Are you looking forward to settle and work in Alberta permanently? Then AINP can surely definitely help you out in your Canada immigration process. The AINP is a program initiated by government of Alberta by the Immigration and Employment Ministry in association with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in concern with immigration process to Alberta.

This program is created especially for the growth and economic boom of Alberta by allowing capable and talented skilled workers from foreign countries to contribute to Alberta’s economy. Candidates who are selected by the Province Of Alberta along with their family members can apply for the permanent residential visa with the help of Citizenship and immigration Canada as a Provincial Nominee. But the procedure to apply for AINP is different for different stream and categories for which you are eligible for.

If you are applying as a worker which falls in the category of Employer Driven Stream of the AINP, then you must have some valid job proposal from your employer in Alberta and you must qualify under any one of the three streams of AINP. On an average there are three streams of immigrants who are applying as employees and they are; skilled worker and semi skilled worker stream and PNP self employed farmer stream.. There is one more stream which is called Alberta PNP strategic recruitment stream. To successfully migrate to Canada, an applicant has to fulfill the conditions of any one of these streams. There is a different condition for those who are applying under Alberta family stream.

Alberta is a beautiful place in Canada which has access to various facilities such as health care, hospitality, education etc which makes it an ideal destination for you to migrate. For further information and professional help, you can contact any immigration and visa consultancy companies from where you can receive professional help and guidance.

Canada may become harder on marriages of convenience, indicates a latest case of the arranged marriage of an Indian-origin couple. With this case, concerns have been raised about the effect on marriages, arranged by families. The family-arranged union, between a couple, based in Hamilton, Bhagwat Verma and Dimpi cropped up the issue of marriages of convenience, where people get married to obtain the citizenship of a country.

As a result of growing number of such instances, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada started reviewing the country’s immigration rules to take some actions on such marriages. To this, Verma has to say that there are people who abuse the Canadian immigration system and practices getting married to obtain citizenship, but all couples are not the same. He also strongly believes the practice of marriage of convenience should be stopped. But, genuine arrange d marriages should be free from facing any problem.

According to the figures of Canadian immigration department, its overseas branches received 30,000 to 40,000 spousal sponsorships to Canada this year, out of which about 18 percent are refused, reason being many of them are marriages of convenience. It is still yet to know whether the CIC would make changes to its immigration policy or not, however, it has made it clear to its offices that they should refuse citizenship based on two criteria- if the relationship is illegitimate and if it is based on getting immigration status (marriages of convenience).

We all want that in our dream towards overseas settlement, no hurdle should come in our way. So, to avoid any kind of undue delay or problem in the application process, certain measures can be taken.  There are ways and factors which can facilitate your application process. They are following;

You must submit your documentation and information required with the submission of your application at visa office. Inform them about any changes in your residential area or any other information that is important to your application to the Canadian Visa Office as soon as possible .Please don’t keep bothering the Canadian Visa Office in relation to the status of your application.

Any kind of delay in the application process is not good , so one must avoid to make any careless mistakes like unclear photocopies of required documents or not submitting the translated version(either in English or French) of your original documents. Certain things like some medical condition or some legal problem (like criminal record or security problem, case regarding legal adoption) may force the Canada visa authorities to think twice before accepting your application.

H & C considerations

The ministerial instructions do not consider or favor any candidate based on humanitarian or compassionate request if his/ her application does not meet the necessary requirements and eligibility criteria under the three categories of Federal Skilled Worker class

Permanent resident status: On the acceptance of an application, you and your family members will be allowed the permanent resident visas. As legally permanent residents of Canada, you can move in and out of Canada whenever you wish to.  You or any of your family members can be a part of any educational institute in Canada. You can also avail the various facilities and social benefits given to any other Canadian citizens. But there are few limitations which you have to keep in mind like you can not vote in certain elections. You may not be eligible for certain jobs and your permanent resident status will be stripped off in case of any serious legal crime committed by you or any of your family members. You have to pay taxes and respect the country laws as any other Canadian does. All new permanent residents will be issued a card as part of the process. Your personal information will be available to CIC employees and not to anyone unless you don’t want to.

So, your destination is not far from you, if you keep certain things in your mind and follow them. With the emergence of various visa consultancy companies, the entire process has become very smooth and convenient. So, it’s recommended that you consider hiring the services of an Immigration and Visa Consultant!

Reacting to the comments made by the Canadian High Commission, Nirupama Rao, the Indian Foreign Secretary said that when derogatory comments are made, India as a nation takes it very seriously. This is especially when something is said about the nation’s Border Security Force and rejecting an application for immigration of one of its ex-constables. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada was instantly contacted regarding the same.

The Canadian High Commission had refused an application of Fateh Singh Pandher who was a constable with the Border Security Force and is retired now. Post refusal, the High Commission stated the BSF as an extremely violent group under the paramilitary forces.

Now that the Canadian government is in a mode of damage control, the Canadian Spokesperson from the nation’s Foreign Ministry, Catherine Loubier said that Canada holds the democratic procedures of India in the highest esteem. More so, the Indian Army and the other related institutions are looked upon with tremendous respect by Canada.

This clearly projects the high level of irresponsibility on part of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. This leads to question many aspects on the procedures that are carried out as part of the immigration processes for Canada.

With suspicions raised, it is for sure that the Government of Canada has to set certain issues straight before things are calm again. This is especially important for an economy which is highly dependent on its immigrants for the development of its economy.

Of late, there have been many instances in Canada where unauthentic immigration consultants cheated on or trying to mislead immigrants. They are not going by the rules and regulations set by the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. In the most recent case, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has identified a Windsor immigration consultant who has cheated on many immigrants and charged up to $100,000 in order to submit petitions to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The consultant Francesco Salvatore (Sam) Burgio is not legally permitted to provide services, still he continued to do so. He held a membership with Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, but his membership was cancelled in 2006. The police has already identified more than ten victims of the consultant. Reportedly, he charged in between $2,000 and $100,000 just to submit prospective immigrants’ applications.

Currently, Canada has a total of 1,600 certified immigration consultants. The presence of immoral consultants and their illegal activities are harmful for both prospective immigrants and the image of the country’s immigration system. Canada’s immigration minister has appreciated the efforts of the associated that have tried to investigate the unauthentic consultants. He also urged the government and other law enforcement agencies to work together and identify immoral consultants.

Unregulated immigration consultants with their mistake and huge charges are posing difficulty for the prospective immigrants. There have been cases in Canada, as well as in the United States where people’s applications were not being submitted or had errors, because of which the dreams and future plans of their clients were shattered. Thus, it is very important for anyone intending to immigrate to any country should go through a background check and legal status before hiring an immigration consultant!

Before writing anything about this news piece, it is time and again advised to all the prospective applicants out there to hire the services of an experienced and trustworthy Immigration consultant before immigrating to a new country.

In another immigration scam, a consultant from Windsor has been accused of showing his presence in eleven frauds, in addition to tampering with the clients’ applications.

RCMP has come out with 10 victims who paid the requisites but fail to get any Immigration service in return. It has been said that a minimum of $2,000 to a maximum of $100,000 were paid from clients’ sides, only to get nothing at the end of the day. This fee was supposed to be given to the CIC on their behalf.

But gradually, the news leaked and the applicants realized that no further moment has been initiated on their behalf. Rather, the consultants are failing to provide any official documents from the side of CIC.

According to a representative from CSIC, John Ryan, the case has highlighted some of the critical issues including the need to perform a background check for the existing immigration consultants out there. He said that it is understandable that a majority of crowd would never go for an unlicensed doctor, so why take chances and hire an unlicensed immigration expert. This is just unwise.

So, next time, just trust on an expert Immigration consultant.

Jason Kenney, the Canadian Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism announced that the CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) would update its website quarterly with statistics that have been most asked for.

As per the Minister, this is an initiative towards being transparent as a functioning government. The data and information that is most requested should be easily available on the right occasion and time. This would mean access to free data for those who are in need of it at all times. So, people no longer have to make an Access to Information request which would in turn save a lot of time.

The updated data would cater to all the recent and current information regarding the process for immigration and citizenship. For example, information such as the number of applications that have been processed under the economic class and the family class and so on. The data posted would also include all the operational data such as statistics on citizenship, application processing timelines etc.

Additionally, a free CD is also being made accessible for the public which would contain all the statistical information in detail. This way the information would be readily available to the local Canadian citizens without any hassles.

Having stringent norms in place when it comes to its immigration process, the CIC is very active on issues where it matters.

Tim Uppal and Minister Kenney, the Canadian politicians confirmed that the approval rate for Indian students immigrating to Canada has almost doubled in its percentage in the recent times. Courtesy the Student Partners program, the quantity has seen a huge hike in the number of Indian students studying in the Canadian institutions.

The program was launched in April 2009 and holds an association with a joint venture between twenty member colleges of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges and Canadian Visa officials in India. The main motto of the project was to enhance the acceptance rate for Indian students intending to enroll themselves in Canadian colleges.

Minister Kenney confirmed that the foreign students are decked with new and fresh ideas, along with experience that would contribute to the Canadian economy and the institutions where they would study. He said that these types of Visa programs act in the mutual benefits of both the countries as well as for those participate in them. Later the graduates may make Canada their home after applying under the Canada Experience Class.

As far as the source countries for students to Canada are concerned, India ranked seventh in the year 2008. The quantity of students has almost doubled since the year 1998, with a majority of them contributing in a major way to the Canadian economy.

The success of the program can be depicted from the stats that the first nine months of the commencement of the program saw more than 4,000 applications from Indian students by the CIC’s officers.

As a PR, if you fail to meet the residency obligations, you can apply for “Residency Obligation Appeal,” provided you do so within 60 days after the decision made by CIC.

Regulations:

• The applicant may be present outside Canada or may be staying within the Canadian premises; CIC must grant you a TRAVEL DOCUMENT so that you become eligible to re-country the nation.
• The applicant has the freedom to apply to IAD for a TRAVEL DOCUMENT. If IAD issues an order, CIC must provide the same to allow the applicant enter the country for “HEARING.” In case, the applicant is not present in person, the hearing would take place on telephone. IAD judge or the member would hear your appeal, on the basis of evidences provided by you.
• The appeal would either be ALLOWED or DISAPPROVED by the member.
• The applicant would be allowed to keep the PR status in case of approval, whereas he or she will end up losing it, in case of a denial.

Who will be at hearing process?

• The IAD member (who makes decision on your appeal) would be present at the hearing.
• The applicant would be present in hearing (if he is present in general), otherwise the conversation would be held on telephone.
• If you choose to have someone who would represent you, then you have the freedom to appear with your counsel.
• Minister’s counsel would also be present (on behalf of CIC).
• Both the parties are allowed to bring witnesses.
• Interpreter is allowed (if demanded)

In addition, you must keep answers and record of dates ready with you. For instance, when you have been present in Canada, reasons why left the premises, your profile in Canada, how losing your PR would affect you, who sponsored you, whether you have any relative in Canada, including others.

The sponsorship appeal process comes under the Immigration Appeal Division. Following is the procedure that is followed while making an appeal:

• If a Canadian citizen or a PR files an application to sponsor a relative or a family member to Canada and is rejected, he may file an appeal with the IRB within 30 days.
• The appeal is considered by the IAD member according to the tribunal process.
• There are two options. Either the appeal is allowed or it is dismissed. In the case of dismissal, the case is closed. But in the case when the appeal is allowed, two options are possible in the case: Either the CIC denies PR visa on the basis of certain grounds or CIC grants a PR to the applicant.

Not everyone can appeal….

• If the applicant has been charged of a crime with a sentence of a minimum of two years, he is not eligible to file an appeal in the IAD.
• If the applicant has been involved in violations of human or international rights or found a threat to the prospective country where he or she is intending to migrate, he won’t be able to apply in the IAD.

Some sponsorship appeals are moved towards an “Alternative Dispute Resolution Procedure” (ADR) where you would be required to sit with a DISPUTE RESOLUTION OFFICER who would hear your case. He would be responsible to clarify the issue and convince both the parties to come out with a final decision. In a case, where the parties fail to do so, the case is diverted back to IAD.