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China News Digest - Canadian Regional Services (Bo Xiong ) --------------- Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 09:03:35 -0300 Reply-To: FCSSCN-L stands for FCSSC News Release Sender: FCSSCN-L stands for FCSSC News Release >From: Roland Xinlei Wang Subject: FCSSC News Release 6-49, Wednesday May 17, 1995 To: Multiple recipients of list FCSSCN-L Status: RO ******************************************************************** # FCSSC News Release 6-49 Wednesday, May 17, 1994 # # # # m"m D mm" "m" ""D mmmmmmm m"m m"m # # m" "m mmmDmmmm mmmmm D""" D D """D D D "D" "D" # # m" "m D D D D D""" m"m """D D"""D mDmD DmDm # # n" mmmmmmmmm "m D D D D D"""""""""""""D DmmmD mmmD Dmmm # # D D D D D " """""D" " D D D D D D # # mmmmDmmmm D D D D "D DmmmD"DmmD D D # # D m" m" DmmmD """""""D""""" "" D " D D"" # # mmmmmmDmmmmmm m" mm" " " "Md D m" D # # # # # # Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars in Canada # # # ******************************************************************** ( A Special Issue on Immigration to Canada ) Table of Contents ============================================================================= 1. A Letter from the Canadian Embassy in Beijing about Immigration to Canada 2. New Policies and Articles on Immigration to Canada ============================================================================= +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 1. A Letter from the Canadian Embassy in Beijing about Immigration to Canada +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 18:58:17 -0500 >From: "yuchen (y.c.) zhu" [Editor's Note: In message "Re: a letter from Canadian embassy in Beijing to Immigration visa" WANG Yueping ('auw250@dvinci.usask.ca') writes the following e-mail to Mr. ZHU Yuchen, FCSSC President.] Dear sir(s); I am one of those who are concerning the exit permision for foreign issued Canadian Immigration visa holders. Recently, I got a hard copy of a letter from Canadian embassy in Beijing to those who concern the Canadian immigra- tion visa issued in Canadian embassies outside of China. I'd like to send one copy of this letter to you as I learned that you are contacting Chinese embassy in Ottawa and the minister of Immigration and Citizenship Canada on behalf of those concerned. This letter may be of use to you. The hard copy of the letter can be FAXed to you upon request. Yueping Wang -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of saskatchewan, Room 279, Thorvaldson Building, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5C9, Canada. e-mail: auw250@dvinci.usask.ca Tel:(306) 966-4770(Lab), (306) 652-6819(Home) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PS: Full content of the letter from the embassy: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN EMBASSY Immigration Section 19 Dongzhimenwai DAjie, Chao Yang District Tel: (861) 532-3536 Beijing, People's Republic of China 100600 Fax: (861) 532-1684 Dear Sir/Madam, This is in reference to your recent enquiry concerning Canadian immigrant visa issued at a Canadian Visa Office outside the People's Republic of China. Please note that it is the responsibility of the holder of the immigrant visa to comp- ly with the exit regulations of the Chinese Government. Unfortunately, the Ca- nadian Embassy can not intervene on behalf of such individuals. Dependent family members (of individuals who have obtained permanent resident status in Canada) who cannot comply with Chinese exit regulations will have to be sponsored by their spouse/parent in Canada. This means that the spouse/ parent in Canada must complete an "Undertaking of Assistance" (a sponsorship) at a Canada Immigration Centre. Once our office is notified of an approved sponsorship, we will send the dependent family members in China the appropriate application forms and request any supporting documents that we may require. If the validity of their previous medical results has expired, new medical exami- nations will be required. In addition, the original immigrant visas will also need to be returned to this office before we begin to process the new applica- tions. Provided the dependent family members meet all immigration requirements in effect at the time of their new applications, immigrant visas will be issued to them as members of the Family Class. The place of issuance of these visas will be "Beijing" . Please note that we will endeavor to process all such applications as expedi- tiously as possible. Yours sincerely, (Signiture) for Counsellor, Immigration Section Canadian Embassy +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2. New Policies on Immigration to Canada +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Date: Mon, 15 May 95 12:24:31 EST >From: changming Yan <058194@acadvm1.uottawa.ca> [Editor's Note] It appears the Immigration Department of Canada is about to introduce a new sponsorship policy which requires sponsors post a bond or financial guarantee of $80,000 to $100,000 to sponsor a family immigrant. The money will be taken by the government if the sponsored immigrants ever go on welfare. This will be another major immigration policy change after the government introduced the much- critizised "landing fee" early in Feburury 1995. It is not clear, however, at this moment when this policy change wil become effective. Also, we are told that people from mainland China who hold a public- affair passport must change to a private one before they can apply for Canada's landed immigrant status. We forward the following two articles published on Ottawa Citizen on May 13, which discuss the possible immigration policy change. If you have any further questions or concerns, you are welcome to send them in to the FCSSC Immigration Center at the following email address: fcssc-imm@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca or contact us at Tel.fax: (819) 2469298 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2-1: Two Lengthy Articles on Immigration Issues ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) No Money, No Papers -- Pay-as-you-come immigration policy is racist, critics charge ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Written by: Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen staff writer Date: May 13 1995 More and more, admission to this country has its price. Canada has one the most generous immigration policies in the world. During the past decade, we have welcomed 1.9 million newcomers. Most were family members of people already here, or refugees fleeing persecution. But that humanitarian impulse is under assault. Increasingly, new Canadians will be chosen based on an assessment of what they can contribute to our economy. Immigrants are being asked to help pay their own way, and some will be prevented from drawing on our social system once they're here. Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi says the changes have been prompted by the need to cut the deficit and boost the economy. But the implications of this shift go well beyond the dollars saved. The debate is about who we let into Canada, and what the rights and reponsibilities of immigrants are once they arrive. Critics warn the changes will shut out people from poor countries and those allowed into the country for humanitarian reasons. "We're moving towards an elitist immigration policy," says Sharmini Peries, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. "It's moving away from a system where you'll be able to sponsor your family." Consider: - In the budget, the federal government introduced a $975 fee for a landed immigrant. That's on top of a $500 processing fee. The total of $1475 may be peanuts for business immigrants or skilled workers from western countries, but it represents a huge sum for people from Third World countries. - Within the nest few months, people in Canada who sponsor family members will be required to post a financial guarantee in the range of $8,000 to $10,000. If the sponsored immigrants end up on welfare, the government takes the money. - Marchi plans to increase the proportion of immigrants chosen for their skills. The proportion of family immigrants will shrink over the next five years. Underlying the discussion are issues of culture and race. Most immigrants are from the Third World, and many are visible minorities, It's not surprising, then, that critics are quick to catch a whiff of xenophobia surrounding the changes. The government says the new landing fee is needed to help pay for language training and other settlement costs for newcomers. "This policy is not on its face targeted toward any particular racial group," says Sharryn Aiken, a Toronto lawyer who volunteers for the Canadian Council for Refugees. "But its impact, without doubt, is racist to the extent that people who are disproportionately impacted by this measure are people from the South, and those people are disproportionately people of color." Marchi's policy changes are a direct response to growing anti-immigrant sentiment, argues Aiken. "There's an ill feeling and a public perception out there which is very anti-immigrant, and essentially racist, because now immigration is essentially from Third World countries." "Canadians are having a hard time adjusting to the changing demographics of the country." It doesn't matter that, in the long run, immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take out, are less likely to be on welfare than native-born Canadians. Polls show a majority of Canadians think we let in too many immigrants. Others fear immigrants are taking jobs, or worry about how newcomers from other cultures will blend into the mainstream of Canadian life. "There's little support left in this country for immigration," says Don DeVoretz, an economics professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver who advised the federal government on the economics of immigration policy, and edited a recent book on the subject. DeVoretz argues that the federal government has little choice. The only way to sell current high immigration levels is by increasing the number of immigrants selected for their skills, and by cracking down on any abuse of the social system, he says. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (2) Canada's immigration balance -- Liberals re-evaluate the price of admission ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Written by: Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen staff Date: May 13 1995 When Nehmetallah Nakouzi sponsored his parents in Lebanon to come live with him in Ottawa, he promised to take care of them for at least 10 years. But about a year and a half after his parents arrived, Nakouzi broke his agreement with Canada Immigration. He moved to New York City to study medicine, leaving his parents behind in Ottawa to survive on welfare. In the next few months, Canada's Immigration Department plans to introduce a program to help ensure governments don't end up on the hook when sponsors renege on their obligations. Sponsors will be required to post a bond or financial guarantee that federal government can cash if the sponsored immigrants go on welfare. It's part of a new, tougher attitude toward immigration aimed at reducing costs and wringing more economic benefit from the roughly 200,000 newcomers allowed into Canada each year. The federal government is taking a close look at who it lets into the country, and what they can do for Canada. The immigration balance is now tipped in favor of humanitarian programs that reunite families and offer haven to refugees, programs that will account for 57 percent of newcomers accepted this year. Immigration Minister Sergio Marchi wants to shift the scales, saying we need more young, highly skilled immigrants. By the turn of the century, the proportion of family-sponsored immigrants and refugees will shrink to 47 per cent of the total, with the remainder made up of immigrants selected for their skills or money. At the same time, the government is reducing the cost of immigration by levying fees and other charges. Over the long term, immigrants more than pay for themselves. They put more into the economy in taxes than they take out in public services such as welfare, pensions and health care. But in the first few years after they arrive, many immigrants require language courses and help adjusting. Such settlement programs will cost the federal government $271 million this year. The former Conservative government often talked a tough line on immigration. But in the late 1980s, they jacked up immigration levels and proportion of family-sponsored immigrants increased. Now it's the Liberals, long seen as the party sympathetic to ethnic voters and immigration issues, who are making changes. Critics warn the changes slam the door on family-sponsored immigrants and people from poor countries. They've accused the government of capitulating to anto-immigrant hysteria. Two new programs, the bond scheme and a new "right of landing" fee, illustrate how complicated and emotional the debate has become. THE BOND -------- In these cranky, anxious times, ideals about keeping families together compete with more hardnosed concerns. It may be crass to compare the economic benefit of a grandmother to that of a young engineer. But, given Canada's battered economy, some feel we should be doing just that. About half Canada's immigrants are sponsored. Most are parents, spouses, fiances, and children. Family-sponsored immigrants are evaluated for their skills,education, or ability to speak English or French. They are essentially allowed into the the country for humanitarian reasons. In return, sponsors agree to support them for up to 10 years. But a substantial minority of sponsored immigrants are not cared for as promised. A 1993 study of Metro Toronto found that 14 per cent of sponsored immigrants were on welfare. If those numbers are extrapolated across Canada, it represents about $684 million a year in welfare payments, according to the study done by the Immigration Department. Why did sponsors renege? Many fell victim to the recession. Some lost their jobs. In other case, the families split up or a battered wife left the home. "People make these agreements in good faith, they intend to take care of their family," says Sharmini Peries, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. Peries argues a 10-year sponsorship is "unreasonable" and a hardship on a family. There is also some abuse of sponsorship system. The Toronto study found that three per cent of sponsored immigrants went on welfare as soon as they arrived in Canada. Another nine per cent claimed welfare within three months, and fully one-quarter of sponsored immigrants were collecting welfare within a year of their arrival in Canada. The numbers suggest some sponsors had no intention of caring for their family, says Mildred Morton, spokeswoman for the Immigration Department. But Immigration helped create the problem because it has never enforced the sponsorship agreements. As a result, they carry about as much clout as a mortgage in which the homeowner knows the bank will never repossess the house even if payments are made. "There are some bad eggs," says Ottawa immigration lawyer Mike Bell. "Some people think they have the right to (go on welfare), they see others doing it, and figure why cant's they?" Immigration should send a message out by cracking down on a few sponsors who abuse the system, rather than penalizing everyone by requiring a bond, he argues. There are as many reasons for breakdown as there are sponsors. Georges and Laurice Nakouzi, for instance said their son Nehmetallah had a change of heart after sponsoring them Lebanon in 1990. Nehmetallah decided to leave Ottawa because he was frustrated by his menial job as a security guard, explained his father Georges, 75. Nehmetallah, 40, trained as a doctor in Italy, but his medical degree was not recognized in Canada. He left to join another brother in New York City who was studying to recertify as a doctor. "He was sad," says his mother Laurice, speaking through an interpreter. "He asked us not to worry. He said he was going to try to send us money but he could not. It was harder than he thought." Since their son left nearly four years ago, the couple has been on welfare. Nehmetallah, contacted at his home in Brooklyn, said he told Immigration officials in Ottawa he would be leaving to study in the United States, so he could no longer support his parents. "Immigration told me OK, no problem... they didn't consider it as a breakage (of the agreement)." However, the assistant manager of the Ottawa Immigration office said his staff would never tell sponsor such a thing. "We don't have the power to say 'we exonerate you of your responsibilities under the sponsorship," said David Olson. The Nakouzi parents are protective and proud of all five of their children, and don't complain that none is helping them out financially now. Besides the two two sons studying in New York City, they have a daughter in Italy who is a pharmacist, and a son in Lebanon who works as a hairdresser. Another son is a doctor in California, married to an American who is a surgeon. In Lebanon, the children would have felt a moral obligation to care for their parents, explained Laurice, 68. But North American culture is different. The couple gets by on $1,400 a month in welfare, with rent on their apartment eating up nearly half the cheque. "We wear used clothes," says Laurice. And that's the pity of many such situations -- the sponsored immigrants are the victims. There's not much they can do if relatives can't or won't support them. And, in Ontario, authorities deduct money from the social assistance cheques of sponsored immigrants -- a minimum of $100 a month, or more if the immigrant lives with the sponsor. The Ontario government says the deduction is based on the assumption the sponsor should be helping out. Deductions are not made if there is family violence or if the sponsor is on social assistance. The welfare deduction has angered a coalition of legal clinics and immigrant advocacy groups, who have filed a constitutional challenge. The Nakouzis are one of three examples cited in the court case. It's unfair to treat sponsored immigrants differently than other residents of Ontario who turn to welfare because they have no other means of support, says Raj Anand, the Toronto lawyer arguing the case. Sponsored immigrants are predominantly older, visible minorities, he says. "The government knew, or should have known, that they were targeting a group that was already subject to a backlash by the public -- they were an easy political target." Some question whether the sponsorship agreement itself is unfair. Should Nehmetallah Nakouzi, for instance, be prevented from attending school because he must support his parents, asks Avvy Go, director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. She wonders whether we would hold other Canadians to the same standard. Nakouzi's "mobility rights" to leave Canada are also being infringed if he must stay in Ottawa to care for his parents, Go suggests. The other side of the equation, of course, is the responsibilities of sponsors who signed an agreement. The proposed bond or financial guaranty is a reasonable way to ensure people honor their obligations, argues Immigration's Morton. Marchi has suggested the bond will be between $80,000 and $100,000. The bond is not intended to discourage sponsorship, says Morton. THE FEE ------- However, the proposed bond must be considered in tandem with a new $975 fee introduced in the federal budget for the right to become a landed immigrant. Together, the extra expense will make it harder for many families to sponsor relatives, predicts Don DeVoretz, a professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver who specializes in the economics of immigration. Consider the situation of Ottawa resident Jacques Murigamde, 28, a local musician whose stage name is the Mighty Popo. Murigamde and his sister Claudine, 32, recently sponsored five family members from Burundi: their parents, a sister, and a brother with his five-year-old son. Murigamde was worried about the safety of his family in the African country, which is boiling with the same ethnic tensions that led to the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people in neighboring Rwanda last year. If Jacques and his sister had been hit with the extra expense of a bond and landing fee of $975 for each adult, their family would not be safe with them today. As it was, they had to borrow money to help with airfare for the family, and local musicians held several benefits to help out. Now, they aren't sure how they will support the five extra family members from Burundi. "If you go look in my fridge right now, it's empty," says Jacques Murigamde. Like many sponsors, Jacques and Claudine are fairly recent immigrants still working to establish themselves. Since he applied to sponsor his family back in 1990, Jacques has been laid off from two full-time jobs as an electronic assembler, gone back to school, and is now trying to make a go of it as a full-time musician. He estimates he'll earn about $10,000 this year as a musician, although he's looking for a part-time job. Claudine, who worked as a security guard, is on maternity leave with a three-month-old baby. Until his sister and brother from Burundi learn English and find work, the family will probably have to ask for social assistance, he says. In future, poor families like the Murigamdes might not be allowed to sponsor relatives at all. Immigration plans to raise the income requirements, which now allow anyone over the poverty line to sponsor relatives. REFUGEES -------- The new landing fee will also be particularly difficult for refugees, because many arrive in Canada penniless. It's unfair to expect a refugee to learn English, find a job and ave up the landing fee within a few months of arriving in Canada, says Moy Tam, executive-director of the Ottawa-Carleton Immigrant Services Organization. Refugees have six months to apply for landed immigrant status. Immigration has made loans available for refugees who can't afford the fee, but they have to prove they can repay it. So far, half of the refugees to apply for the loan have been refused. Marchi argues the fee is reasonable, and has compared it to the cost of a color television. The government appears to have public opinion on its side, at least in Ontario. A survey conducted for the Immigration Department in March found most Ontarians supported the fee. The Insight Canada Research poll found that 52 per cent of respondents "strongly agreed" and another 27 per cent "somewhat agreed" immigrants should pay. But Marchi also might realize the political implications of the fee is British Columbia, says DeVoretz. For many people of Asian descent, it raises painful memories of the racist "head tax" charged Chinese immigrants in the early part of the century. "Out here, this is an election issue," says DeVoretz. In fact, critics across the country have dubbed the fee a "head tax," a comparison Marchi argues is unfair since the fee does not target any particular ethnic group. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2-2: Immigration Closes Door on Public Affairs Passport Holders ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [CND, 05/13/95] Ottawa -- Immigration Canada has recently reinforced instructions to its visa offices overseas that public affairs passports issued by the Chinese government would not be acceptible as identification documents when Chinese citizens apply for immigration visa to Canada, the Toronto-based World Journal reported. The decision will restrict applicants who hold a public affairs passport and mostly are on work missions or government sponsored study programs. In the past, public affairs passports were accepted as valid identification for immigration purpose by many overseas visa offices which did not enforce the instructions strictly. (DL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2-3: Few New Comers Qualified for Loans to Pay New Landing Fees ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [CND, 05/13/95] Ottawa -- Only three percent of the 18,000 immigrants and refugees have applied for government loan to pay for the new landing fee of $975, and only half were successful, Canadian Press reported. The rejections were mostly due to the financial status of the applicants. They could not prove that they were in need of such a loan. Others failed to complete the applications properly. (DL) [Words from Immigration Centre, FCSSC] We do not encourage the independent applicants to apply for the government loan to pay the "Right of Landing Fee". Because that will be considered by the immigration officers you can not surport you and your families financially as the "independent immigrants". +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Executive Editor: ZHU Ningsheng (zhu@acs.ucalgary.ca) | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This FCSSC NR is sent to 5,000--10,000 worldwide subscribers and readers. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | To sign on/off FCSSC public list, send a msg to the listserv address with | | command: "subscribe " or "unsubscribe " | | LIST NAME LISTSERV ADDRESS USED FOR | | fcsscN-l listserv@vm.ucs.ualberta.ca English News Release | | fcsscD-l listserv@vm.ucs.ualberta.ca Discussion and info exchange | | fhy-ps listserv@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca Chinese Magazine for printing | | fhy-gb listserv@cunews.carleton.ca CM jiantizi version for reading | | fhy-hz listserv@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca CM for on-line reading | | fhy-big5 listserv@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca CM fantizi version for reading | | Please send your technical request to: fcssc-cic@md.physics.uoguelph.ca | | send news contributions & comments to: fcssc-nr@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca | | send immigration related questions to: fcssc-imm@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca | | send questions on student services to: fcssc-service@uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca | | All issues of NR are on the ftp site: uwalpha.uwinnipeg.ca:/pub/fcssc/nr | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+