When an individual under the Working Holiday Program wants to become a permanent resident.
Canada Launches Blue Blindfold Campaign
According to the Toronto Star, the federal government has taken a page from Ireland, the UK, and the United States, and launched its own version of the Blue Blindfold Campaign. This awareness campaign will urge Canadians to “stop turning a blind eye to potential victims of human trafficking”, and to anonymously report what they see.
Canada and Birthright Citizenship
Those reading about the immigration debate raging in the United States over Arizona’s recent attempt at passing Senate Bill 1070 might be forgiven for missing a quieter discussion that is taking place in the immigration community about recent calls by prominent Republicans for the abolition of birthright citizenship. Should Canada do the same?
The Bill C-11 Changes – What is Now in Effect
On June 29, 2010, Bill C-11, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, received Royal Assent. This Bill provided the most significant changes to Canada’s refugee law in several years. Getting it through Parliament proved to be extremely contentious, and it took a last minute deal between the Conservatives, the NDP, and the Bloc to pass it. It is now law, though many of its provisions have yet to take effect. The Bill introduced significant changes to Canada’s refugee system, including: Replacing the 28 days to prepare a Personal Information Form with an information-gathering interview which will occur no sooner than 15 days after a claim has been made; Reducing the wait for a hearing from approximately 18 months after arrival to 90 days after the informational interview for most claimants; Allowing the government to designate certain countries of origin. Whether a country is designated or not will depend on the approval rate of refugee applications from that country. If a claimant comes from a designated country, than their hearing will occur 60 days after the informational interview; Creating a Refugee Appeal Division. Decisions on appeals will be held within 120 days of the original decision unless a hearing is held. Decisions … Read More
Applying for Citizenship with a Criminal Stay of Proceedings
A person who is subject to a stay of proceedings will generally be unsuccessful in applying for Canadian citizenship.
Residence Under the Canada-Russia Tax Treaty
We often have clients approach us asking how they can immigrate to Canada without become tax residents. There are a variety of ways to do this, and the recent Tax Court of Canada decision in Denisov v. The Queen highlights one issue that those interested in not being tax-resident need to be prepared to address.
Canada Sharing Biometric Data
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has released Operational Bulletin 226, which discusses the sharing of biometric information further to the Five Country Conference (FCC) High Value Data Sharing Protocol. The FCC (Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) meets annually at the Deputy Minister level to discuss ways to improve immigration. In 2007, Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia (New Zealand was not yet a member) to committed to work towards the systemic exchange of biometric data for immigration purposes.
Biometric sharing has now commenced.
Alberta Suspends US Visa Holder and Family Stream Categories
Effective August 23, 2010, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program is no longer accepting applications under either the AINP U.S. Visa Holder Category or the Family Stream. Any applications that were postmarked before August 23rd will continue to be accepted.
Changes To Temporary Foreign Worker Program
On April 1, 2011, new regulatory changes came into effect that will significantly impact temporary foreign workers and the companies that want to hire them. If you are an employer who currently employs or is interested in employing temporary foreign workers then you need to be aware of these changes. The changes include: Assessing the genuineness of a Temporary Foreign Worker; Live-in-Caregiver Changes; The Employer Blacklist; Time limits for temporary foreign workers; and Labour Market Opinion Changes. Establishing a set of factors to guide the assessment of the genuineness of an employer’s offer of employment to a temporary foreign worker. The changes introduce a new s. 200(5) of the Regulations, which reads: Genuineness of job offer (5) A determination of whether an offer of employment is genuine shall be based on the following factors: (a) whether the offer is made by an employer, other than an employer of a live-in caregiver, that is actively engaged in the business in respect of which the offer is made; (b) whether the offer is consistent with the reasonable employment needs of the employer; (c) whether the terms of the offer are terms that the employer is reasonably able to fulfill; and (d) the … Read More
Visa Office Referrals and Joint Assistance Sponsorships for Refugees
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has released Operational Bulletin 228 – Visa Office Referred and Joint Assistant Sponsorships (JAS) for Refugees – New Templates and Instructions. This bulletin is somewhat timely given the recent media furor regarding Canada’s “failed” refugee system. It highlights that there are alternatives to becoming a refugee in Canada beyond showing up and declaring an intention to seek asylum. Indeed, the number of refugees who arrive in Canada through specific programs exceeds those who declare that they are refugees from within Canada. In 2009, 7,202 people became refugees by declaring upon arrival in Canada that they were asylum seekers. 7,425 arrived as government-assisted refugees. 5,036 people arrive as privately sponsored refugees. The Operational Bulletin highlights two programs designed to combined private sponsorship with government assistance. They are the Visa Office Referrals program and the Joint Assistance Sponsorship program. Visa Office Referrals (VOR) In the VOR program, visa offices identify refugees from their inventory for private sponsorship. Such a case is initiated either by the visa office or by the sponsoring group. According to the Bulletin, the program ensures that selected refugees who are ready to travel can proceed to Canada as quickly. The most appropriate cases for … Read More