Action against CIC? (Legal or otherwise)
- Thread starter mpottier
- Start date
I agree it's probably not fair to compare different countries' immigration systems, but again I can't get behind the idea that Canada is slow because it's being cautious about who gets benefits. Consider that work permits are processed about ten times faster than family sponsorship applications, and yet the applicants still get a social insurance number and health insurance out of it.Rob_TO said:
I do question how desirable Canada truly is as a destination. However with regard to family sponsorship from other developed countries, fraud is generally non-existent. Purely out of my own experience, Europe, Australia, and the USA are more highly desirable for immigrants (non-family sponsorship). Social services are far superior in Western Europe (also you can live anywhere in the EU), the USA has more broad employment opportunities, and Australia is comparable to Canada and also has the added benefit of being able to live and work in the New Zealand once you get citizenship. Remember Canada'a health care system is good but it still ranked 30th in the world, pretty middle of the road.
Also, there is no income requirement for US green card applicants, especially if both the sponsor and applicant are out of country. Generally the USA just wants to know you can take care of the spouse (which you can prove in multiple different ways). Unlike Canada, USA green card holder can access all social services. In Canada, new spousal PR holder can access things like welfare but their spouse has to compensate the government if this is accessed within the first 2 years of residency.
To get to the heart of it Canadian and American couples or families shouldn't have to make a life changing decision on what country to live in. It should almost be like deciding to move to another province. Both countries already have access to each other's citizen databases, the application process is virtually a redundancy now, and comes off as a money grab or 'make work' project for civil servants.
Also, there is no income requirement for US green card applicants, especially if both the sponsor and applicant are out of country. Generally the USA just wants to know you can take care of the spouse (which you can prove in multiple different ways). Unlike Canada, USA green card holder can access all social services. In Canada, new spousal PR holder can access things like welfare but their spouse has to compensate the government if this is accessed within the first 2 years of residency.
To get to the heart of it Canadian and American couples or families shouldn't have to make a life changing decision on what country to live in. It should almost be like deciding to move to another province. Both countries already have access to each other's citizen databases, the application process is virtually a redundancy now, and comes off as a money grab or 'make work' project for civil servants.
There certainly are income requirement for green card applicants. You must be making 125% of the poverty level income for your household size in order to sponsor your spouse. You can have someone co-sign the application (through an affidavit of support) if you don't make enough money - however this places certain binding legal obligations on that co-signer that last multiple years and can require the co-signer to provide financial support to the new immigrant. If the co-signer does not provide this financial support as required, the new immigrant can sue them. If you read through any US immigration forum you can find plenty of examples of people who are screwed when it comes to trying to sponsor their spouse because they work part time (or study) but don't make enough money on their own (and don't own any assets) - and also don't know anyone in the US - or don't know anyone who is willing to sign the affidavit of support due to the legal requirements that come along with it.mpottier said:
Canada has lower expectation.
So you're suggesting the difference in processing times is based on the potential contribution the applicant would give in return. While that theory might hold if you just compare work permits to visitors, it doesn't add up overall. Skilled worker applications have processing times as bad or worse than family sponsorship, yet they are certainly more valuable than the average temporary worker.SamHom said:
Plus, I think you're underestimating the contribution of families. If a family settles in Canada, they are much more likely to actually remain there permanently than any other class, and be more involved in society. It's also true that residents who have the support of their families with them are less likely to require support from the government. And, as this thread is a prime example of, denying family sponsorship also comes with the potential cost of losing an already established contributing resident when they move away with the denied spouse, which may also include the loss of contributing relatives and children.
Any country that has a good social system is desirable for people from less fortunate countries. How desirable Canada is? You would have to ask them. I would guess, very. Especially places like Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.mpottier said:
There's many issues with the system, no doubt. Processing times are crazy. It's ridiculous that you have to wait 30 days for inquiry's and so on. There's very little transparency and it seems like no one can ever tell something for sure. Contradicting information is standard. Lots needs to be improved. But, must not forget, there are many great things as well. One thing is income requirement waived, not too many countries does that. May not matter to you personally, but it matters to a lot of folk. Excessive demand on health care is waived too, and I don't think too many countries with universal health care does that either. These are very humane policies and something Canada deserves credit for.
I agree with this. Something else to consider is access to free provincial health care for parents / grandparents who are successfully sponsored. Once again, as someone who frequents US immigration forums, I can't tell you how many times I've read stories about people who want to sponsor their parents to come and live in the US - but can't because their health care coverage will either be limited or non-existent and they can't afford to pay for their parents' care out of their own pocket. So the parents have to stay in their homes countries. Also - when you sponsor your parents, dependent children cannot be included - even if that dependent child is very young. So that's somewhere else where Canada has a leg up. Where the US has a leg up is in parent application processing times.SamHom said:
I don't understand how you can be allowed to sponsor grandparents to Canada even if they are not mentioned in application. If you don't mention a child, you are doing something wrong and can never sponsor them. If you are not mentioning grandparents, you are not doing anything wrong and can sponsor them in the future. I was told on here no need to mention grandparents in application. Isn't that strange though?scylla said:
Because parents/grandparents are NOT exempt from medical excessive demand inadmissibility. If they fail the medical, they can't immigrate.SamHom said:
The answer to this is extremely simple. Parents and grandparents are not EDE. Spouse and dependant children are EDE. Chalk & Cheese.SamHom said:
That's just the way CIC wants it. It's really irrelevant though as there is no non-declaration issue surrounding parents/grandparents that I'm aware of, like there is for dependents/spouses.SamHom said:
Forms ask for info on spouses, dependents and parents... so they need to be included. They don't ask for grand parents so they don't need to be included. If people just follow the instructions it should be pretty simple.
Don't get confused by the requirements for future sponsorship and security background checks on the current applicant.SamHom said:
Just a side note again about the American green card. The 125% wage a sponsor must show is essentially waved if both parties are outside the USA. My wife and I were both living abroad. We brought pay stubs and got my wife's parents to sign the co-sign application, but it was all ignored and given back to us. I don't believe any forum on here discusses how stream lined the Green card process is if both parties are outside the USA. I got my green card in a month. The process was designed for American military personnel who marry or have children while posted abroad, but it benefits all Americans. They just don't advertise it, I only found out through friends.