Immigration Canada

Quebec Announces New Caps for Immigration Programs

English: Flag of . Color converted to RGB from the EPS file from the Government of Quebec which you'd have to assume is as authoritative as you can get. Français : Drapeau du Québec. Couleurs converties en RGB à partir du fichier EPS du Gouvernement du Québec. Русский: Флаг Квебека (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Government of Quebec has announced new intake caps for its skilled worker, investor, entrepreneur and self employed immigration programs. By enforcing strict limits on application acceptance, Quebec is ensuring that it will receive a manageable load of applications this year. It will also reward proactive individuals who prepare and submit applications as soon as possible, before caps close.

The new intake caps are as follows:

Skilled Workers – Between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2015, a maximum of 6,500 applications will be accepted for review by the Quebec Skilled Worker (QSW) program.

Investors – Between September 8th and 19th, 2014, a maximum of 1,750 applications will be accepted for review by the Quebec Investor Program. No more than 1,200 applications will be accepted from any one country. There is no cap for investors who speak at least a high-intermediate level of French.

Entrepreneurs and Self-Employed Persons – The Government of Quebec will accept a maximum of 500 applications from entrepreneurs and self-employed persons.

What This Means for Skilled Workers

Applicants to the QSW program will see the greatest change in application intake. The upcoming year’s cap of 6,500 is less than half than the 20,000 application limit that was instituted this past year.

In the past ten months, over 10,000 applications were accepted for review by the QSW program. If interest in the program continues to grow, it means that in the coming months applicants will have to work fast to prepare their applications before the cap fills.

“The Province of Quebec has always been a popular destination for immigrants, and the QSW program has been its most popular immigration program,” said Attorney David Cohen. “In the past, there were relatively few restrictions in terms of how many applications would be accepted for review. The new cap means that prospective applicants must compete against the clock and against each other to make sure they secure a place in the queue.”

What This Means for Investors

The cap placed on the Quebec Investor Program is the same as last year. Last year, despite accepting just 1,750 new applications within a limited timeframe, the ever-popular program received applications from over 5,000 investors.

“The Quebec government will be receiving investor applications for just two weeks this fall,” said Attorney David Cohen. “It goes without saying that, with such a short timeframe for submission, only those individuals who are completely prepared in advance will be successful. Since preparing an investor file can be rather complicated, I encourage interested individuals to begin as soon as possible.”

At present, no additional announcements have been made about Quebec programs moving forward. One thing that can be sure, however, is that Quebec will continue to be a popular destination for immigrants from around the world.

To find out if you are eligible for a Quebec immigration program, or one of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, please fill out a free online assessment today.

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2014/04/quebec-announces-caps-immigration-programs-043324.html

Immigration Processing Times Appear to be Decreasing

The logo of the Government of Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the past few years, the Government of Canada has expressed its intention to bring immigration processing times down to approximately 12 months or less. Recently, it appears as though the government has begun to deliver on its promises.

According to Attorney David Cohen, of the Canadian immigration law firm Campbell Cohen, some clients who applied to the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program in summer 2013 are now receiving passport requests. A passport request is the final step in the process of obtaining Canadian Permanent Residency.

“It is exciting to see that processing times are beginning to decrease to under a year,” said Attorney Cohen. “Shortening the timeframe for application processing means that Canada gets the workers it needs in a timely fashion, and applicants are assessed within a reasonable timeframe that allows them to plan for their futures.”

The Politics of Processing Times

In years past, the government was facing a large backlog of applications for a number of programs, most notably the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). These backlogs, along with a number of other factors, resulted in increasing wait times for applicants.

Long wait times presented a problem for both Canada and the applicants waiting to be assessed. Without the ability to quickly issue permanent residence to desirable candidates, Canada faced the possibility of becoming less competitive in the global contest for the best immigrants. Applicants, on the other hand, were made to wait in a state of uncertainty for long periods of time.

Solving the problem required program reforms on many levels. These reforms included the controversial decision to do away with some backlogged applications, the consolidation of some processing centers into the newly created Ottawa Case Processing Center, and the creation of new programs with faster processing times, such as the Canadian Experience Class.

What This Means for Applicants

According to Attorney Cohen, a reduction of processing times can mean only good news for applicants.

“In short, the faster an application is processed, the faster that applicant will see their immigration goals materialize,” said Attorney Cohen. “Hopefully, the promising timelines that my firm has been experiencing with the Federal Skilled Worker Program will continue, and expand to other immigration programs in the near future.”

Speedy processing times are optimal for a number of reasons. For example, immigration programs and program requirements can change regularly. A processing time of one year or less helps to ensure that applicants who submit under a certain set of regulations will be assessed before those regulations change. In addition, shorter and more predictable immigration timelines allow applicants to more effectively plan for their future settlement in Canada, for instance by contacting employers and looking for housing.

The Canadian government has made significant investments of time and money to bring down processing times. As recent examples from the FSWP have shown, the investments will likely pay off for both Canada and future immigrants.

To find out if you are eligible to apply to any of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, please fill out a free online assessment today.

Source: http://www.cicnews.com/2014/04/immigration-processing-times-decreasing-043326.html