Canada still accepting spousal immigration applications despite coronavirus

By Kara Crudo

If you want to sponsor your partner for Canadian permanent residence you can still start the process amid coronavirus special measures.

The Canadian government has announced they will still be accepting and processing spousal and common-law sponsorship applications for partners who are both in Canada and abroad.

This is good news for applicants, both inside and outside of Canada, who have not yet had an opportunity to file their applications with the Canadian Immigration authorities.

As the Canadian government continues to refine COVID-19 measures, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has ironed out a few of the concerns that couples may have about sponsorship during the crisis.

Intake of incomplete applications

IRCC has indicated that they will continue to accept and process new applications for permanent residence and may accept incomplete applications during the coronavirus pandemic. This will allow you not to delay a submission simply because you are unable to obtain a required document due to service disruptions caused by COVID-19.

If you will be filing a new spouse or common-law sponsorship application shortly and you are unable to provide the required supporting documentation the applicant must provide a detailed letter of explanation detailing the COVID related delays.

Incomplete applications will be kept and reviewed in 90 days. If the application is still incomplete in 60 days, IRCC officers are instructed to request the missing documents with an additional 90-day deadline.

Collecting social assistance may not make you ineligible to sponsor

As a general rule, applicants who are in receipt of last resort social assistance may be considered ineligible to sponsor their spouse or common-law partner. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations define social assistance in broad terms and therefore it is important to determine which one would render you ineligible to sponsor.

The intent of this rule is to bar persons whose primary or sole source of income is “social assistance” benefits. If you have been recently laid off and are looking to the government for aid, know that receiving assistance, for example, Employment Insurance benefits would not render you inadmissible as a sponsor.

Other examples of benefits which may not render you ineligible to sponsor would include but are not limited to:

• subsidized housing
• tax credits
• child care subsidies
• other benefits which would be widely available to residents of a province or territory, including persons who are employed

Spouses and common-law partners exempt from travel restrictions

On March 18, 2020 the government of Canada has announced that they will prohibit the entry of foreign nationals into Canada as an effort to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. This travel restriction is in place until June 30, 2020.

Exceptionally, immediate family members of Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents are exempt from the above travel restriction.

Both spouses and common-law partners are considered immediate family, which means they are still allowed to enter Canada from abroad. Travelers should identify themselves to the airlines and bring with them supporting documentation to demonstrate their immediate family members status in Canada and their relation. Recommended documents include but are not limited to:

• Marriage certificate or evidence of common law status
• Canadian Passport or Permanent resident Card
• Birth Certificate
• Other documents that demonstrate an immediate family connection

Paper and electronic versions of the above-mentioned documents should be accepted.

It is important to keep in mind that despite your ability to travel under the above-mentioned exemption, if you are travelling by air, you will need to pass a health check conducted by the airlines before you are allowed to board your flight and must not show any symptoms of COVID-19.

Note that standard travel documents are still required and therefore travelers must ensure they have either a tourist visa or electronic travel authorization as needed.

Source: CIC News

Foreign workers in these 10 occupations can now be hired faster.

Canada has expedited the process for employers to hire foreign workers in agriculture, food processing, and trucking occupations.

By Shelby Thevenot

Employers hiring foreign workers in 10 agriculture, food processing, and trucking occupations can now skip past a time-consuming step in the work permit process.

Canada is now waiving the advertising requirement for the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) in certain high priority occupations.

In order to get an LMIA, in most cases, employers need to prove that no Canadian was available to take a vacant position before offering it to a foreign worker. They do this by advertising the position for hire across various platforms for up to three months in some cases.

As of March 20, the minimum recruitment requirements for pending and future LMIA applications will be waived for the following 10 occupations:

• Butchers, meat cutters and fishmongers-retail and wholesale (NOC 6331)
• Transport Truck Drivers (NOC 7511)
• Agricultural service contractors, farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers (NOC 8252)
• General Farm Workers (NOC 8431)
• Nursery and Greenhouse Workers (NOC 8432)
• Harvesting labourers (NOC 8611)
• Fish and seafood plant workers (NOC 9463)
• Labourers in food, beverage and associated products processing (NOC 9617)
• Labourers in fish and seafood processing (NOC 9618)
• Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers (NOC 9462)

Truck drivers who are situated in a province that has a Mandatory Entry-Level Training requirement must have the certification in their possession at the time they receive their work permit. Provinces with this requirement include B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.

New electronic LMIA application processing

LMIAs can now be emailed to Service Canada. Employers can email their application to the appropriate address based on the immigration stream and job location.

For now, agricultural stream high wage and low wage applications from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon must be sent to the Ontario processing centre.

Source: CIC News