Under the Federal Skilled Workers Program, an eligible applicant is required to accumulate 67 points in order to meet the requirements of the program. Points are awarded according to a variety of factors, including age, education, adaptability, and experience.
Illegal Immigrants Do Not Have a Charter Right to Health Care
In a case that has generated media publicity, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that illegal immigrants do not have a Charter right to health care. The facts in Toussaint v. Canada, 2011 FCA 213, were simple. In 1999, the appellant entered Canada as a visitor. She never left, and never attempted to normalize her status. In 2006, her health began to deteriorate. In 2009, she applied to Citizenship and Immigration Canada for medical coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program (the “IFHP”). Her request was denied, as the IFHP is limited to refugee claimants, resettled refugees, persons detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and Victims of Trafficking in Persons. The Federal Court of Appeal found that the appellant met none of these conditions, and that the IFHP could not have been intended to pay for the medical expenses of those who arrive as visitors but remain illegally in Canada. A significant portion of the judgment related to Charter arguments regarding whether denying illegal immigrants access to the IFHP breached the right to life and security of the person (s. 7 of the Charter) or the right to equality (s. 15 of the Charter). The Right to … Read More
MI-3 Suspends the Entrepreneur Program
On July 1, 2011, a temporary moratorium on accepting new applications in the federal Entrepreneur program came into force. Given the processing times below it is not hard to see why: Cairo – 7 years, 7 months Damascus – 7 years Beijing – 3 years, 7 months Manila – 5 years, 4 months New Delhi – 6 years, 10 months Seoul – 3 years, 10 months Berlin – 3 years, 9 months London – 4 years, 6 months Paris – 7 years, 10 months Buffalo – 6 years, 6 months
MI-3 Introduces Caps to the Federal Investor Program
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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