Canadian Immigration Questions and Answers with Attorney David Cohen

Every month, Attorney David Cohen will answer a few general Canadian immigration questions submitted by our readers. Here are this month’s questions and answers.

1. If someone has a great CRS score , is an excellent candidate, and is subsequently invited to apply for Canadian immigration through Express Entry, but unfortunately has medical complications . . . would he or she be considered admissible for immigration to Canada?

A medical condition may affect an application for permanent residence in Canada. Applicants for permanent residence may be refused if Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) thinks that a medical condition will cause excessive demand to the Canadian health care system or may be a danger to public health and safety.

Whether a candidate may be found to be medically admissible will turn on an individual analysis of his or her health condition and medical requirements. In particular, CIC will look at whether the medical test results are abnormal at the time of the medical exam. It will also depend upon what care, services, and/or special education he or she requires, which medications he or she takes, and whether those services are covered by public health care in the province where he or she wishes to reside. Moreover, the candidate’s ability to obtain private social services or pay for his or her medications and treatment are important factors.

2. Do I need to get my wife’s educational credential assessed? Will this give additional CRS points?

You are not required to have her education assessed. However, if your wife has a secondary or post-secondary education that is deemed equivalent to Canadian educational standards, you may be awarded additional points under the Comprehensive Ranking System. This ranges from an additional two points if she has a secondary school credential to 10 points if she has a Doctoral Degree (PhD).

3. I submitted my Express Entry Profile on January 1, 2015. Is it really necessary that I apply again directly to Nova Scotia just to increase my chances?

If you are in the Express Entry pool and eligible to apply for the Nova Scotia Demand: Express Entry stream, then the short answer to your question is that it may be beneficial to apply directly to that stream.

What the early stages of Express Entry have revealed is that it is a competitive system. So far, every candidate who has been issued an invitation to apply for permanent residence has obtained either a qualifying job offer from a Canadian employer or a provincial nomination. Therefore, proactive candidates who make efforts to obtain either a job offer or a provincial nomination are more likely to receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence and settle in Canada.