Immigroup Inc

2010-04-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

WORK OPPORTUNITIES IN CANADA

This month Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that the government of Canada is reviewing current work opportunities in Canada immigration procedures to ensure that they continue to meet Canada’s economic needs. The review will probably result in a change in the 38 occupations that are currently ‘open’ under the Federal Skilled Worker program.

In 2008 the Immigration Minister issued new instructions for processing Federal Skilled Worker applications. His goals were to speed up application processing times and to provide work opportunities in Canada which meet its immediate economic needs.

Under the 2008 instructions, an application is eligible for processing if the applicant:

1. Has at least one year of continuous full-time or equivalent paid work experience in the past 10 years in one of 38 qualifying occupations, which were been identified as the most in-demand occupations in Canada in 2008; or
2. Has been living in Canada with legal status as a Temporary Foreign Worker or an international student for at least one year; or
3. Qualifies for Arranged Employment with a full-time permanent job offer from a Canadian employer.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the instructions have reduced the work opportunities in Canada by almost 40 per cent. Presently, Kenney is consulting with federal and provincial government representatives to determine whether those 38 occupations are still highly in demand and whether new occupations need to be added or removed from the list.The final decision on skilled worker immigration will be published later this month.

Quebec immigration minister clamps down on unregulated immigration consultants

2010-02-22T06:28:00.000-08:00

Immigrating to Canada is no easy task; the mass of government application forms and vagueness on the required supporting documents has led many immigrants to engage the services of immigration lawyers and consultants. People immigrating to Quebec have found that it is better to hire an immigration consultant rather than undergo the immigration process themselves, but the Quebec government has started to clamp down on non-regulated consultants who in the past have extracted thousands of dollars to apply for all manner of visas to Canada.
It’s true that immigration agencies tend to be familiar with the application forms and because they process many applications a year they are well versed in Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) expectations on the type of supporting documents they want to see when they consider an immigrant application for a visa or residence in Canada. Nevertheless, Quebec Immigration Minister, Yolande James has decided that there is no room for error in the Quebec immigration process and has announced that the only people who can represent people on immigration to Quebec are notaries, lawyers and immigration consultants who belong to the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC) and these immigration consultants will have to pass an immigration examination as well as proving their fluency in French.
Quebec government will be tracking down phoney immigration consultants by asking immigrants to Quebec to reveal the details of the immigration consultant they used. The consultant will then be investigated for CSIC status and those who are not CSIC members will not be able to practice in the province. The move has been welcomed by CSIC and its subsidiary the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Migration Institute because of the many hundred immigration consultants operating in Quebec just over 150 are actually CSIC members.
For more information on immigrating to Quebec and other provinces in Canada contact licenced CSIC member Immigroup Inc.

Immigrant Olympians win the gold for Canada

2010-02-16T23:33:00.000-08:00

It is only the fourth day of the Olympic games and Canada has already won its first gold medal. Skier Alexandre Bilodeau really made us feel proud to be Canadian on Sunday evening!

Canada’s diversity has been long heralded on the world stage at the Olympic Games. Throughout our nation’s sport history, many grand athletes have come from other countries to live in and play for Canada. Throughout the years there have been many standout immigrant athletes who have won an Olympic gold medal for our nation.

One of them was Daniel Nestor, a Serbian immigrant who won the gold medal for Canada in 2000 Olympics. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Daniel Mark Nestor immigrated to Canada with his parents and before his 4th birthday in 1976 and settled in Toronto where he attended Northview Heights Secondary School due to a special sports program known as APGA (Academic program for gifted athletes). A strong tennis player, Nestor has 50 doubles titles, including a Tennis Masters Cup and four Grand Slam men’s doubles titles. Nestor holds the record for longest-played match in Wimbledon history, clocking in at exactly six hours and nine minutes. Along with his partner Sébastien Lareau, Nestor took the gold medal in men’s double tennis at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. Today, Nestor still plays tennis competitively at various matches held around the world.

Many immigrants, leaving less than ideal circumstances in their own countries, choose to come to Canada in search of a better life. If you too have a dream and you are considering coming to Canada to live it out, there is immigration help available.

Maya Kotcheva

Canada needs more businessmen to stimulate the economy

2010-02-10T05:52:00.000-08:00

This year, Canada plans to admit up to 265,000 new immigrants, but like every country looking to attract immigrants from far flung corners of the world has both skilled workers and investors at high on the immigration wish-list. Canada is no exception to this rule. Investors naturally bring money into the Canadian economy as well as providing some much needed goods and services and increased employment opportunities. Nevertheless, the global economic crisis has taken its toll on the number of business people applying for this type of immigrant visa and only 11,600 Business Class visas are expected to be given in 2010.

Canada immigration is still keen to bring in “fresh blood” – successful foreign entrepreneurs who have knowledge and access to other markets outside of Canada. Canada’s rigorous campaign to attract investors has resulted in this group of immigrants making up around 10% of the total immigration, market. To this end Canada has offices in several Canadian embassies, who are dedicated to serve the Business Class entrepreneur and investor. Specific target countries for the Business Class Programme are within Europe, France, UK and Germany (Paris, London and Bonn), USA (Buffalo), within Asia and the Middle East China (Beijing and Hong Kong), South Korea (Seoul), Singapore and Syria (Damascus).

The Federal Business Immigration Programme is divided into three distinct subgroups; Investor, Entrepreneur and Self Employment with each province applying its own criteria in order to attract a large slice of the business investor cake. Investors must have a proven track record in business and net assets of at least $800,000 and are prepared to make a business investment of $400,000 in Canada, which is akin to giving the Canadian government an interest free loan over five years. Entrepreneurs are classed as experienced business people with a net worth of $300,000 and can testify before an immigration officer that they will spend at least a year within the first three years of becoming a Canadian permanent resident controlling at least a third of a Canadian business, which qualifies for the programme and that they will create at least one full-time post, which can be filled by a Canadian citizen outside of the entrepreneurs family. Self employed persons must prove that they have business experience and will be able to do business in Canada and that they have sufficient funds to buy a business in Canada, where the applicant will work.

Furthermore, all applicants regardless of which subcategory they fall into are assessed in terms of their business experience, level of education, age, language ability (in either English or French) and their perceived ability to adapt to Canadian life. Points are allotted for each of these criteria and each applicant must achieve a minimum of 35 points. Business experience scores higher than any other category on the points list. Business applicants are permitted to bring immediate family (namely spouse and children) to Canada and do not need to file separately for them – they can include them as dependants as part of their visa application.

Canada offers a great new life with a sophisticated market, which welcomes new business. Business people interested in applying for a visa under the Federal Business Immigration Programme should check out this site .

Libby Andrews

Travel Documents for Permanent Residents Abroad – My Chinese Adventure

2010-01-21T00:39:00.000-08:00

Visiting China has always been on top of my priority travel destinations. I switched jobs recently and became close friends with a colleague of mine, Ni Quian, who was born in China and came to Toronto five years ago as a permanent resident. Last summer, when she told me that she was spending a month with her family in Luanping, and invited me to travel with her; I realized that this is the opportunity I have been looking for. So on July 17 we packed our bags and boarded a plane to Beijing.

To say that my stay in China was fascinating would be an understatement. I attended a wedding ceremony in one of the villages bear Luanping, of course the famous tea ceremony, then Ni took me to Xi’An – the ancient capital of China with its famous Buddhist temples. The last step of our trip around the country was the Great Wall of China incomparable to anything I have seen before.

Unfortunately, somewhere in between the multiple hotels and airports Ni lost her bag with all her documents and credit cards. We were supposed to go back to Toronto in a week, so the most pressing matter was to get a valid travel document to replace her lost permanent residence card.

Ni contacted the Canadian visa office in Beijing with a tale about her misfortune and was required to submit relevant documents, including proof for permanent residence in China. Now this was the problem – she had lost all her documents. Failing to report the loss to the police, she failed to provide a police document about the circumstances of the loss. The situation was very grave as Ni was risking her job in Toronto and her permanent residence status.

Luckily, this is a story with a happy ending. I called a few friends and they recommended a company which deals with providing Canadian travel documentation in cases where some important documents are missing or travel document application has been refused: http://www.immigroup.com/travel_document.php. Now we are safely back in Toronto and I am considering putting a picture of myself on the Great Wall of China as my desktop background.

Maya Kotcheva

Citizenship for Adopted Children of Canadian Parents

2010-01-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

Children can be a lot of hassle when you have them - they mess up the house, need to be fed and pampered and as a rule cost a lot of money. As humans we tend to take for granted everything that comes easily to us. However, for some families the road to having a baby is long and painful.

I have been friends with Sarah since high school. Five years ago she married Damian and they moved to Manitoba, bought a house and got ready to start a family. Now, five years later, they have tried everything- in vitro, donors – and it has not worked. Last summer my friends traveled to Romania for a tour of count Dracula’s and other ancient castles and were advised by the tour guide to adopt a Romanian child.

According to the Canadian law, children who have been adopted abroad can be brought the Canada under the Family class sponsorship program. There is a special provision in the law for them saying adopted children can apply for Canadian citizenship straight forward without applying for permanent residence first. At least one of the parents needs to be a Canadian and the child must be of any other nationality.

As with other sponsorship applications, parents need to be over the age of 18 and prove to the immigration authorities that they can support the child financially and provide him or her with a place to live. They have to fill in a sponsorship application for themselves and the child, pay the fees and mail it to the immigration authorities. After the application is approved, the child will be granted Canadian citizenship.

This Christmas I went to see my friends in Manitoba and their little Daciana. They had a big Christmas tree with a lot of presents for their new daughter under it. Over Christmas Day lunch we discussed the possibility of their adopting a baby boy next. If you think of adopting a child abroad and need help with the documentation and advice on how to save time and money, do not hesitate to contact the professionals: www.immigroup.com

Maya Kotcheva