MI-3 Introduces Caps to the Federal Investor Program

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

On July 1, 2011, the third set of Ministerial Instructions came into affect. Dubbed M-3, the changes introduced have certainly grabbed the attention of what one immigration lawyer calls the oligarchy of overseas consultancy firms that specialize exclusively in investor applications. Under the changes, a maximum of 700 new federal Immigrant Investor applications will be considered for processing each year. Assuming that success rates remain constant, this means that around just over 600 applications will be accepted each year. All applications are to be sent to the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia. The cap began on July 1, 2011. It was full by July 5, 2011, as numerous overseas facilitators and consultants rushed applications. Given the speed with which the applications were filed, I cannot think of any way that an individual can apply to permanent residency under the Immigrant Investor Program without the assistance of an extremely skilled facilitator or representative.

MI-3: Significant Changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

On July 1, 2011, the third set of Ministerial Instructions (“MI-3”) came into affect.  MI-3 introduced significant changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (“FSW”). Cap on the number of applications to be processed per year reduced On June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) announced that a maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications, without an offer of arranged employment, would be considered for processing each year.  MI-3 reduced this amount to 10,000. The occupations that are eligible under the FSW without an offer of arranged employment are: 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 … Read More

Canada to Promote Long Term Multiple Entry Visas

Meurrens LawTemporary Resident Visas

Good news to those who have complained (and there are many) that while they had no problem getting a 10-year multiple entry visa to the United States they could only get a 6 month-single entry visitor visa to Canada. On June 3, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada wrote an e-mail to all embassies abroad.  The e-mail encourages embassies to issue long term multiple-entry visas wherever possible, especially for those who are already in the permanent resident (PR) queue and business travelers. Recently re-iterated in an Operational Bulletin, CIC has specifically instructed that such visas should be issued for as long a validity period as possible.  Immigration guidelines states that the maximum validity period of a multiple entry visa is for the validity of an applicant’s passport, minus one month.  According to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada e-mail, embassies should issue multiple-entry visas up to the expiry of an applicant’s passport where appropriate, and even cites the example of the 10-year multiple entry visa as an appropriate example. Indeed, the Operational Bulletin specifically notes that “the Department is moving towards the issuance of long term multiple-entry visas as the norm.”  It then goes on to add teeth to that statement, instructing … Read More

Can I Give Immigration Advice to a Friend?

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

A couple days ago a friend and I were having a drink.  He is in the process of helping his aunt apply for a visitor visa.  He wanted to know whether he had to complete the IMM5476-Use of Rep form, and whether he had to register with the ICCRC (the regulatory body that is replacing CSIC) even if he was not being paid. In general, a person only has to complete the IMM5476 if they are providing services which constitute advising or representing an applicant.   Examples of assistance that someone could provide which does not constitute advising or representing include: Directing someone to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website to find information on immigration programs; Directing someone to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website to access immigration application forms; Directing someone to an immigration representative; Providing translation services; Providing medical services (i.e. medical exams, DNA testing); Providing fingerprinting services; and Making travel arrangements for the person to come to Canada. The following, however, does constitute providing advice or representation: Explaining and providing advice on someone’s immigration options; Providing guidance to a client on how to select the best immigration stream and how to complete the appropriate forms; Communicating with … Read More

Intra-Company Transferees and Salaries

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

If you are a multi-national employer looking to transfer an employee to Canada what is the minimum that you should be forced to be that employee?  Is it the minimum wage the employee’s current country?  Is it the minimum wage in the employee’s future respective province?  Or should it be more?  Should it be on the higher end of what that employee’s position generally plays?  Or should anywhere in the acceptable range of salaries be permitted?  Does the fact that it is a transfer as opposed to a Canadian company hiring a foreign worker even matter? These are the questions that we explore in today’s post. The Intra-Company Transferee Program A key feature of temporary foreign worker law is the delicate balancing act of protecting the Canadian labour market while ensuring that companies can hire the employees that they want.   The Canadian government has attempted to navigate this tight rope through the requirement that companies wishing to hire foreign workers first obtain a Labour Market Opinion confirming that the hiring of a foreign worker will not negatively impact the Canadian labour market. There are several exceptions to this requirement, however.  In a previous post, I discussed the numerous alternatives to … Read More

Rumana Monzur Issued a Temporary Resident Permit

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

Macleans is reporting that Rumana Monzur, the UBC international student that was brutally assaulted and blinded when she was visiting her home country of Bangladesh, has been issued a Temporary Resident Permit to return to Canada.  The article states: The University of British Columbia student who was blinded by her husband during an attack in Bangladesh will return to Canada on Tuesday. Rumana Monzur has been granted a temporary resident permit by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Because she will not be studying again right away, a student permit was inappropriate, reports Postmedia News. Women around the world have rallied around the master of political science student as a symbol of how women sometimes struggle to be allowed to study. UBC officials say they have raised more than $35,000 toward Monzur’s expenses while she lives with her father on campus and recovers from the June 5 attack. She will receive care from the school’s department of ophthalmology. It’s unclear whether her five-year-old child will come to Canada. The husband is in a Dhaka jail awaiting trial. The issuance of the Temporary Resident Permit demonstrates the use of human discretion in the implementation of Canada’s immigration laws to obtain a positive outcome. As … Read More

The Conservative Party of Canada Convention and Stripping People of Citizenship

Meurrens LawCitizenship Applications and Revocations

The governing Conservative Party of Canada is having their convention from June 9-11.  One of the measures that the party will be debating is whether to adopt as official party a policy that would strip people of their citizenship if they take up arms against the Canadian Armed Forces or its allies. The proposal reads: 98. Canadian Citizenship and High Treason The Conservative Party of Canada believes that any Canadian citizen, whether by birth or by naturalized grant of Canadian citizenship or by claim of landed immigrant or refugee status in Canada who commits treason by taking up arms against the Canadian Forces or the Forces of Canada’s Allies automatically invalidates his or her Canadian citizenship or claim to Canadian citizenship and, if and when returned to the jurisdiction of the Canadian Legal System, should be tried for high treason under the Canadian Criminal Code. This is an interesting proposal, and before vigorously supporting or opposing it one should consider the following questions and issues that inevitably emerge from adopting such a policy: Do you think that a person who fights against the Canadian military should lose their citizenship? If yes, then do you think that that should extend to … Read More

Canada Still Welcomes Immigrants (加拿大歡迎移民)

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

Sing Tao newspaper recently published an editorial of mine stating that Canada still welcomes immigrants.  The article was a response to an article by another immigration lawyer stating the opposite.  The article was in Chinese, and stated that: 作者:穆偉士(Steven Meurrens)律師、王捷(實習律師) 最近有移民律師表達了對加拿大政府不再歡迎移民的顧慮。這會讓在加拿大移民部工作的官員感到奇怪,因為在2010年來到加拿大的永久居民和國際學生的數量創了新高,外國工人的數量也接近紀錄。 很多人對最近移民入籍考試的修改、續楓葉卡時要求730天居住義務,以及對聯邦技術移民和加拿大經驗類別要求的語言考試這三方面,非常關注。 在分析這些變化時,須要考慮的一個重要也是更深層問題就是,確保移民到加拿大的人在經濟上成功融入加國。菲沙研究所最近有一項研究表明,2006年的調查顯示加國移民收入顯著低於本地出生的居民。移民部引入這些政策是為了減少這種不能讓人接受的差距。 關 於引進標準化語言考試,值得指出的是,聯邦技術移民和加拿大經驗類別不需要先找到工作,它們是基於該移民能夠立即找到工作的可能性而設立的類別。顯然,英 文或法文能力是某個人能否達到這一要求的關鍵因素,語言考試提供了測試的標準方式。但是,如果你已有工作安排,而對語言考試有顧慮,那麼對你來說可能有其 他更好的移民方式。 關於強制730天居住義務,須要注意的是它的目的是促進新移民對加國的經濟融入。舉個極端例子,它避免人們在獲得永久居民身分 後回到本國,直到退休才回來。五年中在加拿大境內居住兩年的義務,包括為加國公司在境外工作或陪同加國公民在境外旅行,並不是過於嚴苛。並且,和公眾所認 知的相反,移民部和移民部覆議庭經常以人道主義和同情因素作出豁免。 關於對入籍考試的更改,我曾經說過我認為這些更改非常無聊,但不是基於它們增 強一致性或減少多元文化。我的立場是不明白為甚麼要答對九成問題。和永久居民身分相比,國籍帶來可以永遠居住加國和投票的好處。我不理解關於加國歷史、地 理和體育的問題和這些好處有甚麼關係。我們容忍在加國出生的人在地圖上找不到自己國家,那又何必在這些無關緊要的事情上測試移民呢? 讓我們回到加 拿大如何歡迎移民的話題上來。過去幾年中,聯邦政府為國際留學生引進了校外工作簽證項目和畢業後工作簽證項目。獲得省提名移民的人數,因此有極大增長,省 提名項目在卑詩省是沒有語言要求的。加拿大政府採取措施打擊那些動輒騙取幾千加元費用的偽劣移民顧問。它取消了對普通台灣護照持有者的簽證要求。它還縮短 某些申請的受理時間。 因此我對一些同仁的觀點不敢苟同。儘管移民部的項目和系統離完美還差很遠(一個政府怎麼可能達到完美呢?),加拿大政府還是一如既往地歡迎移民。 For those that don’t read Chinese, the English version stated that: Recently, some immigration lawyers have voiced concerns that the Canadian government no longer welcomes immigrants.  This must seem odd to those working at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, who in 2010 admitted a record number of immigrants as permanent residents and foreign students, and a near record number of foreign workers. Three areas of repeated expressed concern are the recent amendments to the citizenship test, the enforcement of the 730-day rule for the renewal of a permanent residency cards, and the introduction of language tests to the Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Canada Experience Class. In analyzing these changes, it is important to consider the broader issue of ensuring that people who immigrate to Canada successfully integrate economically into Canada.  As a recent study by the Fraser Institute reported, the 2006 … Read More

Canada Closes Taiwan Visa Office

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

Effective May 25, 2011, the Canadian visa section in Taipei will no longer be accepting new applications.  It will cease operations permanently on June 17, 2011.  All Taiwan files will now be processed in Hong Kong. The decision is largely a result of the dramatic reduction in work following the removal of the temporary resident visa requirement for holders of Taiwanese passports. The visa section is going to make every effort to finalize all temporary resident visas, study/work permits, and permanent resident travel documents before it ceases operations. Applicants who have paid application fees at a bank in Taiwan but who have not yet submitted a visa application may apply for a refund through the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, as the processing fees are non-transferable. Refund request forms may be obtained at the following website: http://www.canada.org.tw/taiwan/assets/pdfs/refund-remboursement.pdf. Applicants who subsequently choose to submit a new application to Hong Kong will be required to submit a new fee payment with that application.

World Total Fertility Rates

Meurrens LawImmigration Trends

I have previously written about Canada’s aging demographics.  Compared to most European nations, Canada’s population is aging slowly.  However, compared to the other anglophone nations, Canada fares poorly.  In my previous post I noted that: Amongst anglophone nations, however, Canada’s low fertility rate – currently 1.6 – results in their being fewer children than in the United States (with a fertility rate of 2.1), Australia (1.8), and the United Kingdom (1.9). Accordingly, if Canada is to maintain a comparable population demographic to other anglophone nations, it is going to have to rely on immigration.  I do not see any other alternative. After all, these numbers are extremely difficult to change, and to a certain degree are “locked in”. The number of 10-year olds in Canada in 2020 will be roughly the number of people born in 2010.  The only thing that will make it higher is immigration. Zerohedge recently produced a chart which highlights the historic change in fertility rates. As the chart shows, from 1950-1955 Canada’s fertility rate was actually higher than the United States.  However, by 2010-2015, it had fallen precipitously to below 2.0.  Indeed, most nations have witnessed a dramatic decline in fertility rates.