On 10th March 2010, the government of Canada announced certain amends to be brought about in the criteria for excepted language skills. These changes would be applicable for all those applying under the Federal Skilled Worker and the Canadian Experience class. This was announced by Jason Kenney, the Minister for Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Clarifying the above, Kenney said that the language skills criterion has not changed as such. The only change is that from now on, the applicants have to submit the proof of their language skills while submitting their application itself. So, the applicant has to now submit his proficiency either in English or French since these are the two official languages for Canada. This amend has been brought about to ensure faster processing of the applications.

Earlier, the applicants were permitted to either submit a written statement or a test conducted by a third party that is independent from the Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The written statement was meant for those who had English or French as their first language. But this was not being limited to the above. Those not having the above as their first language were also due advantage of the same. These written statements did not prove the candidate’s proficiency in the practical use of the language. So, they had to provide with other forms of evidence which obviously lead to a processing delay.

With this, all the applicants would be given a single chance to prove their proficiency in the same. However, they are still free to submit a written statement.

On the other hand, submitting test results for the language skills would ensure quick and genuine processing of the application. With this, these tests would also let the applicants know of their standing in the same. After getting their test results, they would be in a better position to decide on whether to apply for immigration or not. Incase of written statements, the applicants would not know how much they have scored till their application has not been assessed by the relevant authority.

However, it is recommended to present with the test results straight away to avoid any forms of delay.

It has to be realized that for any immigrant, the language skills are the key indicators to his success rate in the job market. The better his language skills, the more likely are his chances of landing with a good job.

When it comes to the applicants of the Canadian Experience Class, it is mandatory for them to meet the requisites for the same. For the Federal Skilled Workers, a maximum of twenty four points are awarded for this criterion.

If you are a permanent resident of Canada and are planning to apply for a Canadian citizenship, the following article would be of great help to you. To become a citizen of Canada, there are certain pre – requisites to be catered to. The applicant should not have undergone any form of immigration enquiry or investigation and so on.

The following are the key points to be noted before applying for citizenship:

• You must have lived in Canada for a minimum of three years or 1095 days in the last fours year. This period of residence should be prior to applying for citizenship. However, children are exempt from this requirement. Accurate time period of residence should be provided with, prior to becoming a permanent resident as well, if it is within the above mentioned four year period. This is because there are instances where in an applicant would be considered as residing in Canada when he was physically not present in the country.
• In order to apply, you should be atleast 18 years of age.
• You should not have been convicted of any crime or offence that is prohibited under the Citizenship Act or imprisoned. The time spent in prison does not count for the residency period.
• Proficiency in English or French is a must to communicate with the local citizens.
• As a future citizen of Canada, you must be aware of the rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen. This includes the right to vote as well. Others include the history, geography and the political aspects of the country.

After the ensuring that you clear the above pre-requites, the following steps should be followed to apply for citizenship:

• Check your eligibility criteria, as mentioned above.
• Submit the application for citizenship.
• Incase, you are between the age group of 18 and 54 years, you have to appear for the Citizenship test.
• Incase you are 14 years of age or older, you must be present for the citizenship ceremony.

It has to be remembered that it is not mandatory for all the permanent residents in Canada to apply for citizenship. They are free to apply for an extension or renewal of their PR card if it expires. This PR card is permitted for five years at a stretch. However, on the PR card, certain rights are not available which are only applicable for the citizens of Canada.

This surely raises the question, what happens when a foreign child is adopted by Canadian parents! It becomes a matter of concern when a case of hearing reported for a teenage; accused for committing an assault and robbery that is facing the threat of deportation to his birth land. The teenager had committed the crime four years back in 2005 and has been released from a juvenile detention center recently.

The accused who was a minor at the time of the crime had been adopted by a Canadian family. This means he is not a Canadian citizen. Now that question arises what really happens to such an adopted child? So, here is the answer…

A child born after 1947 in Canada is regarded as a citizen of that country. Besides, if a child is born outside Canada after 1977, but if he/she has a Canadian parent is also regarded as a citizen of Canada. This criterion was applicable to a number of generations of people who were born to original Canadians until 2008. But, a law that had been passed in 2009 restricted this to only one generation.

Until 2006, an adopted child from a foreign country was required to be sponsored as a permanent resident first before he/she could be regarded as a Canadian citizen, which is popularly know as naturalization. Towards the end of the year 2007, this law was altered which stated that an adopted foreign child would be granted with Canadian citizenship without first going through the process of immigration. The same law was extended to Canadians who live outside the country.

Now foreign nationals who are adopted by Canadian citizens can obtain Canadian citizenship directly, without having to go through the process of naturalization! To know more about this, contact an Immigration and Visa consultant!

Every immigration program follows distinctive procedure. Thus, when one is looking forward to immigrate to a new country, it is very important for that person to have the proper understanding of the application process for the particular program that he/she has opted for. It fact, the secret of successful immigration lies in the proper understanding of the application process and little homework beforehand.

Let’s have a look at the application procedure for Canadian Federal Skilled Worker program:

• Before an applicant is set to work on the application process, he/she must confirm that the Federal Skilled Worker category is appropriate for him. It follows choosing the right application form.
• The applicant is required to get his/her qualifications, occupation, experience, and other required documents assessed by the authorized body.
• When filling up the form(s), the applicant must make sure that he/she has put in all the details carefully and it is complete. Incomplete forms are most likely to be rejected.
• The fee for the processing of the application for the applicant as well as dependants should be submitted along with the forms.
• Once the applicant is done with these steps, the application will go to the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) in Nova Scotia, Canada. Here, things undergo scrutiny and the CIO will decide whether the application meets the prerequisites for the Federal Skilled Worker program. If they find the application fulfills the criteria, they would forward it to the designated country visa office, otherwise if they end up with a negative decision, the application is most likely to be returned back.
• This follows the submission of the application along with all the essential documents at the local visa office.
• The applicant must provide the IELTS test score report earned for the language proficiency at the visa office.
• The applicant must bear his/her expenses related to medical and security clearances.
• Once the applicant is approved to immigrate to Canada, he/she must pay for the Right to Permanent Resident fee. However, the fee, which covers both the applicant and his/her spouse or law partner, should be paid before the applicant is issued with the PR visa. Afterwards, if the applicant decides not to use this visa, the fee would be refunded.
• Last but not the least, the applicant must submit his/her passport to be stamped on the visa.

The process of making application is one of the most important parts of the whole immigration process. This is the phase where you should be presented yourself watchfully in order to make your immigration successful. While, you may find it critical at times, hiring an Immigration and Visa consultant would be the smartest move you could make!

Last year the Canadian Immigration minister Jason Kenney stated that there would be certain changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. But, the discontinuation of Parliament session left no scope for the proposed changes to come forth as regulations. However, as the Parliament session is starting for this year, we can expect to get some updates on those changes.

However, if the proposed changes are to be enacted, that will have deep impact not only the foreign workers in Canada, but their families in their home countries and employers altogether. At present, the country has about 300,000 overseas workers, who have been an integral part of the Canadian economy. Reportedly, an estimated number of 10,000 foreign workers have contributed to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Game to make it a success.

Below are a few changes that have been proposed in context of the Canadian Work Permit Holders:

According to the proposal, workers who have been working and living in Canada for the four years would not be allowed to work there for further six years.

Workers, who intend to stay in Canada for over four years, would require following the same procedure that one is required to follow to obtain permanent residence in the country.

These are only a few highlights of the proposed changes that could make the situation miserable for foreign workers, as well as their employers and families in the native countries. If these changes are to come into force, foreign workers on Canadian work permits, who have been a part of the reason as to why the Canadian economy is doing well at this time of economic uncertainty, will suffer a lot and many would lose their jobs!

There are many phases that an immigrant must clear in order to settle down in Canada. For this purpose, a new resource has been developed to aid the new immigrants in Canada. This online tool would help them find the relevant services provided by the government. This is apart from the community services for settlement purposes. The news was announced by Jason Kenney, the Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. The link for the online tool could be found below.

This tool has been developed so that it is easier to search for both the private and government services which are highly essential. For instance, it would help in locating a new house for purpose in Canada just by clicking online. This in turn would save time and benefit in the integration of these immigrants in their communities of residence. Such integration is of utmost importance in the multicultural society of Canada.

Other additional services that are offered by this resource include those of federal, provincial and territorial services of the government. Now, all that would be required is to mail all the results to self and family member or friends who are new in Canada. Post this; the next step of settling down could be started. It would also help in keeping a track on all the search results that have come about till date. This online tool would be constantly subjected to updating with the latest. With this, it would slowly be expanded with time with fresh information which is likely to help the new comers.

It has to be realized that these services meant for settlement are an important part of the immigration program offered by the government of Canada. Most of these services such as language training, guidance with reference to employment, community services, and integration services for the new comers to settle down and so on are all funded by the CIC.

All these services are put in effect with the help of the agencies at the provincial, territorial and community level. Post 2006, the government of Canada made increased its funding for these settlement purposes by almost three times.

To know more, visit http://www.servicesfornewcomers.cic.gc.ca/

Just when Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was blamed for removing gay rights in the Citizenship guide, he came out with a statement in his defense, stating that he has taken “full responsibility” of the matter present in the Immigration guide!

The minister was blamed for omitting the content which referred to the rights of LGBT people and their chances to immigrate to Canada. The minister, however, defended that the guide shows the diversity present in the nation and hence he is proud of the content.

Earlier the opposition accused the minister for not including the gay-rights milestone in the final Citizenship guide. Reports say that the early draft was arrayed with such rights but it couldn’t find its way into the final Citizenship guide.

The whole issue created a whole lot of controversy, demanding the minister to present an apology for the same. Liberal MP Marlene Jennings emphasized on the “apology” facet while NDP MP Olivia Chow stated that new comers should know that gay bashing is illegal and that gay marriage needs to be celebrated!

Kenney replied to this statement, stating that new Canadians are not potential gay-bashers! He defended the Citizenship guide to his extensive limits and took full responsibility of everything present in the guide! However, he provided no explanation for the content of the Citizenship Guide.

The guide also includes hints against spousal abuse and gender-based violence, to name a few. The issue of gay rights is still one of the hottest topics of debate in the Parliament till now!

Of late, the number of refusal cases of Labor Market Opinion (LMO) applications of Canadian employers is increasing, thanks to the more demanding regulations pertaining to the LMO applications and to some extent the global economic downturn! Whatever the reason, the fact is that more and more interested international workers and Canadian employers are finding it tough to get the approval of the Human Resources Development Canada on their LMO applications and this is no good for the country.

Labor Market Opinion approval becomes important when it comes to obtaining certain Canadian work permits by Canadian employers. When the employers want to hire overseas workers, they need to make application for a LMO to the HRDC. In order to obtain the approval of the Service Canada, the employers are required to convince the HRDC that they have tried to hire a Canadian for the job that they are eventually offering to an overseas worker. An employer should make all the efforts, like publishing advertisements on newspaper for the vacancy in order to convince the authority. Once the Service Canada is satisfied that there are no Canadians who fit the bill for the offered job, it gives confirmation/approval or confirms the offer of employment to the overseas worker and then issues the Labor Market Opinion letter to the employer.

It is unfortunate for Canada to have increasing numbers of refused LMO applications, especially when the country needs more international workers. So, here is the lesson for Canadian employers that they should prepare their LMO applications more carefully and convincingly, so that they could get the approval. All you employers need to do is that make your applications as persuasive as possible when it comes to making the efforts in searching for the local worker to fill the offered job!

According to a recent report, the need for skilled immigrants in Ontario will go on a massive high in the upcoming years to come! The same report by Seneca College depicted that Ontario would face a major skills shortage, leaving plenty of unfulfilled positions in the lime light! The matter can only be solved by taking eligible skilled workers to Ontario!

It is good news for all those job seekers planning to make Ontario as their next employment destination. Rick Miner, former president of the college holds this belief that Ontario’s economy in future would be dominated by skill based employments! But the current education scenario, the condition of labor pool and their training makes it difficult for the province to fulfill its needs.

In addition, the aging population of Ontario’s skilled workers is making the whole condition even worse! The scenario would surely affect the companies who need skilled workers to fulfill their positions on an urgent basis!

But what will happen to those workers who lack knowledge and ample skills to fit in a particular job? The economy would be deeply affected by this factor too!

Cabinet Minister Murray Elston said that this situation would not only affect Ontario’s economy but other provinces in Canada too! Canada’s labor market would face plenty of similar challenges in the upcoming future.

Therefore, it becomes mandatory to welcome more and more skilled workers and overcome this scenario as soon as possible.

Quebec is one such concerned province in Canada that has recently rolled out a few regulations to the immigration consultants. This concern is for the potential immigrants who want to migrate to Canada. In an effort to discourage the unlawful immigration consultancy practices that have been cheating on many prospective immigrants, the provincial government of Quebec has recently announced what are the guidelines that from now onwards immigration consultants in Quebec should stick to.

As per the recent regulations proposed by the Quebec government, immigration consultants must clear a test and they have to register with the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants. Besides, they should have a clean background in this practice and fair knowledge of French language and should be residents of Quebec.

With this implementation, a public database will also help people identify which immigration consultants are accredited by the provincial government and those who are not recognized. The new guidelines for the consultants clearly indicate that the Quebec government will no more accept illegal immigration consultancy services that would deter prospective migrants from entering Canada. The government made it clear that all services will have to obey the guidelines, else they will have to stop their practices.

In appreciation of the guidelines, the Canadian federal government showed its keenness of implementing similar actions. However, the government is yet to reveal when it’s going to make this happen in the future!

The steps taken by the government of Quebec are undoubtedly commendable. Since, cases of cheating people by false or dishonest immigration consultants are common in many places. Hope, other countries and places would also take such steps in the near future and let lawful consultants provide services!