Country List for Immigration Medical Exams Updated

Image by csc4u via Flickr

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 1, 2010) - Most long-term visitors from Mexico, Croatia, the Bahamas and 42 other countries and territories can now enter Canada without a medical exam, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today. In addition, medical exams will no longer be required for agricultural workers from those 45 countries and territories.

The medical examination requirement remains in place for all temporary residents who will be working in an occupation in which the protection of public health is essential. This includes workers in the health sciences field and those working with children.

This announcement does not affect permanent immigrants or refugees, who will continue to be required to undergo a medical examination before entering Canada. Temporary residents planning to stay longer than six months may also need an exam, depending on CIC's periodic assessments of the health situation in their countries of origin.

"We are committed to ensuring there is a balance between welcoming visitors and newcomers to Canada while protecting the health and security of Canadians. CIC uses an objective threshold to determine whether a country or territory should be added or removed from the designated country/territory list," said Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Today's changes follow a regular review of the three-year average tuberculosis incidence rates of all countries and territories. A threshold of 15 cases per 100,000 is used to determine whether a country or territory should be included on CIC's designated country/territory list, which is then used to determine whether a temporary resident applicant requires an immigration medical examination. 

Mexicans applying to be temporary residents in Canada should account for about 40 per cent of those who will benefit from today's announcement. In 2009, had Mexico not been considered a designated country, about 6,000 fewer Mexican applicants would have required medical exams. The cost for medical exams is based on local rates, with fees routinely costing up to $200, while the processing time for medical exams is generally between 2 weeks and 2 months. 

"Today's changes will improve the free movement of people to Canada, while at the same time maintaining the integrity and fairness of our immigration system," continued Minister Kenney.

Four countries/territories have also been added to the designated country/territory list as a result of this review, including Wallis and Futuna.

For the full list of countries and territories affected by the review of the designated country list, please see the Backgrounder. For a list of countries or territories where medical exams are still required, please see the complete designated country/territory list.

For more information on medical examination requirements for temporary foreign workers, foreign students and visitors to Canada, please visit CIC's website.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CitImmCanada 

For more information, please contact
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Communications Branch
Media Relations
613-952-1650 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              613-952-1650      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca

Related articles by Zemanta

• Illegal Immigrants in Canada (socyberty.com)
• Loophole in new law leaves sick nannies at risk (thestar.com)
• Canadian Bar Association balks at Jason Kenney's 'abusive' immigration initiative (canada.com)
• C.B. immigration centre to hire 160 (cbc.ca)

Canadian immigration visa processing times have been cut in half since 2005

Image by mars_discovery_district via Flickr

From 2005 and 2009, the average overall processing time for Canadian immigration applications decreased to 26 months from 50 months. A recent analysis has found this improvement is linked to legislation introduced in 2008 which fast-tracked applications by skilled-workers such as registered nurses, crane operators, financial auditors, construction managers and 34 other qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker Category. The approximate processing time now for a skilled worker application is seven months, which represents a drastic reduction since previously the overall processing time could take up to five years.
The Canadian immigration system has been streamlined and improved. According to this recent analysis by immigration consultant Richard Kurland, there is evidence that skilled workers are getting high-quality service from Immigration Canada. A spokesman for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said the findings in this analysis on wait times proves the Canadian government is heading in the right direction in implementing policies that make Canada more attractive to the world’s “best and brightest” people.
In 2009, Canada issued 14,917 visas to foreign workers who met the federal skilled worker criteria and their families. If an applicant does not meet the criteria for the Federal Skilled WorkerCategories, the application enters a different queue where processing times may be longer.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Wait times drop for prospective immigrants, especially skilled workers: Analysis (canada.com)
• Canadian immigration, changes to the Federal skilled worker category 2010 (mojanemojan.com)
• Tighter immigration laws will sink 'refugee' ships (theglobeandmail.com)

Nannies, foreign workers face new rules

The federal government is tightening the regulations affecting live-in caregivers and temporary foreign workers, as well as the people who hire them.
The new rules will bring tighter scrutiny to families trying to hire a foreign nanny. Effective April 1, 2011, the government will apply a more rigorous assessment of jobs for foreign workers to ensure that offers are legitimate.
That assessment will consider whether employers have followed the rules in the past before they can hire a nanny or temporary foreign worker. A bad track record could lead to a denial of the necessary permits to hire foreign workers.
Employers who fail to meet their commitments to workers with respect to wages and working conditions will face a two-year prohibition on hiring foreign workers.

'The government is taking action to protect temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, from potential abuse and exploitation.'— Jason Kenney, immigration minister

There will also be a four-year limit on the amount of time a foreign worker can be employed in Canada. Once that limit is reached, the workers must return home and wait four years before they can work in Canada again.
That limit does not affect eligibility for permanent residence.
"The government is taking action to protect temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, from potential abuse and exploitation," explained immigration minister Jason Kenney.
"We owe it to them, their employers and all Canadians to ensure that the program is fair and equitable."
Immigration minister Jason Kenney says the changes are intended to protect nannies from exploitation. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)According to the federal government, consultations held over the past two years revealed that employers were exploiting some live-in caregivers because the system made them vulnerable.
That led to a first round of changes that took effect in April 2010 and mandated that employment contracts must spell out wages, benefits, accommodation, duties, hours of work and holiday and sick leave entitlements.
Those changes also added some flexibility to the amount of time given to live-in caregivers or nannies to meet the requirements needed for permanent residence status.
Under the law, caregivers can apply for permanent status after two years of regular full-time employment. With the changes, that time frame can be sped up if the person works a lot of overtime or can be extended if they work less than full-time hours or need time off because of illness or factors.

• 
  

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2010/08/19/con-nanny-regulations.html#ixzz0x6riCwKi

Related articles by Zemanta

• Nannies, foreign workers face new rules (cbc.ca)
• 70% drop in foreign caregivers in Canada - agencies (globalnation.inquirer.net)
• Steward: Inaction on immigration boondoggle (thestar.com)
• Leap in temporary foreign workers will hurt Canada long-term, critics say (theglobeandmail.com)
• Foreign workers earn 'substantially' less than Canadians (thestar.com)
• Feds agree to let more immigrant workers into western provinces (canada.com)
• Feds agree to let more immigrant workers into western provinces (globaltvbc.com)

New rules aim to strengthen the value of Canadian Citizenship

Image via Wikipedia

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney introduced legislation that would streamline the citizenship revocation process, crack down on crooked citizenship consultants and better protect the value of Canadian citizenship.

“Canadian citizenship is highly valued around the world and today we are taking steps to ensure it stays that way,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes will help prevent citizenship fraud. As promised in the Speech from the Throne, these amendments will streamline the process to take citizenship away from those who have acquired it by fraud, including by concealment of their war crimes. And it would take decision-making away from politicians and give it to the courts.”

The full package of amendments would strengthen the process of applying for citizenship and crack down on citizenship fraud. Bill C-37: Strengthening the Value of Canadian Citizenship Act proposes to:

* Add legal authority to regulate citizenship consultants and to crack down where they help people gain citizenship fraudulently, in line with the recently proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act – aimed at immigration consultants.
* Increase the penalties for citizenship fraud to a maximum of $100,000 or up to five years in prison or both.
* Strengthen citizenship residence requirements to specify in the law that people applying for citizenship would have to be physically present in Canada for three of the previous four years.
* Improve the government’s ability to bar criminals, including violent foreign criminals, from becoming Canadian citizens.
* Streamline the revocation and removal process and make revocation more transparent by shifting the decision making on revocations from the Governor in Council to the Federal Court.
* Ensure that the law supports the implementation of the first generation limit to passing on citizenship, ensure that the law does not unintentionally bar applicants who are eligible for citizenship, and ensure that the children of people serving Canada aboard – children of Crown servants – are not disadvantaged by their parent’s service to Canada and are able to pass on citizenship to their children.

“Canadian citizenship is more than a legal status, more than a passport,” said Minister Kenney. “We expect citizens to have an ongoing commitment, connection and loyalty to Canada.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Bill aims to crack down on citizenship fraud (nationalpost.com)
• Feds want to toughen up citizenship rules (canada.com)
• Feds tighten citizenship and refugee rules (windsorstar.com)
• Government action to protect integrity of Canadian citizenship a wise move (newswire.ca)
• Immigration minister applauds liar's citizenship denial (nationalpost.com)
• Government to crack down on illegal immigration consultants (canada.com)
• Moving to Canada (newmediamedicine.com)