The Nova Scotia Nominee Program’s Skilled Worker stream enables the province’s employers hire international skilled workers in order fill up the job positions, reason being the local workers lack the required skills. In order words, Nova Scotia employers make use of this program in appointing foreign skilled nationals, when they are unable to find Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents with the needed skills to fill those positions.

In order to be able to qualify for this stream applicants must possess a permanent, full time employment offer from a Nova Scotia employer in hand, much before filing their immigration application with the Nova Scotia Nominee Program. The skilled worker applicants can expect priority processing of their applications whose:

• Employers (from whom they receive employment offer) have genuinely tried to find and recruit qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents for the positions.
• Employers are in a position to demonstrate that they will assist foreign workers with additional supports for settlement in the province.
• Employers have a practical strategy to recruit, as well as retain immigrant workers in the province.

Below are the eligibility criteria for skilled worker applicants:

• Applicants must have lawful status in the country where they are residing at time of applying for the NSNP.
• Applicants must intend to settle in Nova Scotia, permanently.
• Applicants must possess adequate settlement supports.
• Applicants must have a permanent, full time employment offer in Nova Scotia from a well settled Nova Scotia business/employer.
• Applicants must possess required qualifications, training, work experience, for the job.

For more information, contact an Immigration and Visa Consultant!

Before writing this piece of article, let me give my verdict first… No one should take it personally here! This is one of the most discussed topics amongst gossip mongers, but the discussion is done in a suppressed manner, knowing the kind of nature held by this article!

Now let me tell you the final outcome of this discussion! Sleeping with your boss can actually enhance your career, and if you are a woman, the chances further hike up! Wait a minute… Again I am telling you that these are not my personal views, but the same has been confirmed by a recent research.

Forget about this research for a while. I will come on the statistics later but isn’t it a fact that there is one or the other person in any office (Tell me if I am wrong) who won’t mind sleeping with her boss or at least have thought about this idea just to enhance her career. She might be someone who is NOT well educated or is sure that she will NOT get a better paying job than this one! So, she finds ways to stay in the job! And what best than having an affair with your boss! Not all think the same, but this world is not short of “opportunists” people!

But again, the girl should not be blamed solely for this! Isn’t it that the boss somewhere is “opportunist” too? But at the end of the day, it is business – business of give and take. Once gives and another one takes! And sometimes, one has to pay a heavy price for it… But that is world for you!

As far as the statistics are concerned, the report shows that 37 per cent of the office workers have confirmed that they have shared bed with their bosses just to enhance their career. No matter how practical or career-minded a woman is, it has been believed that she needs a “sponsor” at some point or the other to climb the steps of her career ladder at one stage or another.

Even the ones who are working at “Director” level, don’t mind having a fling in the office, the report has confirmed the same.

But all office affairs are NOT always beneficial! How would you know that the boss would pay his part after sleeping with you! Think!!!

Written by : Aakanksha Gulati

The EB-5 visa has slowly come about to become one of the most sought after visas with many immigrants planning to invest in the US economy and make it their permanent home. Being an investor program, it requires a candidate to invest and contribute to the US economy by creating more jobs for the local people.

The EB-5 program has been responsible for aiding the people of the United States with many employment opportunities with millions of dollars being poured into the US economy.

Despite the positive aspects of the program, there are certain misconceptions which tend to arise due to confusion. After all, it is never that everything could be found on paper. One of the major misconceptions of this program is that this visa is very difficult to obtain and once obtained, it is tedious to keep up with the terms and conditions.

The major part of this myth involves doubts pertaining to the background checks of the applicant’s finances. These background checks have become stringent, especially post 9/11. This aspect is not only confined to the EB-5 program but to all aspects of immigration to the United States.

When it comes to the EB-5 program, a thorough background check is done for the money that is to be invested. This is to ensure that this money has been acquired legally. At the same time, the source of these funds (as far as they are legal) does not form the most important criterion of the application process.

The other requirements of the program are not as difficult to meet as it is thought to be. The requirements are more or less similar to any other immigration program in the United States. However, there is one aspect which most applicants are worried about is the job creation part. As per the guidelines, an investor must create a minimum of ten new employment opportunities in a particular region. More so, the local Americans should fill in these vacancies.

It is agreed that the above is quite challenging. However, this could be made easier by designating his investment in a particular Regional Centre which is high on the unemployment rate. These Regional Centres would aid in the process of monitoring the investment as well as in ensuring that business turns out to be productive.

More so, the Regional Centre should be selected after a thorough research and the business plan should have been developed accordingly. The business should have had a successful track record in the past.

Above all, it is agreed that some prior work needs to be done before and post applying; it is not similar to not getting a visa. It is not as big an obstacle as it is made out to be. After all, the US government has the responsibility of making sure that it has selected the right candidate to invest.

Employers working with Service Canada and who handle employment claims are soon on the verge of becoming unemployed. There is news that in an attempt to manage the budget, Service Canada would cut down almost 600 hundred of its government workers ahead of 600 who were cut down in the month of May.

In addition to that, reports have confirmed that more and more cuts are expected in the month of January. Those who have been made employed include those whose tasks involved processing employment insurance claims to pension problems to passport applications.

According to Steve McCuaig, who is the national executive vice-president of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, people who are the receiver of these services are the ones who would suffer the most due to these cut offs. He further added that people who are heavily dependent on the Canadian staff for their pension issues would suffer a huge impact. The group includes elderly people and the ones with disabilities.

Those employees who would be affected by the move would be sent letters by next week. Speculations are made that those employees who are hired on contracts would suffer these cut offs.

The cuts are simply in regard with the flow of the current economy. The same has been confirmed by Service Canada. Also, those who were hired on a temporary basis were already acquainted that their jobs are on temporary basis.

Whetever is the case, the cuts offs would leave a massive effect on the service industry.

With the recent decision of the UK government bringing about a cap on immigration especially from the non EU nations, many businesses in Britain have warned that would be forced to deploy all the jobs overseas. This also includes India as due to the new immigration policies, there would be a severe shortage of skilled professionals in UK.

With the above on the move, it would be soon that jobs pertaining to call centers based in Britain and other occupations regarding Finance and Information Technology would be shifted to other nations. These nations would be especially the ones where in it would be less expensive and easy to find the required staff.

The above warning has come about when Damian Green, the Immigration Minister for Britain was to come to India on a visit for three days. The main purpose of this visit to guarantee the Ministers as well as the businesses that the new policies are not about creating more barriers or closing the doors. It is about bringing controlled immigration with a system that is quick and fair.

According to a new survey, about two-thirds of those who suggested of relocating the jobs preferred to shift to India and another one-third intended to move to China. The survey said that the employers wanted the best professionals. They are not bothered about the origin of these workers. This was not possible with the local employees who do not fit the bill.

As per an official from the British Chambers of Commerce, the companies in Britain are not against hiring local people but they find it difficult to find such professionals who meet their eligibility criteria along with the required attitude and motivation which is important for their business to flourish.

On the other hand, the various businesses in the nation have also said that these new rules can be a threat and might lead to damaging relations with other nations. This is specifically true for nations like China and India. This is because the nation required the markets and entrepreneurial skills from these nations at one point of time.

With the recent decision of the UK government bringing about a cap on immigration especially from the non EU nations, many businesses in Britain have warned that would be forced to deploy all the jobs overseas. This also includes India as due to the new immigration policies, there would be a severe shortage of skilled professionals in UK.

With the above on the move, it would be soon that jobs pertaining to call centers based in Britain and other occupations regarding Finance and Information Technology would be shifted to other nations. These nations would be especially the ones where in it would be less expensive and easy to find the required staff.

The above warning has come about when Damian Green, the Immigration Minister for Britain was to come to India on a visit for three days. The main purpose of this visit to guarantee the Ministers as well as the businesses that the new policies are not about creating more barriers or closing the doors. It is about bringing controlled immigration with a system that is quick and fair.

According to a new survey, about two-thirds of those who suggested of relocating the jobs preferred to shift to India and another one-third intended to move to China. The survey said that the employers wanted the best professionals. They are not bothered about the origin of these workers. This was not possible with the local employees who do not fit the bill.

As per an official from the British Chambers of Commerce, the companies in Britain are not against hiring local people but they find it difficult to find such professionals who meet their eligibility criteria along with the required attitude and motivation which is important for their business to flourish.

On the other hand, the various businesses in the nation have also said that these new rules can be a threat and might lead to damaging relations with other nations. This is specifically true for nations like China and India. This is because the nation required the markets and entrepreneurial skills from these nations at one point of time.

A classification known as Neet has come about in England. Neet includes those people between the age group of 16 and 24 years who are neither pursuing education nor into training or employed. This comprises of a total of 874,000 which is about 14.5% of the total youth population in the nation. This number has dropped in the last one year and has landed at the above figure. Initially, there were 1.07 million people. The current figure is still higher than what was recorded in 2005 that was 771,000, thus catering to fears of a generation that is forgotten.

The Department for Education published the figures for Neet for the second quarter of 2010. The results came about after it was projected by a think-tank that most of these people have A-levels or degrees.

According to a spokesman from the DfE, the numbers are still high despite the fall. The government of the nation is focused on reducing this gap between the poorest and richest. It is figuring out a way to provide all the youngsters irrespective of their background, an opportunity to progress. He also said the government is devoted to constant expansion of the apprenticeship programs. The work program would also cater to support that is personalized which is needed by those in search of jobs, irrespective of their situation. This is expected to be put in place by summer of 2011.

It has been claimed by Migrationwatch UK, a campaign group, that regions which are more of immigrants also have higher numbers of unemployed youth. However, the group could not bring out whether the higher inflow of immigrants has led to this increased rate of joblessness. It did mention that across fifty local authorities outside London, an increase in the number of immigrants by just about thousand would mean a rise of unemployment amongst 900 youth.

A populist solution has been followed by both- Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister and Tony Abbott, the Leader of Opposition. This approach has been adopted in order to develop the infrastructure of the nation by cutting on the number of skilled migrants walking into Australia.

However, it seems as if some of the major factors have not been considered while planning. Contrary to the Rudd government which had plans for a “Big Australia” by 2050, the current government intends to cut down on immigration. As per Gillard and Abbott, it is important for the nation to be sustainable first so that it is able to accommodate the large numbers of immigrants walking into the nation each year.

At the same time, many critics have been arguing of this reason as being invalid. The main reason being that immigration has proved that there has been an expansion in the domestic economy of the nation. More so, the nation has had huge benefits when it came to regional communities. Also, not much has been done when it comes to the constant shortage of labor in the nation. This is only expected to increase in the coming decade as about 3.3 million baby boomers are walking towards retirement.

So, sustainability is not the main concern here as said by the leaders above. However, it does need more skilled migrants who can work, manage and establish urban planning in regional areas which need such development. Growth in population would lead the returning of raw commodity exports into the domestic economy which would be expanding. This would automatically create new jobs, thus hiking the economy further. This would strengthen the links at a global platform.

Above all, whatever happens, the nation would require more immigrants in the future to cater to its economy without which the economy would slowly crumble due to the lack of skilled workers.

A new co-production treaty is soon to be signed by India and Canada at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA). This is the 12th edition of the IIFA. The event is planned to take place in 2011 at Toronto. This treaty would aid the filmmakers from India to get access to the nation’s scenic locales which also includes that of the British Columbia.

According to Pratap Raju from the British Columbia International Trade and Investment Representative Office, it is likely that one of the offices would be opened in Mumbai soon. It is being planned to take the filmmakers on a trip to scout for locations in BC.

He also said that the province is concentrating on pulling in India firms which are in to gaming and other new media companies. It is being expected for atleast three firms to set a base in Canada. As of now there are about 144 firms in BC which are into game development. These together churn out annual revenue of $1.4 catering to about 5000 jobs.

There are a few companies which are moving to Canada with the procedures for some of the companies at advanced stages. This has led to a huge demand for visas. The main reason for BC being an ideal choice is its cost-effective tax structure. When it comes to the corporate income tax, it is only 16.5% in BC whereas it is 35% in the rest of the North America.

The above clearly projects the demand for investors in Canada. This can be considered as an apt time for those who would want to venture out and start a business in Canada. To know more, it is best to consult an Immigration and Visa expert who deals with Canadian immigration with specific relation to investor relations.

Farming season is going on in the U.S. And gradually, the stats are saying that the job of harvesting the crops is in a major way dependant upon the illegal immigrants.

The debate of illegal immigrants is afresh in every country that face this dilemma of undocumented workers. In addition, the Arizona law played a huge role in adding oil in the fire and further fuming it in a big way. The law is strictly against the undocumented immigrants and hence intends to deport them out of the country, as it has believed that they are grasping the jobs from the hands of local nationals, who actually deserve them.

Farmers all over the country have a different story to tell. American nationals are gradually moving away from the farming aspect. Hence, the employers in this profession are demanding the contribution of illegal immigrants who come to America from all over the world. Hence, they are relying on the contributions by these undocumented workers. These illegal immigrants are now required to get indulge in the task of harvesting fruits and vegetables.

These immigrants come to US seeking brilliant economic opportunities. Some of them are now harvesting the crops and picking, washing and wrapping these vegetables so that they can meet their fate in various supermarkets.

No wonder America is the land of opportunities. One worker, who kept his identity anonymous, said that they come to this side for having good economic opportunities but ended up suffering.