Jun 28, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Permanent Residency, Skilled Workers, Why you need an immigration specialist
The federal government is possibly going to place a hold on accepting new federal skilled worker and immigrant investor program applications. While many applicants are expecting to file their federal skilled worker applications beginning July 1st, they may be disappointed at the news. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is expected to make an announcement later today.
Minister Kenney is planning to hold consultations with stakeholders on how to better improve these programs. He calls for a faster, more flexible immigration system that is economically driven and designed to attract workers with stronger language skills, and employment credentials that are in demand by the current labour market in Canada.
We will continue to post news on this blog as it happens. Stay tuned for further information.
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Jun 26, 2012 | Legally Speaking
A TN Visa is a visa unique to American, Canadian and Mexican citizens. The visa is part of the NAFTA agreement and is designed to allow the easy transfer of workers between Canada the United States and Mexico.
If you are interested in working in Canada, or the United States you must provide evidence that you have secured a job offer. The TN visa is based on 60 occupations and depending on which category or occupation you are applying for, different qualification requirements will apply.
TN Visas are non-immigrant visas that allow foreign nationals to legally work in the 3 North American countries. Among the 60 types of professionals who may qualify for a TN Visa are; Accountants, Engineers, Lawyers, Teachers, Scientists.
If you have a potential job offer in Canada, we suggest that you take advantage of our, free, no obligation consultation. Let us determine if you qualify for a TN Visa! Our immigration advisers are here to take your calls and respond to your email inquiries.
Jun 15, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, Processing Times, Skilled Workers
It is now official. Canada will continue to process those Federal Skilled Worker applications submitted prior to February 27, 2008.
Over 900 applicants under the Skilled Workers’ program sued Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Ottawa for violating their promise to process their applications in a timely fashion. The Federal court’s decision this week ordered the Minister and the federal government to continue processing those eligible for the program. The Minister still remains with the power to return applications of those applicants who are deemed not qualified.
CIC wanted to return all application caught in the backlog to reduce the backlog and open the space for other more recent applications based on the current immigration policies.
This is a setback for Ottawa who wanted to clear the backlog, but now cannot. The court has already ordered several applications to be finalized by October 14, 2012.
In this case, Canada did what is fair… in our opinion. We are very interested in what our readers have to say.
We appreciate you sharing this article and commenting below.
Mar 30, 2012 | In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Processing Times, Skilled Workers
On March 22 we posted an article in which we discussed what Citizenship & Immigration Minister Jason Kenney considered would be an option to reduce the current processing times and never-ending backlog. Today, we are continuing our discussion on this topic.
In releasing Canada’s Budget on Thursday March 29, the Department of Finance revealed that Immigration Canada intends to bar the door to applicants who submitted their Skilled Worker applications before 2008. We were under the impression that Minister Kenney’s ‘consideration’ was only such; however we are now beginning to understand more about the “Economic Action Plan of 2012”.
In a media release the Government of Canada is “proposing to return applications and refund up to $130 million in application fees paid by certain federal skilled worker applicants who applied under previous criteria established prior to February 27, 2008”. Canada’s commitment to transforming Canada’s immigration system to a faster and more flexible one will kill the hopes and dreams of thousands of foreign nationals who have been waiting for their applications to be processed for years, some waiting for more than 10 years.
In order to reduce long processing times and a large backlog, Citizenship & Immigration Canada introduced a new set of criteria under Bill C-50. The changes included a yearly quota of 20,000 applications in certain preferred occupations. A year later CIC reduced the quota to 10,000 applications per year. As a result less applications were filed, however the large backlog still remains and those in the pipeline are and will continue to wait for an indefinite period of time. Now we know that these applicants will never have their applications processed. They will be returned and money they paid will be refunded.
A class-action law suit was filed against the Federal Government by several applicants which has now grown to more than 600. We are expecting this number to continue to climb as applicants become aware of this news.
Economic Action Plan 2012 proposes:
- Taking further actions to strengthen the immigration system to make it truly proactive, targeted, fast and efficient in a way that will sustain Canada’s economic growth and deliver prosperity for the future.
- Announcing the Government’s intention to better align the Temporary Foreign Worker Program with labour market demands and to ensure that businesses look to the domestic labour force before accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
- Signalling the Government’s intention to support further improvements to foreign credential recognition and to work with provinces and territories to identify the next set of target occupations for inclusion, beyond 2012, under the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.
- Proposing to return applications and refund up to $130 million in fees paid by certain federal skilled worker applicants who applied under previous criteria established prior to February 27, 2008.
Tell us what you think! We want to hear from you – comment and share this article below!
Did you submit your application prior to February 27, 2008? How long have you been waiting? How do you feel that your application will never be processed?
Mar 22, 2012 | Immigrate to Canada, In the News, Legally Speaking, New Laws, Permanent Residency, Skilled Workers
If you submitted your application prior to February 27, 2008 your application may never be processed. Minister Jason Kenney expressed that he is considering wiping out the current immigration backlog by introducing new legislation. This is similar to what New Zealand had done in 2003 to wipe its backlog.
In 2008, Minister Kenney gave priority to those applicants with specific work experience, and those who have job offers in Canada. This did help to reduce the number of overall applications, however it did not help those who applied prior to 2008. Those applications have been put on “hold”, if you will. The Minister said that at 80 per cent of skilled workers are being pulled from the backlog, 20 per cent are newer applications chosen under the new criteria.
As of September 2011, the current backlog includes 472,549 skilled worker applicants, 96,085 business class applicants and their dependants. The current worldwide wait for processing skilled worker applicants is approximately 8 years. Some applications are taking nearly 15 years to process.
Minister Kenney is considering creating legislation that would wipe the current backlog and allow for more timely processing of newer applications from people who can improve Canada’s economy. He proposed a “just-in-time” immigration system, one that would give me businesses a more important role in selecting immigrants. New Zealand created a “pool” from which it selected those applicants who benefited the current economy. Minister Kenney is planning to create a similar “pool” from which individual provinces could sift through applications for their own provincial nominee programs.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been waiting patiently for years for their applications to be processed. In October of 2011, 128 upset skilled workers launched a law suits in the Federal Court pleading the court to order CIC to process the dusty files. Now over 650 applicants from the following visa posts are involved: London, Vienna, Accra, Pretoria, Nairobi, Colombo, Singapore, Damascus, Bogota, Warsaw, New Delhi, Seoul, Port of Spain, Manila, Hong Kong and Beijing.
We’re interested to hear what you have to say about this. Comment below and share!
Oct 18, 2011 | In the News, Legally Speaking, Why you need an immigration specialist
Laws in Alabama are known to be strict. Alabama immigration law in particular. Arizona’s anti-immigration law/immigration reform law has been taken to court by the Department of Justice.
The State of Alabama is in disarray over the changes to the law, known as H.B. 56. The intent of the law is to force illegal workers out of jobs. What is happening currently in the state is many construction workers, roofers, field hands and workers who perform hard labour jobs, who are illegal workers are being driven away. These vacancies create a void that will affect Alabama’s economy; something it cannot afford with cities that need to be rebuilt after Tornado damage.
Key provisions of this law had to be blocked by an appeals court while the U.S. Supreme Court considers various constitutional challenges.
The Mexican government had also appealed this law, arguing it would promote racial profiling, in particular, targeting Hispanics. Many legal Hispanic workers are even fleeing the state of Alabama because their family and friends don’t have proper documentation and they fear they will be jailed. There is a negative atmosphere and they don’t feel welcome.
The opinion of the Federal Appeals Court was sought. On Friday, October 14, 2011 the ruling of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an Order. Alabama may continue to enforce most of its anti-illegal immigration law, known as H.B. 56.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had asked the 11th Circuit to enjoin much of H.B. 56 while it appeals the September 28 district court decision that allowed the law to take effect September 29 as planned. Essentially, by asking the Court to enjoin parts of H.B. 56, the Court is being asked to “block” certain provisions. The DOJ argued that immigration law enforcement rests with the federal government and states could not set p their own systems. The U.S. District Judge at the 11th Circuit Court, Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn disagreed and said Alabama’s efforts mirrored the federal government’s efforts or were complementary.
The following provisions of the law stand after the 11th Circuit’s review and injunction order. This means that these sections were upheld/allowed to be put in use:
- Section 12, which requires local law enforcement to make a reasonable attempt to check immigration status during a lawful stop, “when practicable”, when there is reasonable suspicion the individual is an illegal alien.
- Section 18, which requires local law enforcement to make a reasonable effort to verify the immigration status of a person who is arrested for driving without a license.
- Section 27, which bars the enforcement of contracts entered into when one party knows the other is an illegal alien.
- Section 30, which provides that it is a felony for illegal aliens to enter into a “business transaction” with the state or political subdivisions.
However, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals also blocked the following two provisions:
- Section 10, which provides that an illegal alien who fails to comply with the federal alien registration requirements found in 8 U.S.C. § 1304(e) and/or 8 U.S.C. § 1306(a) is guilty of a misdemeanor under state law.
- Section 28, which requires public schools to gather immigration status information from students upon enrollment, based on birth certificates, and compile and submit non-identifiable data related thereto to the state.
The Order received from the 11th Circuit does not contain a discussion explaining why it agrees with or blocked any of the provisions.
The next step in litigation over the anti-immigration laws contained in H.B. 56 will likely be a ruling from the District Court on the merits of the Department’s challenge to the law. Both sides will be submitting briefs in that case by the end of November. The decision could come sometime in December.
The grim reality is that families will be torn apart. Members of the Hispanic community are lining up at lawyers’ offices, asking for Power of Attorney in order to protect their children. Children born in America are considered to be Americans. That will not stop their parents from becoming targets of investigations. Police, through the provisions of the new laws can effectively separate families from each other.
In the many Hispanic neighbourhoods of Alabama, the residents are avoiding being seen in public and are hiding. If anyone is caught without proper citizenship documentation, that is the end of his or her stay in Alabama. The worst consequence of all is separation from your children and relatives. Many residents are leaving Alabama.
It is estimated that 185,000 people in the state have already fled as of October 5, 2011, which was approximately a week after the law came into effect. Another estimate is that 1/4 of the commercial building workforce has left the state.
Lawmakors and one author of the bill that become the new immigration law said that the law is meant to help legal residents suffering from nearly 10 percent unemployment in Alabama.
“We have the best law in the country and I stand by what we’ve done” – Republican Senator Scott Beason
(Of note, Sen. Beason said he has received ‘thank you’ claims from 2 people who replaced illegal immigrants who fled their jobs).
Hispanic parents are fearful about what would happen to their kids should they be rounded up under the new law. HB56 came into force at the end of September, and under its provisions police officers are required to check the immigration status of anyone they stop where there is a “reasonable suspicion” that the person might be undocumented.
Should the individual fail to produce valid immigration papers, they can be instantly sent to jail at the start of deportation proceedings.
Five states have now passed immigration laws similar to HB56, but Alabama is the only one that has been allowed by the courts to put elements of the law into effect. The federal Department of Justice, as well as a local coalition of groups and individuals, are both challenging the new law in the US appeals court for the 11th circuit that covers Alabama, Georgia and Florida. To read more about how the law will be enforced, click here to read an article by Huffington Post News.
Can-Am Immigration can help you with your immigration needs and questions. Contact us for a consultation today. We also offer Facebook consultations for your convenience.
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