Canada Halts Sponsoring Parents and Grand-Parents

The Government of Canada is taking immediate action to cut the backlog and wait times for sponsored parents and grandparents.


Currently, more than 165,000 parents and grandparents who have applied to become permanent residents of Canada are still waiting for a final decision. Each year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) receives applications for nearly 38,000 parents and grandparents, a number that will only continue to expand if no action is taken.


“Wait times for Family Class sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents now exceed seven years, and without taking action, those times will continue to grow, and that is unacceptable,” said Minister Kenney.

To deal with the large backlog and lengthy wait times, CIC announced on 2011.11.04 Phase I of the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification.

First – Canada will increase by over 60 percent the number of sponsored parents and grandparents Canada will admit next year, from nearly 15,500 in 2010 to 25,000 in 2012.


Second – The government is introducing the new “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa,” which will be valid for up to 10 years. The multiple-entry visa will allow an applicant to remain in Canada for up to 24 months at a time. It will come into effect on December 1, 2011.

Third – The government will consult Canadians on how to redesign the parents and grandparents program to ensure that it is sustainable in the future.

Fourth – To prevent the build-up of an unmanageable number of new applications during these consultations and to further reduce the 165,000-strong backlog of parent and grandparent applicants, CIC is putting in place a temporary pause of up to 24 months on the acceptance of new sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents. The pause comes into effect on November 5, 2011.


Phase II of the plan is to be announced in 2014.


www.zoueinconsulting.com

7 common mistakes that lead to immigration files being rejected

As immigration laws are becoming more and more complex, immigration authorities in Canada and around the world are becoming less and less tolerant towards mediocre and hastily prepared files.

Some might argue that the laws and regulations aren’t always fair; but rules are rules and when it comes to immigration rules, they must be followed to the tiniest detail. 

Expert immigration advice is very important. An educated, regulated and experienced immigration consultant is vital to ensure your file is handled and presented properly.

There are in fact, many simple mistakes that applicants often make, which would render their file weak and cause it to be rejected; sometimes even making the applicant banned for life! 

We have compiled a list of 7 common mistakes that could lead to rejection. Here they are:

1- Financial Sufficiency 
Most visa applications require the applicant to show they have enough money to support themselves. A file will be rejected for as little as $ 0.10 dollars below the threshold.

2- Missing documents
Forgot to include a document? Bad luck: Visa refused! Gone are the days when officials used to contact you about missing documents. With the overwhelming number of files in the backlog, immigration authorities don’t waste time anymore; they will not give you a chance to correct your mistake. Your visa will be refused.

3- Misrepresentation 
One little mistake is all it takes for your application to be discarded. One misspelled word, incorrect date or misinformation and your visa will be rejected. In certain cases where fraud is suspected, misrepresentation could even get you banned for a certain period of time, or even for life.

4- Interview Process 
The interview is quite often an integral part of the process. Your interviewers will hang onto your every word. They are trained to ask you tough questions and they might intimidate you. The process is designed to scare fraudulent applicants into admitting a lie. Often applicants will lose their nerves and say the wrong thing.

5-     Fraudulent documents  
Numerous visas are rejected every year due to fraudulent documents. Are you you’re your documents are not fake? Fraud is taken extremely seriously, and it is highly likely that the applicant might be banned for life.

6-     Port of Entry
You received your visa and travel to your new country. The immigration officer at the airport starts questioning you. He will ask tough questions… If he has any reason whatsoever to doubt you, he has the power to return you!!! Very few people know that this a fact and a basic element of Immigration Law.

7-     The wrong visa 
Immigration laws are complex and becoming more so… Canada has over 65 active immigration categories with different rules and eligibility criteria for each. File limits are also being implemented. Choose the wrong category, apply after exceeding limits or when category is inactive and you will have wasted your time and money!

Canada's Inventory of Immigration Application Files as of 31.12.2010

New Immigration Instructions : 01.07.2011 to 30.06.2012

These Instructions come into force on 01.07.2011 and they shall remain in force until 30.06.2012
They apply to applications received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) on or after 01.07.2011.

Federal Skilled Worker applications

A maximum of 10,000 new Federal Skilled Worker applications, without an offer of arranged employment, will be considered for processing each year. Within the 10,000 cap, a maximum of 500 new Federal Skilled Worker applications per National Occupation Classification (NOC) code will be considered.

In calculating the caps, applications will be considered in order of the date they are received.

Applications from skilled workers with evidence of experience in the last ten years under one or more of the following National Occupation Classification (NOC) codes, not exceeding the identified caps:

• 0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
• 0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
• 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
• 1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
• 2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
• 2151 Architects
• 3111 Specialist Physicians
• 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
• 3113 Dentists
• 3131 Pharmacists
• 3142 Physiotherapists
• 3152 Registered Nurses
• 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
• 3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
• 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
• 4151 Psychologists
• 4152 Social Workers
• 6241 Chefs
• 6242 Cooks
• 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
• 7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
• 7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
• 7242 Industrial Electricians
• 7251 Plumbers
• 7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
• 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
• 7371 Crane Operators
• 7372 Drillers & Blasters — Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
• 8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

Investor Class applications

A maximum of 700 new federal Immigrant Investor applications will be considered for processing each year.

In calculating the cap, applications will be considered in order of the date they are received, beginning on July 1, 2011 and ending on June 30, 2012.

Federal Entrepreneur Class applications

Temporary moratorium: Until further notice, no new federal Entrepreneur application will be accepted unless it is received by the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada office prior to July 1, 2011.

www.zoueinconsulting.com

Internet Scam Alert : Immigration to Canada

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has issued a FRAUD ALERT notice in which it states that it has been advised of an Internet Visa Scam that involves a convincing copy of the CIC website.

An e-mail message sent from noreply@cic.gc.ca advises recipients that: “they have been selected for a free Canadian visa” and it includes a link to a fraudulent website: http://aslcpanthers.com/visa.html

E-mail recipients are asked up front to provide personal information and pay an initial fee.

Beware of Internet scams and false websites.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)’s official website’s home page is www.cic.gc.ca

 

Remember, if even one character is different, that means it’s a different website!

Gerard Zouein, CCIC, FCMI
www.zoueinconsulting.com

Closing the Quebec Immigration Office in Damascus

The Ministère de l'immigration et des Communautés culturelles du Québec (MICC) officially announced that in order to ensure the safety of its clients and staff, as well as to maintain an efficient processing of its immigration files, and more particularly in view of the situation currently prevailing in some parts of the Middle East, MICC chose to close the Quebec Immigration Office in Damascus as of the 31st of May 2011.

Immigration procedures previously handeled there, will now be conducted at the MICC offices in Montreal. Furthermore, MICC wishes to reassure its clients and partners about its commitment to continue operations from the Middle East with the same diligence and as efficiently as possible.

Selection interviews to be conducted by the MICC Department with candidates from the Middle East area shall now be done in easily accessible neighboring countries. This practice, which is common for the department in similar situations, is already used in different territories.

Specifically, the sub-category of skilled workers from: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Turkey and Yemen will now be using the Montreal office of MICC to submit their applications, documents and communictions.

This will have no effect on the sub-categories of business people & family class whose treatment is already being processed out of the Montreal office.

There are, at the time of writing this blog, no indications, comments or instructions provided from the Canadian Embassy in Syria nor of the Canadian Consulate in Syria, as to whether they will be following suite in moving their emlpoyees, files, etc... The Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada has also not issued any comments regarding this issue.

We will keep you posted as soon as any new developments become available...

Gerard Zouein
www.zoueinconsulting.com

Canada and New Zealand Partner to Tackle Immigration Fraud

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

This initiative will help Canadian immigration authorities detect foreign criminals and previous deportees who are trying to re-enter Canada without permission. Canada already has similar initiatives in place with the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States and has just expanded the 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.

New Zealand Immigration Minister Dr. Jonathan Coleman said: “The ability to check identities with each other helps Canada and New Zealand identify people using false identities or people with criminal histories... 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.