Canada and Haiti have always maintained a cordial relationship and the former hosts one of the largest community from the Caribbean nation. Not surprisingly, following the widespread earthquake in Haiti, Canadian government has introduced new immigration rules for Haitian immigrants. As part of the new implementations, the government said that it will give emphasis on Haitian applications that are already in process.

The immigration minister said that the government is likely to prioritize their measures, of course, people intending to enter Canada under the family sponsorship comes in first. Haitian immigrants in Canada who are willing to sponsor family members in the Caribbean nation will be given priority first of all. However, it seems hard for the government to come in terms with the provincial government of Quebec in expanding the “family” definition under the family sponsorship program. The province’s government is in favor of altering the family definition in response to the appeal of the Haitian community in the province. Reportedly, Quebec has about ninety percent of Haitian immigrants out of the total in whole Canada.

The federal government is also very clear that priority will be given to the people who have been directly affected by the earthquake in Haiti in order to reunite families. Thus, with fulfilling the basic requirements of the sponsorship program, the applicants must prove that they have been significantly affected by the disaster.

As per the new rules, the immigration department of Canada is also planning to allow temporary residents in Canada to apply for extension of stay, minus additional fees; relieving Haitian nationals who have been decided to remove from Canada and more. Another measure that the Canadian government has been intending to implement is about fast-tracking the adoption process for Haitian orphans.

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The government of Quebec is intending to soften its immigration rules to welcome more and more Haitians, following the tragic earthquake in the Caribbean nation, despite the disapproval of the federal government. If we go by the statistics, Quebec hosts about ninety percent of the total 135,000 Haitian population in Canada.

At present, as per the immigration law, Canadian government allows Canadians to sponsor close members of their families, but does not let siblings, children above the 21-year-old or cousins and other relatives to immigrate to the country on family sponsorship. Recently, the Haitian community in Quebec appealed the government to allow them to include other family members under the family class category.

In response to the appeal, the Quebec government is looking forward to ease the immigration regulations for the Haitians and their families in Canada. The government is planning to relax the rules on a number of facets, such as family sponsorships; third party sponsorships; relaxation in the costs involved in filing the paperwork etc. The Immigration and Cultural Communities Minister of Quebec said that the government is going to use the ‘power of selection’ in the process, which is used on rare occasions. This is a clause included in the federal and provincial immigration agreement that allows implementing an expanded definition of family class category.

However, Quebec is not going to welcome above 55,000 immigrants this for 2010. It has set the target to allow between 52,00 and 55,000 migrants!

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While the Provincial government of Quebec is intending to ease the immigration rules under the family class category, the federal government is determined not to alter the definition of the aforementioned category. The existing definition of the ‘family’ states that Canadians can sponsor family members including parents, grandparents, spouses, and dependent children. It does not allow them to sponsor members like cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles.

The federal government’s decision not to expand the family sponsorships has already caused protestation from Haitian community in Canada. The federal government is reluctant to do so, because it thinks it would be unfair on the part of other groups or communities who have experienced massive destruction in the past.

However, Canadian government’s unwillingness to expand the family sponsorship definition will mean that it’s concerns about the Haitians in the Caribbean nation as well as their family members in Canada, may be questioned. The government has already introduced new rules in order to make the immigration easier for Haitians. As part of the action, Immigration Canada is going to give priority to family class immigrants. Canadian Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister said that applications from family members who have been directly affected by the earthquake in Haiti are most likely to get the government response. Thus, in order to get the clearance from the Immigration Canada, applicants must require proving that they have been affected directly by the disaster, besides meeting the other standards under the family sponsorship.

The Province of Quebec is more likely to use the ‘power of selection’ clause of the immigration agreement that exists between the federal and provincial governments in order to expand the definition of the family class category, thereby allowing more Haitians to enter the province. Reportedly, ninety percent of the total Haitian community in Canada is hosted by Quebec!

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Living and working in New Zealand allows an applicant to make his or her career but this should not be done at the cost of living away from your parents. Here are some of the facets linked with “FAMILY SPONSORSHIP: PARENT CATEGORY”

• Centre of Gravity Test: In order to satisfy this test, it is mandatory that the parents have an equal or greater number of children who are living in the land of Kiwis as compared to any other country.
• The main applicant (sponsor) should be a resident of New Zealand for a minimum of three years on the date of filing the application. It is essential that the applicant has lived in NZ for a minimum of 184 days for each three years before filing an application for sponsoring the parent.
• Financial aspects play a crucial role when it comes to sponsoring your parents in the land of Kiwis. You must have a household income of a minimum of  $29,897.92
• The sponsor should be an Adult (17 years of age or over)
• Physically present in NZ and should be a New Zealand or Australian citizen.
• Meet the minimum income requirements.
• You can not file the application for sponsorship while you are out of the country. It is a must that you should have your physical presence in the NZ at the time you put the application in. In addition, you will be required to sign a declaration that would state that you as a sponsor would repay all the benefits received by them in the first two years from the NZ government.

Other facets

No two applications are processed in the same manner and time. Therefore critical situations like this require you to hire the services of an Immigration and Visa veteran to smoothen out the whole process. Once your Immigration guide clears out your application and documentation aspects, you would be granted with a letter of “approval in principle,” followed by instructions on the next steps involved in the Immigration process.

Medical Assessments

The most critical aspect of sponsoring your parent is that they must be reasonably healthy and clear the “acceptable standard of health” set out by the NZ government.

• Parents have to go through the Medical examinations, get them certified from Medical Assessor and show the documentation to the Case Officer.
• The Medical Assessor may provide a brief opinion or may even refuse to give any opinion on your health. Also INZ has every right to send your medical information to another Medical Assessor for a second opinion. If the second opinion also comes out as “unacceptable,” you are only left with the chance to apply for the “Medical Waiver.” To avoid such complications, it is always advised to hire the services of an Immigration guide before filing the application.

Appendix 10 Conditions

Certain medical conditions are automatically deemed, in order to prove that the parents are not eligible to immigrate to NZ under the Appendix 10 Conditions. Some of them are:

1. Diseases linked with Central Nervous System
2. Solid organ transplants
3. Genetic or congenital disorders
4. Cardiac disease
5. Chronic renal failure
6. Malignancies of solid organs
7. Severe autoimmune disease
8. HIV infection
9. Hepatitis B surface antigen positive
10. Chronic obstructive respiratory disease

One can read about the conditions at: (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/i10008.htm).

If your parents are suffering with any one condition mentioned in Appendix 10, then they are not eligible to immigrate under PARENT SPONSORSHIP to New Zealand. But if they don’t have any of these disorders, this does mean that they have cleared the medical assessment. You must also prove that your health won’t cost more than $25,000 to the New Zealand Health Service.

List of Documents

AS A SPONSOR

1. You need to prove that you hold a Residency Permit in New Zealand. In addition, you may be required to show the copies of your passport and letter from the Department of Internal affairs, to name a few.
2. Duly Filled Sponsorship Form 1024
3. Statements from Bank in order to show a proof of your financial condition.

AS PARENTS

1. Fill out the standard Residency Application Form 1000
2. Satisfy the conditions linked with good health requirements and good character requirements. Therefore they need to show police and medical certificates (less than 6 and 3 months respectively).
3. Birth certificates showing the relationship with your sponsor
4. Application Fee

The procedure looks tedious and complicated. To avoid any hassles, it is advised to take guidance from an Immigration Veteran, who is always updated with the recent amendments happening in the Immigration world. Consult one today.

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