Canada and New Zealand Partner to Tackle Immigration Fraud

Ottawa, March, 24, 2011 — Canada’s efforts to combat immigration fraud have been strengthened following the signing of a new information-sharing initiative with New Zealand, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, announced today.

“This initiative will help Canadian immigration authorities detect foreign criminals and previous deportees who are trying to re-enter Canada without permission,” said Minister Kenney. “Canada already has similar initiatives in place with the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, and we are pleased to expand this partnership to include New Zealand.”

Under this arrangement, Canada will be able to securely and confidentially check the fingerprint information of asylum seekers and foreign nationals facing deportation in Canada with those stored in New Zealand immigration databases.

“The ability to check identities with each other helps Canada and New Zealand identify people using false identities or people with criminal histories,” said New Zealand Immigration Minister Dr. Jonathan Coleman. “The initiative gives greater confidence that non-genuine immigration cases will be refused through the improved detection of fraudulent identity and immigration claims.”

The initiative was developed as part of the Five Country Conference (FCC), a forum for immigration and border security comprised of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency in partnership with New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. To date, as a result of data-sharing:

• The U.K. returned to Australia a wanted rapist posing as an asylum seeker, who subsequently pleaded guilty.
• Canada revoked the refugee status of a man whom British records proved to be an American citizen.
• The U.K. took action against an asylum seeker who used nine identities and six different documents across the FCC countries.

Canadian citizens will not be affected, nor will visitors, foreign students or foreign workers. Most permanent residents will not be affected either, other than those who acquired their status via a successful refugee claim.

The protection of personal information is important to all the countries involved. Each FCCcountry has in place a number of safeguards to protect privacy and has completed a comprehensive privacy impact assessment.

Alberta foreign workers can apply to government for permanent residency

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Province can nominate 5,000 skilled labourers this year.



EDMONTON — Skilled temporary foreign workers certified in Alberta’s optional trades can now apply directly to the government for permanent residency instead of having to apply with their employers, the province announced Monday.
The federal government limits the number of people Alberta can nominate for permanent residence. In 2011, Alberta is allowed to nominate 5,000 people. With limited numbers, Alberta’s focus will be on nominating people who currently work in permanent jobs, those who have job offers, and those with the skills and qualifications in occupations that are in demand here.
“We need skilled workers living in Alberta permanently,” said Thomas Lukaszuk, minister of employment and immigration, in a statement. “We have to make sure we are ready for the coming labour shortages as economies around the world are competing for the same skills and the same people. This change will allow Alberta to nominate the most qualified and experienced tradespeople working in occupations that are needed in Alberta.”
There are currently 50 designated trades in Alberta. Of these, 31 are in the optional trades (including occupations like roofer, tile setter, concrete finisher and cabinetmaker). Nineteen occupations fall under compulsory trades (including occupations like welder, iron worker, gasfitter and plumber).
Before this change, workers in the optional trades applied with their employers for permanent residence. Workers in the compulsory trades had the option to apply either directly or with their employers.
This change will simplify the application process for temporary foreign workers in both compulsory and optional trades applying to the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Alberta+foreign+workers+apply+government+permanent+residency/4436560/story.html#ixzz1HWZrbhty

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Legislation Targeting Crooked Immigration Consultants Receives Royal Assent

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OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 03/23/11 -- Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney welcomed today the final passage of legislation to crack down on crooked immigration consultants.

Bill C-35, originally introduced as the Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act, has now received Royal Assent and is expected to come into force in the coming months.

"Once in force, this legislation will make it an offence for anyone other than an authorized immigration consultant, lawyer, other representative or authorized entity to conduct business at any stage of an application or proceeding," said Minister Kenney. "We are targeting undeclared "ghost" consultants as well as other unscrupulous immigration representatives who are engaging in unacceptable activity."

The Act strengthens the rules governing those who charge a fee for immigration advice or representation; closes certain loopholes; increases penalties for unauthorized representation; and allows for more government oversight in order to improve the way in which immigration consultants are regulated.

"Crooked immigration consultants pose a threat not only to their victims, but also to the integrity of our immigration system," said Minister Kenney. "This new legislation will help us protect people wanting to immigrate to or stay in Canada, as well as the integrity of Canada's immigration system."

In response to issues raised by stakeholders and members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, amendments to the Bill were made during the Committee's study of Bill C-35. Among key amendments are measures to:

--  Double maximum fines for the offence of providing unauthorized
    immigration advice from $50,000 to $100,000 and summary convictions from
    $10,000 to $20,000;
--  Amend the offence provision to capture both direct and indirect
    representation and advice; and
--  Recognize paralegals regulated by a Law Society as being exempted from
    prohibition on providing representation and advice.

Once in force, the Act will impose penalties on unauthorized representatives who provide, or offer to provide, advice or representation for a fee, at any stage of an immigration application of proceeding. This includes the period before a proceeding begins or an application is submitted. In addition, the legislation authorizes the disclosure of information on the ethical or professional conduct of an immigration consultant to those responsible for governing or investigating that conduct.

Bill C-35 received Royal Assent this afternoon after it was approved in the Senate on March 21, 2011. It was unanimously adopted at third reading in the House of Commons on December 7, 2010, after being introduced on June 8th.

This process is part of a broader strategy to protect people wanting to immigrate to or stay in Canada from immigration fraud.

Minister Kenney raised the issue of immigration consultant fraud in meetings with officials in China, India and the Philippines last fall and more recently in Pakistan. He has urged those governments to protect their citizens from exploitation and abuse by crooked immigration consultants.

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BUDGET 2011: Credits for re-training foreign workers

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Foreign workers forced to obtain additional Canadian credentials before practicing in their field will feel some financial relief in the Conservative’s budget, tabled Tuesday.

Source: OBJ

However, the document – which still needs to be approved by parliamentarians – is vague on increased recognition of foreign credentials, an important issue for Ottawa’s technology sector.

“There are very qualified people not being able to work in their field in Canada because of a recognition of their experience and credentials, so I think a large number of organizations have asked for some relief there,” said OCRI chief executive Claude Haw in an interview before the budget's release on Tuesday.

That said, the budget included few details about how immigrants could gain equivalency for medical, law, engineering and other professional degrees overseas, only saying details would be announced shortly.

Instead, the government focused on tuition relief for those foreign workers that are looking to switch careers or supplement their existing credentials.

“Many foreign-trained workers have difficulty paying for the tuition and other training costs associated with the foreign credential recognition process,” budget documents stated.

University and college tuition fees in Canada are eligible for a tax credit, but examinations for professional certifications – like nursing or accounting – don't fall under this bracket.

The budget proposes making all of these trade, occupational and professional examination fees eligible as long as a provincial or federal statute lets the person do the trade in Canada.

Around 30,000 people nationwide are expected to receive this assistance, reducing federal revenues by $1 million in 2010-11 and $5 million for the following two years.

“During the downturn, people asked if we need more people in the country, but I say it creates vibrancy and innovation,” Mr. Haw said, noting that Canadians do very well when working with Silicon Valley companies and he has seen the same phenomenon when foreign workers come here.

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Canada to scrap one avenue for refugees

Image via WikipediaBY ELIZABETH THOMPSON, IPOLITICS.CA



Refugees from some of the world's most dangerous countries could soon find it more difficult to find refuge in Canada.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has put forward a proposal to eliminate one of the three classes Canada uses to resettle refugees. The source-country class allows residents of designated countries to apply directly to Canada for refugee status from inside those countries.

In its notice of the proposed change, the government says the groups most likely to be affected by the change are Colombians and Eritreans.

The refugee spaces that had been allocated to the source-country class will be reallocated to the larger convention-refugee-abroad class. In the convention class, Canada works with the United Nations human rights commissioner for refugees to resettle refugees located outside their country of origin.

Applications under the source-country class that have been approved in principle will be processed, and candidates who meet the criteria will be issued a visa. Those not already approved in principle will be reassessed under the remaining refugee resettlement classes. Unsuccessful applicants who feel they need protection will be referred to the UN human rights commissioner.

The government says the change is being proposed because the source-country class isn't "effective or efficient."

However, Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees, said scrapping the class instead of reforming it will close the door to people who can't easily leave their home countries to apply for refugee status and force them into the arms of human-smugglers.

"They are proposing to close one of the few options Canada has which allows people who face persecution to avoid smugglers."

The source country class, which has existed since 1997, allows prospective refugees from designated countries to apply to Canada for refugee status before they leave the country.

Currently, six countries are designated: Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The last time the list of designated countries was revised was 2001. While Canadian government travel warnings have since been reduced for some countries, such as Guatemala and El Salvador, the Department of Foreign Affairs still warns against any travel to Sudan and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.

In its proposal, the government said a review of the source-country class in 2009 found it isn't effective.

"The source country class was intended to be a flexible tool for humanitarian intervention, capable of responding to a variety of populations and situations," the government wrote.

"However, the review found that the class can only be used successfully in a narrow range of humanitarian situations in a small number of countries around the world."

In some countries, the system was being swamped with applications from citizens of other countries located in the designated country.

"Direct access was granted in the six source countries to accommodate applications from source country nationals," the government explained. "However, the provision is also being used by non-nationals residing in the source countries who would normally be required to have a referral or a private sponsor, since Canada cannot restrict the application of direct access based on nationality. As a result, any foreign national living in a source country may use the direct access provision to apply for resettlement without referral."

In some countries, such as Columbia, where the average acceptance rate is 13 per cent, the Canadian embassy was swamped with thousands of applications. In Sierra Leone and Sudan, fewer than 100 applications have been submitted in each country.

Dench said part of the reason that the source-country class hasn't been working as well as it could is that the government hasn't been trying to make it work.

"We're particularly critical of the fact that the program has never really been made to work in Africa."

Dench said improvements are needed, such as not having a published list of countries. However, she said she was shocked to learn the government is proposing to scrap the source country class altogether.

"From our perspective it is a very bad idea."

Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau said the government's proposal makes a case for the move and he supports the idea of working with the UN human rights commissioner.

However, Trudeau said he also has concerns about the move and would like to see the House of Commons immigration committee hold hearings into the question.

"Any time we're eliminating an entire class of refugee applicants I get very wary."

elizabeththompson@ipolitics.ca

Twitter.com/LizT1

© Copyright (c) 2011 iPolitics.ca

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/partner/shell/Canada+scrap+avenue+refugees/4476507/story.html#ixzz1HKqyBBjQ