In order to hire international long haul trucking drivers under the Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program, Saskatchewan trucking firms are required to meet some eligibility criteria. Let us have a look at them:

• The trucking firms must have been in operation in the province of Saskatchewan for a minimum period of 5 years.
• The carriers run by the firms must have acceptable safety rating, confirmed by the Highway Traffic Board.
• The firms must be engaged in long-distance shipping. In other words, they must be in operation which requires them to travel inter-provincially, as well as internationally.
• A trucking recruitment and settlement plan must be submitted by the firms, which should include the recruitment and screening international truck; providing training for the nominated ones; and settlement aids for international drivers and their families.
• The firms must meet various requirements as set by the Service Canada.

The Service Canada also requires all trucking firms to fulfill the following:

• The firms must provide the proof of on going efforts to recruit local Canadians workers at the time of filing applications with the Saskatchewan Immigration nominee Program.
• They must also demonstrate that they have tried to fill the positions with unemployed Canadians through provincial employment programs and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
• The firms must consult the province’s local union and make sure if the position is covered under a collective agreement.
• The firms must come into an employer-employee agreement, which must contain wages, duties, as well as conditions pertaining the transportation, accommodation, and occupational safety of the international truck drivers.

There are other requirements as well, which the Service Canada requires trucking firms to meet. To know more, contact an Immigration and Visa consultant!

The occupation of heavy-duty mechanics is one of the new occupations that have been added to the new list of 29 occupations brought out by the Canadian government for the Federal Skilled Worker program. A heavy-duty equipment mechanic caters to repairing, adjusting, overhauling and maintaining heavy-duty equipment which is used in transportation, oil and gas, construction, landscaping, forestry and so on. They are usually employed by firms owning and operating heavy equipment, rental and service establishments, urban transit systems and so on.

Qualifying Criteria

• The applicant must have completed a three to five year apprenticeship program or should have a bachelor’s degree or a diploma in a related subject.
• An applicant must have the relevant work experience of at least one year.
• Overall, a person must have experience of around 2-4 years; actual number of years of experience to apply under this occupation is dependent on many factors such as whether the applicant is married and his English language skills.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Repairing or replacing parts that are defective as well as adjusting equipment.
• Finding out if there is any form of malfunctioning or faults with the help of computerized and other equipment used for testing purposes.
• They might have to do repairing work on heavy trucks.
• Evaluating all the cranes, bulldozers and other related heavy equipment for its performance. With this, inspecting the same for the detection of any faults or malfunctioning.
• These mechanics have the option of specializing in any specific kind of machinery like power shift transmissions, hydraulics or electronics, combines or tracked vehicles and so on.

Apart from the above, there are other similar duties as well as which the mechanic is expected to perform. If you are a heavy-duty equipment mechanic intending to migrate to Canada, write to us at ajay@abhinav.com to get started with your immigration process ASAP.

Canada offers Alberta Immigration Nominee Program for those who apply for permanent resident visa in Alberta. If you are applying as an employee together with your family, then you have to fulfill all the conditions of any one of the three categories which are skilled category, semi-skilled category and Alberta PNP self employed farmer stream.

Skilled category:

• Your job offer must come under the list of skilled occupation.
• You must have some formal educational qualification or professional training for you job position.
• If you have received your education from international institution, then you degree or diploma must be equivalent with the education of Alberta graduate degree.

Semi-skilled worker category:

• You must be qualified or trained for the job in food and beverage, hospitality, manufacturing, trucking, transportation or food services industries.

Self Employed Farmer category:

• You must have some prior experience in management and farming technique.
• Your work experience and professional training is extremely important for you to develop your farming business in Alberta.
• You must have a proper business plan for your farming enterprise in Alberta.
• You should have the proof that your farming proposal is supported be any Canadian financial institution.
• You must possess minimum at least $500,000 CAD of money to invest in your farming proposal or enough evidence which proves that you have the access to enough funds from other sources.

If you are working in United States on the basis of temporary visa (H1B, H1B1, H1C and E3) then you should have minimum one year of work experience in the country on the basis of temporary visa in the occupation which comes under Alberta’s occupation list. For further information and guidance, you can consult any immigration and visa consultancy from where you can receive professional help.

Canadian officials have recognized the man who was on a no-fly list and the one who had evoked the authorities to avert the flight to Montreal.

The accused person has been distinguished as Abdirahman Ali Gaal and the Immigration Department has confirmed that he would be subject to hearing this week on Wednesday. He was taken into custody but the details of his arrest would be made into public during the hearing process, confirmed a spokesman from the Immigration Department.

It has been affirmed by the Canada Border Services Agency that the man was present on the no-fly list of the United States.

According to the U.S. officials, the Paris-Mexico City flight declined access to American airspace. The decline happened after a man applauded in an outstanding warrant was accounted aboard. The plane was geared with 150 travelers and left Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport in morning hours, at 4:31 a.m.

Although Transportation Security Administration have not acquainted whether any passenger is present on the government watch list or not, but reports point out that the man was on a U.S. no-fly list. The accused was immediately barred from the flight and was taken into custody at that time.

This arrest was followed by the screening of other passengers present on the flight as they were later allowed to re-board the place after it was paused in Montreal.

Immigration does not just have to do with getting a visa and looking for a shelter in a new place or country. It is more than this and it has a great impact on an individual life. Let’s take the example of transportation. When people migrate to a new place, say, the United States, they often feel the urge to have their own car for daily conveyance. And to have their own car and be bale to drive it, they must perform the same things they needed to do to obtain a driver’s license all over again, in case, if they have had vehicles in their home country.

But, it should be also kept in mind that the procedure of obtaining a driver’s license in the US may not be the same as your home country. Again, the procedure and requirements vary from state to state within the US. Still, every state is abided by some general requirements pertaining to issuance of a driver’s license. Well, if you are intending to start a life in the US, below mentioned guidelines can help you learn a few things about the license obtaining procedure.

To start off, a driver’s license is considered as a personal piece of information, which comes handy in many purposes, such as in banks. Talking about the US, each state has its own requirements when it comes to issuance of the license. Usually, all you need to have in order to apply for a driver’s license is a Social Security Number. Other essential credentials you need to carry to the local Department of Motor Vehicles of the state where you reside include-

• Passport
• A proof that could support your legal immigration status
• Foreign driver’s license (your earlier one from home country)
• Birth certificate/permanent residence proof
• In-state residence proof, maybe a lease certificate which usually contains your current address in the US.

Before issuing a driver’s license, your respective Department of Motor Vehicles may require you to undergo a written test, as well as vision and driving tests. These may not be the mandatory requirements in your state, since there are some US states which consider your previous driving experience as the determining factors for issuing a license.

To get an idea of the written test and other procedures, the best thing you can do is to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state or its respective website. If you are an experienced driver, you would probably not have much problem. As far as novices are concerned, they would require a few lessons in driving. However, in both the cases, all you people need to make sure that you have all the essential documents with you!

Many people were held in an immigration raid which was done on specific vans suspecting of bringing in people Mexico to Phoenix in the United States. According to the investigators, those having shuttle operating businesses aid the immigrant smugglers with the help of their enterprise. These mainly include businesses in Phoenix and Tucson.

There were around eight hundred federal agents apart from the local police and other deputies who raided the streets aiming these vans catering to migrating people from Mexico.

These businesses have been charged with illegal transportation of migrants across the border opening doors to the human smuggling system. As per the investigators, these illegal migrants were being mixed with the regular passengers and then are transported from Nogales via Tucson to end at Phoenix.

According to Rick Crocker, the ICE Deputy Special Agent who is in-charge says that these enterprises are the key behind the smuggling of humans in and out of the country. This would definitely hit them back real hard.

Around forty four people were taken under custody by the agents. Three more are still being searched for. Forty vans were confiscated and the authorities are on their way to catch hold of property worth ten million dollars.

This operation was completely supported by the Government of Mexico. Suspects have been arrested in the northern part of Mexico as well.

Christmas Island has been in news for almost two weeks now. Media saw the transportation of detainees from the Detention Center of Christmas land to the one on the mainland. Later, the island got median attention when its main detention center exceeded its capacity of detainees, allowing some of the people to stay in rooms mean for teaching English and taking interviews.

Recently, a minor protest was witnessed on Christmas Island, after two protests which happened over the weekend already. One of them included smashing a TV set and the other one saw windows being broken with detainees throwing balls at them.

A spokesman confirmed that a total of 25 detainees were involved in the incident, while yesterday’s occurrence saw 9 people going on for a hunger strike. The news of a security guard being brutally smashed has not been confirmed yet.

The incidents are happening on the verge of center’s capacity exceeding its actual number, creating huge hurdles day by day. The department is saying that it can handle the quantity, but occurrences of such types are pointing out in some direction.

Spokesman from Refugee Action Coalition says that occurrences of such kinds would continue to hike up until the detainees are brought to the mainland. Also, the lack of transparency about what is happening in the detention center is making the issue worse.

He said that he is expecting to see a worse situation that what is seen in today’s scenario, courtesy the overcrowded detention center.

Moving to a new country brings in a lot of excitement, but at the same time the whole procedure is accompanied by a fair amount of stress too!

• First of all, make your mind that you really want to move on to this new country. A mind filled with speculations or doubts cannot succeed. Ask yourself whether the new culture will really suit you and your family members! Remove all the confusions and head on towards a better future.
• Preparation is the key to excellence. Search for your job and house well in advance to avoid any hassles in future. Assure that you have enough financial assets to sustain in the first few struggling months of your move. Good budgeting makes all the difference when it comes to moving to an altogether new world.
• Think what you want to do with your current home (Give it on rent, sell it, leave it). What about the household items? Make a thorough check-list of what to the stuff that you need to pack and take with you and the items that need to be discarded. Transportation aspect needs to be a reliable one.
• If you have already got a job in the new country, know about the relocation benefits offered by your company. Also understand all the benefits offered by your firm before making the final move as no one wants to end up in a messy situation after landing in a new country and know the hidden clauses later on!
• If the prospective country has a new language, ensure that you learn its official language to ensure your comfort level and enhance your chances of a better future.
• Ensure that the documentation is right in order! There are so many things including birth certificate, experience certificate, financial proofs, to name a few. This is one of the most critical aspects and requires an expert guidance from an experience Immigration veteran.

Good luck!

As an immigrant to Canada, you would have to get accustomed to traveling long distances. Most families own more than one car. If it is difficult for you to buy a car as soon as you land, it is suggested that you look for all the possible options. Another option is to get a car on lease which is a form of car rental.

Manage your finances accordingly before you plunge in to transportation costs. Incase you buy a car; your costs would include all the maintenance charges, cost for the gas, the timely loan payments, insurance and other administrative costs. It would be the same if you hire a vehicle. However, incase of a lease, you would sign an agreement with the contractor.

In Canada, it is mandatory to sign for car insurance and get your car registered with the local provincial government. This insurance would be handy to all the drivers in case of any accidents. To know more, you can contact the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

Other options include public transport or walking or using a bike since they are the cheaper modes of transportation. The public modes include buses, the subways and the metro or the suburban trains or commuter trains.

The costs for the transportation vary according to the city you live in. It would be more if you live in a big city such as Toronto, Montreal and so on when compared to the rural or the smaller towns.

It is best to contact an Immigration and Visa Specialist dealing with Canadian Immigration since he would be the best person to guide you. He can give you the exact position of the place where you plan to immigrate. This would help you better plan your expenses. So, contact one today!

Proper maintenance of heavy-duty mobile equipment is no child’s play. Heavy pieces of equipment are used in forestry, landscaping, farming, material handling, land clearing, transportation, construction and many such activities. Repairing, overhauling, adjusting, maintaining and troubleshooting these pieces of equipment cater to the job of heavy-duty equipment mechanics.

Companies that deal in the manufacture and operation of these heavy pieces of equipment, dealers of heavy equipment pieces, service and rental establishments, urban systems of transit and railway transportation companies are the probable employers of these professionals of the NOCL occupation “heavy-duty equipment mechanics”.

Job titles that are accepted under this occupation are: heavy equipment mechanic, locomotive mechanic, heavy mobile logging equipment mechanic, farm equipment mechanic, tractor mechanic, construction equipment mechanic, diesel mechanic – heavy equipment, heavy-duty equipment mechanic apprentice and many others.

Before we move onto the job duties that come handy with this occupation, let us know about the employment requirements that an applicant must possess to qualify under this occupation. These requirements are given below:

• Secondary school completion
• Completion of an apprenticeship program of the duration of 3-5 years. Or, four years of trade experience along with any college, high school or industry level courses in the repair of heavy equipment is required, so that you are eligible to apply for trade certification
• To work in Alberta and Quebec, you must have the heavy-duty equipment mechanic trade certification but this is a voluntary requirement in other territories and provinces
• Another certification that is made available is farm equipment mechanic trade certification, though this is again voluntary in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Labrador, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan
• Interprovincial trade certification or Red Seal is another certification that is made available farm equipment mechanics and heavy-duty equipment mechanics, who are well qualified

If you know you can successfully qualify through this first phase of selection under the NOCL occupation “heavy-duty equipment mechanics,” do not be in a hurry to congratulate yourself for the second phase involves primary duties that you are expected to perform as a professional of this occupation. You can check these duties below:

• Checking bulldozers, graders, cranes and other such heavy pieces of equipment that are used in agricultural, mining, logging and construction for better performance. Equipment are also checked for malfunctions and faults
• Diagnosing malfunctions or faults with the use of computers and other equipment of testing to determine the repair required
• Adjusting equipment and replacing or replacing of components, defective parts by employing power and hand tools
• Testing repaired equipment for enhanced performance and to make sure that specifications of the manufacturer are met at work
• Cleaning, lubricating and performing other everyday maintenance work of equipment
• Working tools and service attachments, like tillage equipment, harvesting equipment, side booms, winches, ploughs and blades
• May have to repair heavy trucks
• May have to adjust new equipment for the farm and attach components
• Farm and heavy-duty equipment mechanics can have specialty in specific machinery types, like fuel injection, electronics, hydraulics, power shift transmission, tracked vehicle or engine overhaul

Being able to satisfy these requirements, make you eligible for Canada skilled migration with extra points earned under the NOCL’s occupation “heavy-duty equipment mechanics.” So, hurry and hire an experienced immigration consultant today.