+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445
@skogutem,

Do u think the proposed change will be made with immediate effect,thereby giving VOS some more time, in the process ?? Or it will be applicable for all the propective applicants.
How do u view it,sir.
thanx.
god bless all !
parhar51
 
parhar51 said:
@ skogutem,

Do u think the proposed change will be made with immediate effect,thereby giving VOS some more time, in the process ?? Or it will be applicable for all the propective applicants.
How do u view it,sir.
thanx.
god bless all !
parhar51

Parhar51,

I am really not sure.

Super Seniors members, please advise.
 
2012 Target Occupations

•Dentists
•Engineering Technicians
•Licensed Practical Nurses
•Medical Radiation Technologists
•Physicians
•Teachers (K-12)

source:http://www.credentials.gc.ca/fcro/progress-report2011.asp#canadian
 
Assessment of foreign credentials
Very shrewed move
it can cause further delay
Oh GOD save us
 
Special Edition: Canadian Government Slashes Backlog

March, 2012

BREAKING NEWS

The Government of Canada announced on 29 March 2012 a plan to reduce the backlog of Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) applications by returning all applications and government fees submitted prior to 27 February 2008. This will amount to a total of almost 300,000 returned applications, as well as approximately $130 million in refunded government processing fees.

Approximately 160,000 FSW applications, submitted after 28 February 2008, will remain in queue for processing.
The Announcement

This statement has been issued as part of the larger Federal Budget for 2012, which was released on 29 March. The budget includes information for reducing national deficit and creating more fiscally efficient government infrastructure, an integral part of which is tied to immigration policy and processing times. As part of this plan, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), is expected to reduce its operating costs by $179 million over the next three years.

The budget mentions that “Canada risks losing the global talent competition for the world’s best and brightest as potential immigrants choose to take their skills to other countries with more responsive immigration systems rather than remain in the queue to have their applications process in Canada”.

With this in mind, the decision was reached to not only return the approximately 300,000 applications, but to focus on creating a system that would streamline processing and “reduce duplication and overlap” in the overall structure.

Government Rationale

The applications being returned are currently only from the FSW program. No additional plans have yet been announced to address backlogs in other immigration categories.

CIC hopes that reducing application numbers will allow it to streamline its programs in a way that will eliminate overhead costs currently incurred by dealing with the backlog. For instance, some visa offices devote significant amounts of time and money to processing pre-2008 applications. With these out of the way, visa officers will be free to devote time and energy to processing applications that have a higher likelihood of approval under current government standards.

The decision is also part of a larger effort by CIC to “transition to a faster and more flexible economic immigration system”. This new system will be aimed at more accurately addressing Canadian labour market needs as well as better serving those applicants still in line to be processed. Currently, Canada is facing severe labour shortages, specifically in Western provinces where skilled tradespeople are in great demand.

It is important to note that, despite widespread austerity measures being imposed on most government departments, CIC is one of only five that are being asked to reduce operating costs by less than six percent. In fact, proposed upgrades to the Canadian immigration system are likely to cost over $25 million in upcoming years.

Advice for Returned Applicants

The promise of new, streamlined immigration systems is no comfort for the thousands of individuals and their families who have now seen their hopes for Canadian immigration come to an end.

“This is such awful news for the people who have been waiting patiently in line,” says Attorney David Cohen, “Of course, they are free to submit a new application, but that will be of little solace at this time. I truly feel badly for them”.

Applicants who will see their files returned but are still keen to come to Canada are by no means excluded from re-submitting an application, either through the FSW program or one of the over 60 other available Canadian immigration programs. As the government more thoroughly outlines its plans for immigration in the future, prospective applicants should make sure to keep abreast of new developments that may be of benefit to themselves and their unique skill sets.
 
Recent Changes to Quebec Immigration: A Summary

March, 2012

On 21 March 2012, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities (MICC) issued a statement outlining new policies for Permanent Residency (PR) immigration to Quebec through the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSW). These new policies took effect retroactively on 20 March 2012, and will dictate what applications Quebec will accept for the upcoming fiscal year, which stretches until 31 March 2013.Potential applicants to the QSW program are now divided into three groups based on their “areas of training”, or fields of study, as well as additional selection criteria. The groups are determined as follows:
Group 1
Applicants fall into Group 1 if they fulfill one or more of seven criteria. An unlimited number of applications from Group 1 will be accepted for processing by Quebec Immigration. The following individuals are eligible to apply:
1. Temporary workers currently residing in Quebec
2. Students who have obtained, or are about to obtain, a diploma awarded by a Quebec institution
3. Young people in Quebec on a youth exchange program subject to an international agreement, such as the Working Holiday Program, who are working full time in Quebec
4. Applicants residing in and submitting an application to Quebec who were formerly Canadian citizens
5. Applicants who have already been informed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) that they are admissible for PR processing.
6. Applicants, or their spouses, who hold a diploma awarded by a teaching institution in an area of training (field of study)which allows them to receive 12 or 16 points on the province's selection grid
• The diploma must be obtained less than five years before the date of application, or the applicant must have practiced in this field on a full-time basis for at least one of five years preceding the date of application.
• Areas of training may receive different points depending on whether the degree was obtained inside or outside of Quebec.
7. Applicants with a validated offer of employment from a Quebec employer
Group 2
A maximum number of 14,300 applications will be accepted between 21 March 2012 and 31 March 2013 in this category. Applicants will be classified into Group 2 if they fall under one of the following two situations:
1. Applicants, or their spouses, who hold a diploma awarded by a teaching institution in an area of training which allows them to receive 6 points under the province's selection grid may apply under Group 2.
• The diploma must be obtained less than five years before the date of application, or the applicant must have practiced in this field on a full-time basis for at least one of five years preceding the date of application.
• Areas of training may receive different points depending on whether the degree was obtained inside or outside of Quebec.
2. Applicants, or their spouses, who hold or are currently pursuing a Quebec diploma or the equivalent outside of Quebec. This could apply to holders of other Canadian diplomas, or individuals who hold foreign diplomas in a regulated trade or profession who have already received authorization to practice this trade in Quebec.
• As above, the diploma must be obtained less than five years before the date of application, or the applicant must have practiced in this field on a full-time basis for at least one of five years preceding the date of application.
Group 3
Potential applicants who do not fall under Groups 1 and 2 fall under Group 3. This year, no applications from Group 3 will be accepted for processing.
Processing fees for the primary applicant under the QSW will be raised on 1 April 2012 from $406 to $750.
Additional Changes
Additional changes have also been made to Quebec Business Class applications. For the Quebec Immigrant Investor program, a maximum of 2,700 applications will be received up until 31 March. For Quebec Entrepreneurs and Quebec Self-Employed candidates, a maximum of 215 will be accepted.
Quebec Government Rationale
The primary reason for enacting the above measures is so that Quebec immigration can reduce its current backlog of applications, and better serve those applicants who do get processed. In recent years, the number of applications has risen dramatically, from around 30,000 in 2008 to over 65,000 in 2011. Because of this huge increase, processing times have risen, and can now take more than 2 years for some categories of permanent residency. The Quebec government believes that taking such time to produce a decision on a subject that will so greatly affect the lives of applicants and their families must be addressed.
“I understand that Quebec is taking steps to better serve the needs of both the province and its future residents,” says Attorney David Cohen. “Given the new system, especially with regard to Group 2 applicants, I encourage those who are eligible and committed to immigrating to Quebec to submit quickly to ensure their place in the processing queue”.
The government hopes that by narrowing the selection criteria of the QSW program, the province will be able to more readily choose immigrants that will satisfy it's economic and labour market needs. It anticipates that it will be able to stabilize the amount of applications processed in the next three years to 50,000 a year, with the hope that a greater percentage of those reviewed will be admitted to the province in a timely manner, and that that refusals will be diminished.
It is important to note that these changes have been announced specifically for the upcoming year, and may or may not persist after March 2013. Regardless, it is crucial that potential immigrants to Quebec are aware of their possible changes in eligibility, and take steps accordingly to address any changes that arise on both the regional and federal levels.
 
Chop immigration in recessions: think-tank

By Peter O'Neil, Edmonton Journal April 5, 2012 3:02 AM

The decision of successive Canadian governments since the early 1990s to maintain high immigration flows during tough economic times has added to the poor performance of newcomers over the past 30 years, says a study released Wednesday.

"During recessions economic outcomes deteriorate more among recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born," wrote Arthur Sweetman and Garnett Picot in a paper published by the Institute for Research on Public Policy, a Montreal-based think-tank.

Reducing inflow in recessions would likely improve immigrants' overall performance and reduce the damage caused when newcomers to the labour market can't find work for lengthy periods and become disengaged from the labour force, they argue.

The IRPP proposal was one of many to improve the weak economic performance of immigrants relative to other Canadians over the past 30 years.

The authors did note some of these measures have already been initiated.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney agreed with the report's main thrust but didn't support sharply reducing immigration during recessions.

He added he's trying to balance demands from business, the provinces and opposition parties with critics who say immigration is too high.

He said "the findings confirm what I've been saying" about the struggles of recent immigrants.

Kenney has announced a number of initiatives to pro-mote selecting immigrants who meet the economy's needs.

"This is why - we need transformative change."

Canadian immigration flows once rose and fell based on Canada's economic performance, changing in the late 1980s under Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government.

That government's policy of bringing in roughly a quarter-million immigrants and refugees each year continued under subsequent Liberal governments and under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, despite the recession of 2008-09.

In 2007, when the economy was still robust, immigrants and refugees totalled 236,753.

That figure rose to 247,245 in 2008, 252,174 in 2009, 280,691 in 2010, and 248,660 in 2011.

Fraser Institute economist and former Reform MP Herb Grubel, a longtime critic of high immigration levels, said Canada's immigration policy is driven by politics.

He urged reducing immigration in times of recession and high unemployment, ending the buying of votes started by Prime Minister Mulroney in the 1980s.



Source: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/Chop+immigration+recessions+think+tank/6414063/story.html
 
Federal job bank would fast-track immigrants with right skills: Kenney


By Peter O'Neil, Postmedia News March 30, 2012


OTTAWA — The federal government plans to create a global job bank to bring in more skilled foreign workers, while using a new technique to end the "bizarre" situation where low-skilled temporary foreign workers are hired in Canadian communities with double-digit unemployment, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.


The job bank idea, modelled after New Zealand's immigration system, is a major departure that will take legislation and at least two years to implement, according to Kenney.


Every application from a prospective skilled foreign worker will go into an online pool, and provincial governments and employers will have the ability to cherry-pick potential employees who will have their applications fast-tracked.


"We'd essentially operate that as a huge, overseas federal job bank if you will," Kenney said of the proposal, which was mentioned in a single sentence in Thursday's budget and got little attention.


"If they get that job offer and if they're already among our qualified pool of candidates we'd bring them in at light speed, because we know they're set for success."


The proposal is part of a broader budget plan to meet the growing demand, especially in Western Canada's booming resource sector, for skilled workers.


While the federal government is anxious to bring in skilled foreign workers to boost the economy, Kenney said measures are also needed to deal with an anomaly in the huge temporary foreign worker program.


"We're bringing in, for example, Russians to work in a fish processing plant in Summerside, P.E.I., where there's double-digit unemployment. We're bringing in Romanians to work at the Ganong chocolate factory in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.


"We're bringing temporary foreign workers into Labrador, into the Saguenay, to work in the service industry in areas where there is double-digit unemployment."


Thursday's budget includes the promise of stricter provisions requiring employers to show they've made clear to local people making Employment Insurance benefit claims that there are jobs available.


"And then we're going to go to the local work population and say, 'look, the fish processing plant is hiring. Have you applied for that job?' And if they say no, we're going to say, 'well, look, you're not actually trying to get other employment'," Kenney said.


"We're basically going to try to put pressure on the folks who are collecting Employment Insurance in those areas to at least take the work that's available, so we don't have this bizarre situation where we're bringing in foreigners to do work in areas with double-digit unemployment."


Canada typically brings in roughly 250,000 immigrants and refugees each year, but the number of temporary foreign workers has risen due to labour shortage issues.


There were 190,769 in 2011, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, compared to 179,192 the previous year.
 
skogutem said:
Federal job bank would fast-track immigrants with right skills: Kenney


By Peter O'Neil, Postmedia News March 30, 2012


OTTAWA — The federal government plans to create a global job bank to bring in more skilled foreign workers, while using a new technique to end the "bizarre" situation where low-skilled temporary foreign workers are hired in Canadian communities with double-digit unemployment, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.


The job bank idea, modelled after New Zealand's immigration system, is a major departure that will take legislation and at least two years to implement, according to Kenney.


Every application from a prospective skilled foreign worker will go into an online pool, and provincial governments and employers will have the ability to cherry-pick potential employees who will have their applications fast-tracked.


"We'd essentially operate that as a huge, overseas federal job bank if you will," Kenney said of the proposal, which was mentioned in a single sentence in Thursday's budget and got little attention.


"If they get that job offer and if they're already among our qualified pool of candidates we'd bring them in at light speed, because we know they're set for success."


The proposal is part of a broader budget plan to meet the growing demand, especially in Western Canada's booming resource sector, for skilled workers.


While the federal government is anxious to bring in skilled foreign workers to boost the economy, Kenney said measures are also needed to deal with an anomaly in the huge temporary foreign worker program.


"We're bringing in, for example, Russians to work in a fish processing plant in Summerside, P.E.I., where there's double-digit unemployment. We're bringing in Romanians to work at the Ganong chocolate factory in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.


"We're bringing temporary foreign workers into Labrador, into the Saguenay, to work in the service industry in areas where there is double-digit unemployment."


Thursday's budget includes the promise of stricter provisions requiring employers to show they've made clear to local people making Employment Insurance benefit claims that there are jobs available.


"And then we're going to go to the local work population and say, 'look, the fish processing plant is hiring. Have you applied for that job?' And if they say no, we're going to say, 'well, look, you're not actually trying to get other employment'," Kenney said.


"We're basically going to try to put pressure on the folks who are collecting Employment Insurance in those areas to at least take the work that's available, so we don't have this bizarre situation where we're bringing in foreigners to do work in areas with double-digit unemployment."


Canada typically brings in roughly 250,000 immigrants and refugees each year, but the number of temporary foreign workers has risen due to labour shortage issues.


There were 190,769 in 2011, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, compared to 179,192 the previous year.

That does mean, unemployment would be the first challenge for all new migrants. It seems like they have higher rate of unemployment as USA and UK.
 
Government of Canada's Immigration Planning Story

CIC 2012 Permanent Resident Visa Targets – Economic Class
Updated January 1st, 2012

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/ips/economic.asp

Total Economic for new delhi: 8000 - PA
Total Non-Economic - 4000 - Spouses and Children

Operational targets are based on, but not the same as, admission targets. The following definitions may be helpful in understanding the differences.

CIC’s Annual Immigration Plan: Every year, CIC tables an immigration plan that outlines the number of permanent residents to be admitted in Canada.

Admissions: The total number of new permanent residents who actually arrive in Canada and become permanent residents within a given year. The immigration plan sets a range for expected admissions in the various immigration categories.

Operational targets: The number of visas that must be issued in order to have admissions fall within the range set in the immigration plan. This number is often higher than the admissions targets. The operational target takes into account the fact that not everyone who gets a visa decides to come to Canada. Another factor is the gap in time between when a person is issued a visa and when they move to Canada. This means that visas issued in one year may result in admissions the following year.
 
I just got to know that, NDVO's all the applications with In Process date is under third-party verification. This verification process should complete by your BFD date.

Source: NDVO Pre June applicant but not regi on this forum.
 
skogutem said:
I just got to know that, NDVO's all the applications with In Process date is under third-party verification. This verification process should complete by your BFD date.

Source: NDVO Pre June applicant but not regi on this forum.

Not right. Review is completed for so many pre june applicants. Only medicals and visa stamping is ahead.

CAIPS has revealed this for so many of us.
 
KDSTTL said:
Not right. Review is completed for so many pre june applicants. Only medicals and visa stamping is ahead.

CAIPS has revealed this for so many of us.

Do you mean they dont always call to our employer for verification and also reviewed means they did all the formalities? thats sounds great and positive to me.

God Bless,
Kavya
 
Agree with KDSTTL.
HIS Caips report stated that Visa officer is satisfied and requested ECU to issue medicals etc.

KDSTTL said:
Not right. Review is completed for so many pre june applicants. Only medicals and visa stamping is ahead.

CAIPS has revealed this for so many of us.