The following is a summary of the Environmental Overview of the immigration functions at the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok (the “Environmental Overview“). The Environmental Overview was prepared as part of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada 2015-2016 planning exercise, and is current as of March 2015. Environment The Canadian High Embassy in Bangkok (“CIC Bangkok”) provides temporary resident visa services to residents of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. It assists in permanent resident applications where possible, as it is a sub office of the Regional Processing Centre based in Singapore. It is a small office and does not have the resources to undertake sites visits. Temporary Resident Program As with other visa posts, CIC Bangkok is reporting that E-apps “sap considerable resources” due to the time that it takes to process an E-app compared to a paper file. The fact that Thai police certificates take 4-6 weeks also significantly impacts processing times. The TRV approval rate is 87%. For study permits the overall approval rate is 65%, with most refusals being based on lack of medicals. The full report is below. Please note that this report did not occur with the affiliation of the Government of Canada, and the report was obtained through an Access … Read More
Updated Predictions of the Immigration Consequences of the Election
In August, 2015, I wrote an article for the Policy Options magazine on what the results of the October 19, 2015, federal election would mean for Canadian immigration policy. Although the article was published in September, at the time that I submitted the article to Policy Options Prime Minister Stephen Harper had not yet asked the Governor General to dissolve Parliament, and the parties had yet to begin formally campaigning. With the election now three days away, I thought it would be interesting to update my predictions on what the 42nd Canadian federal election would likely mean for Canadian immigration policy. I continue to believe that Monday’s election will likely be a pivotal event for Canadian immigration policy. The Conservative Party of Canada during its time in office has comprehensively overhauled Canada’s immigration system both legislatively as well as operationally. Monday’s election will likely determine whether many of its changes become permanent, or are undone, or whether immigration policies go in a completely different direction. In order to understand the possible consequences of the upcoming election on immigration policy we have to understand how much things have changed. Indeed, it is not uncommon for immigration practitioners to jokingly refer to … Read More
CIC Decisions Stolen at Gun Point En Route to VAC
Not all visa processing delays are caused by a lack of officers or over-bureaucratic requirements. Sometimes the decisions themselves can go missing, or, as apparently was the case in 2014, be stolen at gunpoint. Wow.
Where the Liberal Party of Canada Stands on Immigration (2015)
On October 19, 2015, Canada will have a federal election. There are four political parties that will likely win seats in Canada’s Parliament. One of them is the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party has made the following election promises regarding immigration: Expand Canada’s intake to 25,000 refugees from Syria and Iraq through immediate, direct sponsorship by the government of Canada. We will also work with private sponsors to intake even more. Invest an additional $200 million over this fiscal year and next to increase – without reducing health and safety standards – refugee processing, as well as sponsorship and settlement services capacity in Canada. Provide an immediate $100 million new contribution to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to support the critical relief activities in the region. Fully restoring the Interim Federal Health Program. Establishing an Expert Human Rights Panel for determination of designated countries of origin and to provide a right to appeal refugee decisions for citizens from these countries. This panel will include representatives from international human rights groups. Ending the practice of appointing individuals without subject matter expertise to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Nearly doubling the budget for family class immigration processing, in … Read More
How to Analyze Campaign Promises Regarding Immigration Programs
On October 19, 2015, Canada will have its 42nd general election. While only Canadian citizens may vote, permanent residents, foreign workers, international students, visitors, and even people outside Canada through the use of social media and volunteering for political campaigns will be able to influence the development of Canadian policy and discourse like never before. As with any election, all of Canada’s political parties will promise the moon, including on immigration and refugee matters. In order to analyze their commitments critically, it is important to understand that those creating immigration programs are constrained by an impossible trinity. Put simply, it is impossible for an immigration program to have all three of the following at the same time: Government control over immigration numbers Fast processing times Guaranteed processing of eligible applications Most sovereign states want control over the number of people that they admit as immigrants each year. In Canada, section 94(2)(b) of theImmigration and Refugee Protection Act codifies this objective by requiring that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) report to Canada’s Parliament annually on the number of individuals projected to become permanent residents during the upcoming year. Predictability and certainty in immigration numbers allows the government to … Read More
Immigration Policy after the 2015 Election
The following is an article that I wrote for the September 2015 edition of Policy Options. The Conservatives have yet to fully implement many of their reforms… Canada’s immigration system will look very different from the way it looked a decade ago. The 42nd Canadian federal election will likely be a pivotal event for Canadian immigration policy. The Conservative Party of Canada has comprehensively overhauled Canada’s immigration system. The upcoming election will likely determine whether these changes become permanent or are undone or whether immigration policies go in a completely different direction. In order to understand the possible consequences of the upcoming election on immigration policy we have to understand how much things have changed. Indeed, it is not uncommon for immigration practitioners to jokingly refer to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act as the “Jason Kenney Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.” Arguably the most significant change to the immigration system was its transformation from a system where people were immediately admitted to Canada from overseas as permanent residents into one where prospective immigrants had to “prove” that they could establish themselves in Canada, economically, by initially being temporary foreign workers and then transitioning to permanent residency. While in the … Read More
The Green Party of Canada’s Immigration Platform
The Green Party of Canada (the “Green Party“) is a Canadian federal political party which currently has just one Member of Parliament, Elizabeth May. In the nine federal elections that it has run candidates in it has only once gotten more than 5% of the popular vote. Nonetheless, it is important to pay attention to their Green Party platform for three reasons. First, the Canadian media gives the Green Party, and especially Ms. May, a considerable amount of coverage. Second, much like the New Democratic Party of Canada has done it is foreseeable that the Green Party will also increase in popularity. Third, Ms. May’s suggestion that the Green Party could wield significant influence in a minority Parliament, though not probable, is not impossible. On September 9, 2015, the Green Party released its election platform. As well, the Green Party also has on its website a document titled Vision Green 2015, a document which contains numerous Green Party commitments.
Western Canada PNP’s Reach Intake Threshold
With four months remaining in the year, both British Columbia’s and Alberta’s provincial nomination programs have announced that they are full. The ability of both provinces to meet the demands of their employers to retain foreign national employees on a permanent basis is clearly being cut off at the knees by federal quotas that appear to bare no resemblance to what is needed.
Medical Examinations for Live-in Caregivers vs. Applicants in the Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs Classes
On August 20th, Citizenship and Immigration Canada released Operational Bulletin 232 – Live-in Caregiver Program: Revised in Canada Medical Examination Procedures.
The revised instructions apply only to the live-in caregiver. Medical examinations for family members remain unchanged. It also does not affect the initial overseas examination to qualify for a work permit as a live-in caregiver.
Same-sex sponsorship: apply as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner
The following article appeared in the August edition of The Canadian Immigrant. In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges required that all U.S. states license marriages between two people of the same sex, essentially legalizing same-sex marriage in America. Two years before, the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor ended the disparate treatment of same-sex and opposite-sex couples in matters of immigration. The two United States Supreme Court decisions will likely result in American immigration policy more closely resembling that in Canada, where same-sex marriage has been legal since July 20, 2005. In Canada, people in same-sex and opposite-sex relationships have three options to sponsor their partner from abroad; they can either apply as spouses, common-law partners or conjugal partners. Three partnership options The spouse category is straightforward, and applies to anyone who was legally married, provided that both parties to the marriage are over the age of 16, and that both parties voluntarily entered the marriage and had the capacity to do so. There are specific exceptions to this, including marriages conducted through proxy, telephone, internet and fax, as well as polygamous and bigamous marriages. The common-law partner category requires people in … Read More