The following is collected and archived by CND-Canada. If you have any questions regarding the following information/message, please contact the original sender(s) listed below. Thank You. China News Digest - Canadian Regional Services (Bo Xiong) --------------- Newsgroups: soc.culture.china From: bj593@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (David Shen) Subject: FAQ:IMMIGRATION TO CANADA Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Date: Sun, 9 Apr 1995 12:52:35 GMT Lines: 197 The following information is prepared by the members of Carleton Immigration Aid International for the general enquiry from the Chinese student community with regard to immigration to Canada. If you are interested in immigrating to Canada please read it for your reference. Otherwise ignore it. WHO MAY QUALIFY TO BE AN INDEPENDENT IMMIGRANT? A person with special occupational skills and experience may qualify as an independent immigrant. These skills must be readily transferable to the Canadian labour market. HOW DOES THE SELECTION SYSTEM WORK? All applicants are assessed according to the "selection system". Points are calculated based on the following: Factors Maximum Point age 10 occupation 10 arranged employment 10 demographic factor 10 specific vocational preparation 18 work experience 8 language ability 15 education 16 persona; suitability 10 close relative in Canada 5 An applicant should achieve a score of 70 points to qualify. WHAT ARE KEY AREAS TO A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION? There are four areas that are critical to an application. In fact, the lack of any of these areas can result in an automatic refusal. They are language, education, occupation and experience. Language: The lack of fluency in one of Canada's two official languages can prejudice an application and may result in a refusal. It follows, of course, that anyone who is doing a degree at a university in which English or French is an instruction language must obviously have a fair degree of fluency. Education: The lack of the equivalent of a grade 12 education results in a zero point assessment and may also result in a refusal. If you are in some capacity at a university, this is not an issue. Occupation: Your application for an immigration visa will be assessed mainly on your qualifications, skills and experience in the occupation you wish to have in Canada. You must have at least one year's experience in your occupation. Your occupation must be listed on the general Occupation List. All occupations are assessed against Canadian standards for that occupation. You should be aware that job titles in your country may not correspond to the same positions in Canada. The General Occupation List is updated regularly based on government estimates of how many workers are needed in various occupations. The numeric value(between 1 and 10 points) is a measure of level of demand. It is important to note that an occupation which appears on a current list may not appear on the next and vice versa - timing can be very important. There are 1127 occupations listed currently. Experience: You must have at least one year of experience closely related to your occupation. This need not be experience in Canada. Experience as a research assistant may be accepted if proposed in the right way. we have found that many visa officials can see this relationship. Please note that experience as a teaching assistant will not be accepted as it is not considered as "hands on " work. Time spent in a co-op program and volunteer work can be included as experience. The point is that Canada is not seeking to immigrate students. Canada is selecting intending workers. Workers must have had prior experience in that occupation, which will qualify them to accept employment upon issuance of an immigration visa. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY OF A VISA OFFICER? Immigration Regulation 11(3) gives Canadian visa officers the discretionary authority to refuse an application of a person who meets the 70 points assessment cutoff or approve an application made by a person who does not meet this cutoff point "if, in his opinion, there are good reasons why the number of units of assessment awarded do not reflect the chances of he particular immigrant and his dependents of becoming successfully established in Canada". Any number of reasons can lead to a discretionary approval or disapproval. For example, a person who meets 70 points but presented him/herself in a very poor fashion could be refused. This points to the importance of a good presentation, both in the written submission and at interview. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO OBTAIN A PERMANENT RESIDENCE VISA? Depending upon the time of year, the visa office in question and other factors, the processing time for an application for permanent residence filed under the independent category can vary from between 4 months and 12 months. This is the time generally needed to demonstrate sufficient transferrable skills to Canada; a clean bill of health for the applicant and accompanying dependents; sufficient assets to successfully establish the family in Canada; and a confirmation of no criminal inadmissibilities for the applicant and the overage accompanying dependents. DOES THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT LEVY PROCESSING FEES TO EVALUATE AN APPLICATION FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE? Applications for permanent residence MUST include the appropriate non-refundable processing fees. For a family comprising of the principal applicant, spouse and two underage dependent children, the fees would amount to Cnd$1200 or US$864. For a single applicant with no accompanying dependents, the fees would amount to Cnd$500 or US$360. WHAT IS "RIGHT OF LANDING" FEE? Effective February 28, 1995, the Canadian Government will charge adult immigrants Cnd$975 or US$700 for the "right of landing" in Canada. Unlike the processing fee, the new fee will be refundable if the applications are rejected. The fee also must be included in the applications. Under the new fee schedule, the total cost of a family of four (two adults, two children under 19) to immigrate to Canada is Cnd$3,150 (landing fee plus processing fee). The same family immigrating to the United States would pay $1,644, and $4,575 to immigrate to Australia. According to immigration officials, the cost is more than the U.S. fees because the Canadian government provides better services, including language training, settlement service, etc. DO THE CANADIAN IMMIGRATION REGULATIONS CHANGE FROM TIME TO TIME? Yes, they do. The fee skyrocketing is just the latest instance. Since a variety of polls have repeatedly shown that the Canadians increasingly press the Government to change the immigration policy, we predict that the next target might be the occupation list. MUST AN INDIVIDUAL RESIDE IN CANADA IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS? Under current legislation, a Canadian permanent resident should not remain outside of Canada for more than 183 days in any 12 month period. However in some cases, a Returning Resident Permit may be obtained from the Canadian authorities which would allow continuous absences for a certain period while permanent residence status is preserved. For example, individuals who wish to complete their studies or honour the terms and conditions of an existing employment contract may qualify for such a permit. This is a highly discretionary area of the regulations. CAN AN CANADIAN PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS LEAD TO CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP? As a general rule, individuals with three years of permanent resident status during the preceding four years can qualify for Canadian citizenship. IS A CANADIAN CITIZEN ENTITLED TO BECOME EMPLOYED IN THE UNITED STATES? Under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), citizens of Canada who fall within a particular professional designation, can qualify for a U.S. non-immigrant employment visa. This type of visa can be issued at a border INS office without the need to obtain prior approval from the local Department of Labor authorities. As well this type of one year renewable visa can ultimately lead to U.S. Green Card status. HOW TO APPLY: FIRST STEP If you intend to seek a legal aid in your application you are requested to send us your resume for free, initial evaluations to be determined if qualified. The resume should highlight your work experiences and educations. If you want to apply by yourself you may contact the nearest Canadian consulate for the application form. -- David Shen, ChIC, MA | Carleton Immigration Aid International Tel.(613)566-7042 | 99 Bank Street, Suite 600 Fax.(613)233-9527, (819)684-8835 | Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6B9 Email: bj593@freenet.carleton.ca | Canada