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) --------------- >From xiaolong@cs.sfu.ca Wed Mar 2 00:54:14 1994 To: FCSSCD-L@UALTAVM.BITNET Subject: Immigration to Canada(3) Hi, friends, this is the third release under the topic "Immigration to Canada". The main contents are application procedure. If you want to apply by yourself, the following procedure is for your reference. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Get a PAF(Pre-Application Form) from a Canadian Consulate. Fill in the form and mail it out. You will get an answer from them, waiting time will be several weeks or no answer at all, depends on how busy the consulate is. If the answer is positive, gene rally they will send you a set of formal application form and pertinent information. You should fill in the form and send it out with necessary documents ASAP. If it's negtive, it means you are not qualified this time and they will tell you reason. a. To my knowledge, only NY's answer has your points for each factor, so you have a rough idea about your qualification. Other consulates in US don't give your points, just answer. b. Some friends failed in the process, they got positive answer for the pre-application and after they presented the formal application, they got a rejection letter. It's hard to tell the reason, most probably they met a tough guy for the formal applic ation. 2. You can also ask for Formal Application Form directly and fill in the form, wait for the best time send them out. You need confidence and all the necessary information to do so. a. You have to know exactly how's your Occupation Point, Background fits or not, whether your background and experience will support your application, etc. Like, you have been in Education major for many years and now applying for a computer programmer (just an example), I don't think you will get it. 3. Once you got the interview notice after the Formal Application, that means you get PR with 99%(I can't say 100%, very few failed at the last stage). With the interview notice, some times earlier or later, you will also receive the Medical Examination F orm, you have to go to specific doctor or hospital(they are all over the world and in most cities in Canada) to take the medical exam. The result usually will be required to be mailed to the consulate directly or to Ottawa. a. Usually the interview is arranged 2-3 months later after you get the interview notice, according to different consulate. 4. For the interview, you will be required to bring all the original or certified documents and letters to the consulate. The immigration officer will check them and keep copies of them as archive, the original ones will be given back to you. Please don't ask me the interview details, it's different from person to person. 5. At the same time, the consulate will get a document called "Background Checkout", they investigate your background through their own channel, this is mainly for "Country Security", if you happend to be on their "Black List", probably you will not get i t. 6. There is a VERY few percentage of friends didn't go through interview and got the landing paper directly, they are lucky. 7. Once everything is ready(those needed documents), usually 1-4 month after interview, the consulate will send the Landing Paper(Immigrant Visa) to you, and you have to "land into Canada from another country" to become a Landed Immigrant of Canada(Perman ent Resident--PR). If you are more lucky(all the necessary documents are ready), you will get the landing paper at interview. For those already in Canada, usually they go to Canada-US border and come back just through the Custom. Usually you are required to land within 8 months after you get the landing paper, you can prepare your new life in Canada. Congratulations!!! a. Advantage: You don't need to spend extra money. b. Disadvantage: If your occupation is not highly needed in Canada or you don't have enough working experience(depends on different immigration officer) or other reasons, probably you will fail and miss the chance. If you want to make the application through a lawyer, the procedure usually is: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Find a lawyer that can help you make it. There are whole bunch of them can do this for you, but you just need one. If you have conditions, visit different lawyers and compare by yourself, do a "Comprehensive Estimation" and choose one. In Vancouver, th e charge is around Can$3500---$6000 for each case(single or family), some go up to $8000(for very tough case). (US$1.00==Can$1.35). 2. Once you select a lawyer, you will make a contract with him and pay the deposit(usually 20%--50% of the entire expense), then provide necessary information, they will arrange everything for you. The most important thing that they can do for you is: sel ect a "mostly matched occupation" for you to get the highest occupation point(Factor 4, 5), use their "Guan Xi" and knowledge to make your background and experience support this occupation(Factor 6, 7), also try to help you get more points at interview(Fa ctor 10). They will not cheat immigration officer(say you have an uncle to sponsor you but actually he's a fake, this is illegal), but they can get more points for you through those "Floating Factors"(this is legal). This is very important for those frie nds couldn't get it by themselves. 3. Waiting for the interview notice and do the same thing as above. The lawyer will arrange everything for you during the application and he will tell you what to say and how to answer the questions during the interview. You will not have any tough or tri ck problem. Congratulations!!! 4. Usually the money will be paid in 2-4 steps, if failed, some of the lawyers will return the money to you(100%), some will stop at the certain stage(return part of the money you have paid), and all these are listed on your contract with the lawyer. When they receive your case, they are sure they will make it. There are many lawyers in Vancouver and up to now I've never heard a lawyer just received deposit, told you failed and didn't return the money. a. Advantage: they can help you get PR. For my lawyer friend, he can gurantee to get it for you if he would like to accept your case. b. Disadvantage: You have to spend some money. But compared to what you get, maybe it's not very expensive. 5. Details of the "Agent - Client" are diversified from lawyer to lawyer and specific case. I don't know much about it. ================================================================================ I can answer some of your questions and my lawyer friend also would like to give you a free assessment. If you want to have an assessment, you can fill in the following questionnaire and send me back. If you are rejected after the FORMAL application, it's hard for the lawyer to help you. Everything is recorded and they can't help you unless your situation has changed(very similar to student visa application), or your spouse can be principal applicant. The immigration officer has to respect each others judgement and opinion, if you have been refused in NY, the officers in Detroit can't simply overthrow the decision by NY. =============================================================================== Thank you for your trust and encouragement. I got lots help from many friends(especially those around me) when preparing these packages, they shared lots of their experiences and information with me. I am trying to collect some new information to compile the fourth release. Thanks for all of you. Michael X. Li from Simon Fraser University ---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Questionnaire for Independent Immigration to Canada 1. Name 2. Current Address 3. Sex 4. Marital Status(important: where is your spouse now if applicable) 5. Citizenship 6. Date of Birth(just age is fine) 7. Place of Birth(country is fine) 8. Number of Children Name Occupation Age/Marital Status Where 9. Education Yrs. Completed Specialty Certificates/Degrees or Diploma Secondary Apprenticeship College/Univ. 10. Current Occupation(where, when started, employer, ...) 11. Work History From xxxx To xxxx Employer Name Job Title/Description 12. Language Ability Fluently Well With Difficulty None English ____ ____ _______ ____ French ____ ____ _______ ____ 13. Do you or your spouse have any relatives in Canada Name Relationship 14. Net Worth in Canadian Dollar(not necessary if you don't like this item) 15. Same information for your spouse(if applicable) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ *** Please give detail information about your Education and Work Experience background, they are important when judging which category you can fit in. *** Please don't list your awards and papers, they don't help much.