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

Canada Immigration Without Job Offer under Nova Scotia Nominee Program

Welcome to Bienvenue à Nova Scotia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Canadian province of Nova Scotia has introduced Regional Market Stream under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program for permanent residence without requiring a job offer from an employer in Canada. The program is intended for those foreign skilled professionals who can meet provincial labour market and economic needs and intend to settle in Nova Scotia. The Nominee along with spouse and dependents can be approved by the province to become permanent residents of Canada after approval by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It is a two step application process. First the foreign skilled professional applies for Nova Scotia Nominee Program and gets nominated for the program. The applicant then applies to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to get the final approval to immigrate to Canada. The province is now accepting the application under this new immigration stream.

Eligibility Criteria

You must be between the ages of 21 and 55 years
You have achieved a minimum language standard on the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5
You have required amount of funds to settle in Nova Scotia
You occupation must be among National Occupational Classifications (NOC) A, B or O and must be in good demand
You must have at least 2 years of continuous full time work experience within the last 5 years in the field related to your intended profession in Nova Scotia
You must have degree, diploma or certificate from recognized post-secondary educational institution.
You have intentions to settle in Nova Scotia permanently
You have completed the Employment and Settlement Plan
You have passport or travel document of the country where you are residing legally.

Application Process:

Eligible foreign skilled professionals apply for nomination by the Nova Scotia Immigration for the Regional Labour Market Demand Stream. Nova Scotia immigration department will assess the application to check if the applicant fulfills all the requirements or the program and if the applicant will be able establish economically in Nova Scotia. The province will nominate the applicant for permanent residence in the province.

Applicants who are successfully nominated under the Regional Labour Market Demand Stream will then apply to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada for permanent residence. Citizenship and Immigration Canada will assess the application to check if the applicant meets the admissibility requirements such as medical and security. The final decision to approve the application for permanent residence is made by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. If the application is approved, applicant can then come to Canada along with spouse and dependents as permanent resident.

Nexus Canada to discuss if you are eligible to apply under the Nova Scotia Nominee Program under the Regional Labour Market Demand Stream.

Ontario proposes a Québec style Provincial Nominee Program

Le château Frontenac –Vieux-Québec / Old Quebec, ville de Québec / Quebec city(Québec, Canada) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Written By: Amy Whittam

According to Ontario Immigration Minister Michael Coteau, Ontario wants what Québec has – a special agreement with the Government of Canada on immigration. Like Québec, Ontario too would like more power to choose its own immigrants and to set its own targets for attracting skilled workers to the province.

This past month the Ontario government introduced legislation proposing an expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program. The program would grow from 1,300 economic immigrants to 5,000 accepted per year. Similar to Québec, under this new legislation Ontario would have the discretion to develop its own specific selection strategy.

Québec currently has its own set criteria for choosing new immigrants who will adapt well to life in Quebec. A skilled worker first applies to the Québec Government for a Certificat de Sélection du Québec (CSQ) and then later can apply to Citizenship and Immigration Canada programs to gain Permanent Residency.

Notwithstanding the very different historical relationship Québec and Ontario have vis-à-vis the Canadian Government, Ontario also has cause to seek a province-specific approach to immigration. Ontario is looking to grow its immigration program beyond the existing 100,000 new residents per year. Ontario also seeks to court a far grater number of skilled professionals in fields like Information Technology, which are in high demand in the province. Annual caps to the Federal Skilled Worker Program introduced earlier this year by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, may obstruct the Province’s designs on attracting more skilled workers and their families to Ontario.

The Provincial Nominee Program allows employers to fill skilled positions when there is a shortage of qualified candidates to be found within Ontario. Under the proposed new legislation, new immigrants would apply first to an expanded Ontario Provincial Nominee Program. The role of Citizenship and Immigration Canada would then be to clear these applicants on the basis of security and medical admissibility.

source: http://www.bellissimolawgroup.com/2014/03/ontario-proposes-a-quebec-style-provincial-nominee-program.html

Choose the right representative, don’t be a victim of immigration fraud

Immigration Debate at The Weissberg Forum For Discourse (Photo credit: MDGovpics)

Posted by: Claudia Cheung

March is Fraud Prevention Month, and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander is encouraging newcomers to seek authorized immigration representatives to avoid being a victim of fraud. “Fraud is a very serious issue in our immigration system. Our government is taking action to combat fraud by introducing specific measures in the Strengthening Citizenship Act that will address misrepresentation in the citizenship system.”

Newcomers should be aware that under Canadian law, only authorized immigration representatives are allowed to charge a fee to assist an individual to apply for a Canadian visa. Hiring an unauthorized representative weaken Canada’s immigration system, cost taxpayers money, and can often lead to the refusal of the application. On the other hand, authorized immigration representatives are vastly trained and effectively regulated and will provide newcomers with accurate advice and the best service.

Authorized immigration representatives include:

- Lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society;

- Notaries who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec; and

- Immigration consultants who are members in good standing of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council.

Make the right decision, don’t be a victim of immigration fraud

Source: http://www.bellissimolawgroup.com/2014/03/choose-the-right-representative-dont-be-a-victim-of-immigration-fraud.html