In a much anticipated change, the Federal Government has announced a series of changes to the Federal Immigrant Investor Program (“FIIP“) in the Gazette. Changes to the Quebec Investor Program are expected shortly. The Doubling The Government of Canada is proposing that amendments be made to the definition of “investor” and “investment” in section 88 of the Regulations that would increase the investment amount from $400,000 to $800,000 and the personal net worth amount from $800,000 to $1.6M for Investor class applicants. Administrative Pause No FIIP applications will be accepted unless they are post-marked or received by the designated Citizenship and Immigration Canada office before June 26, 2010. This pause will extend until the coming into force of proposed regulatory amendments to the definitions of “Investor” and “Investment” applicable to Business Immigrants in Division 2 of Part 6 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. Priority Processing FIIP applications received on or after the coming into force of the proposed regulatory amendments shall be processed concurrently with those federal applications received prior to the administrative pause in a ratio consistent with operational requirements. Why The Doubling? The Government of Canada is first of all confident that this will not reduce … Read More