freedom, and democracy. >>Read more….

• Quebec leads job creation

In terms of job creation, Quebec has recently demonstrated the best performance in all of North America. While jobs were lost in other parts of Canada during the month of September, more than 14,000 new jobs were created in Quebec. >>Read more…

• Canada deemed most asylum seekers from Sri Lanka as legitimate

The government of Canada is considering ways to prevent migrant smuggling because of the arrival in August this year of a ship with almost 500 Sri Lankan asylum seekers on board; however, the Canadian refugee determination process was designed to deal with people seeking asylum by landing on Canada’s shores, fleeing for their lives.  >>Read more…

• Federal Internship for Newcomers program announced

The Government of Canada announced yesterday it is launching the Federal Internship for Newcomers program. The program is designed to assist newcomers gain valuable Canadian work experience by affording them the opportunity to acquire some temporary work with the government in accordance with their skill set and training. >>Read more…

The current Canadian immigration selection system favours skilled immigrants. They are viewed as part of the solution to the problem of an aging population and shrinking workforce. But beyond this, immigrants are making Canada more innovative and that is a good thing according to a just-released report by the Conference Board of Canada, entitled “Immigrants as Innovators”. The report indicates that “innovation” is now the fundamental driver of output and productivity and it is critical for a country’s continued economic growth.

>>>Read the full blog post on Canadavisa.com…