Category Archives: News

Immigration News

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada - IRCC, News

Canada Will Start Collecting Passport Exit Data

July 19, 2016 nkic

On June 15, 2016 the Canadian Government tabled for first reading Bill C-21, or as it is called, An Act to amend the Customs Act.

The Bill was introduced by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honorable Ralph Goodale. This procedure is to start the process for keeping track of passport information for all individuals exiting Canada. The Bill has to have two more readings and review by the House of Commons Committee before it will be sent to the Senate and then proclaimed into law.

Minister Goodale told reporters, “It’s nothing more or less than what you find on page two of your passport .And that is the full name, the nationality, the issuing authority and the gender of the traveller.”

The same information is already collected when people enter Canada. Many countries are collecting such data upon departure including the U.S. and the U.K.

Goodale also noted, “Having this data will allow us to better respond to amber alerts, for example, on missing children. It will help us deal with human trafficking, it will help us deal better with illegal travel by terrorist fighters, it will help (Minister of Immigration) John McCallum deal with immigration proceedings and visa applications, and it will help us ensure the integrity of Canadian social programs.”

It is proposed that when Individuals leave Canada by land, and enter the United States, American border officials will collect the data and send it back to Canadian officials. When leaving the country by air, airlines will provide passenger manifests to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). All information will be retained for 15 years.

The collection of data will also help monitor the residency of people attempting to dodge taxes, and stop people from illegally collecting government employment benefits while out of the country. The Canada Revenue Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada expect to save between $194 million and $319 million over five years once the system is fully implemented.

CBSA already stores data for almost all entries into Canada. This information is used for security purposes but also to monitor presence in Canada for individuals who are applying to renew their Permanent Residence Cards or making an Application for Canadian Citizenship.

Please Contact Us for more information.

Canadian Federal Immigration Program, News, NKIC Newsletter

Canada’s 2016 Immigration Levels Plan

June 21, 2016 nkic

Following the tabling of the 2015 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration on March 8, 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is pleased to release details on its 2016 Immigration Levels Plan. Canada will welcome between 280,000 and 305,000 (target 300,000) new permanent residents in 2016.

Immigration Category	Category	Low	High	Target
Economic	Federal Economic—High Skilled ^{Footnote 1}	54,000	59,000	58,400
	Federal Economic—Caregivers ^{Footnote 2}	20,000	22,000	22,000
	Federal Economic—Business ^{Footnote 3}	500	900	800
	Provincial Nominee Program	46,000	48,000	47,800
	Quebec Skilled Worker	25,500	27,000	26,200
	Quebec Business	5,200	5,500	5,400
	Economic Total	151,200	162,400	160,600
Family	Spouses, Partners and Children	57,000	62,000	60,000
	Parents and Grandparents	18,000	20,000	20,000
	Family Total	75,000	82,000	80,000
Refugees and Protected Persons	Protected Persons in Canada and Dependants Abroad	10,000	11,000	11,000
	Resettled Refugees	41,000	46,000	44,800
	Government-Assisted Refugees	24,000	25,000	24,600
	Blended Visa Office-Referred	2,000	3,000	2,400
	Privately Sponsored Refugees	15,000	18,000	17,800
	Protected Persons and Refugees Total	51,000	57,000	55,800
Humanitarian and Other ^{Footnote 4}	Humanitarian and Other	2,800	3,600	3,600
OVERALL		280,000	305,000	300,000

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Includes admissions in the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program and Canadian Experience Class. Admissions include applicants who applied prior to the launch of Express Entry on January 1, 2015 (i.e., applications on inventory), as well as those who made an application using Express Entry.

Levels targets and ranges have not been established for each individual program as almost half of admissions in 2016 are expected to come from Express Entry. This approach reflects the new ways federal economic immigrants are selected under the Express Entry system. The Express Entry system determines which programs foreign nationals qualify for based on the information they provide and awards them points under the Comprehensive Ranking System for their ability to successfully enter the Canadian work force (e.g. age, education, official language proficiency and work experience).

Footnote 2

Includes admissions in all three streams of the Caregiver Program: the Live-in Caregiver Program, the High Medical Needs pathway and the Caring for Children pathway.

Footnote 3

Includes admissions in the Self-Employed Persons Program, Start-up Visa Program and Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Program. This category also includes admissions resulting from a small number of applications in the Federal Immigrant Investor and Entrepreneur Programs, which were cancelled in 2015.

Footnote 4

Includes admissions of persons selected on humanitarian and compassionate grounds for reasons of public policy and in the Permit Holder Class.

Please Contact Us for more information.

Canadian Immigration, Family Class, News, NKIC Newsletter

Canada is Increasing the Number of Spousal Sponsorships

June 21, 2016 nkic

As part of its commitment to family reunification, the Government of Canada will grant permanent residence to more spouses, partners and dependent children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents this year. This will significantly reduce the backlog of existing applications and speed up processing times going forward.

Each year, the Government sets how many permanent residents Canada intends to admit through its various immigration categories during the year. This is done with the annual immigration levels plan. The plan for 2016 reflects the Government’s key priorities for immigration, which include bringing more families together.

This year, the Canada is increasing the number of spaces allowed for spouses, partners and dependent children by 14 000, bringing it up to 62 000 spaces.

Over the past few years, more people have applied to come to Canada in the spousal category than there was space for in previous immigration levels plans; this has created a backlog. This year, the Government will reduce this backlog.

Tackling the spousal backlog will ease the uncertainty faced by spouses and partners wanting to move forward and build their lives in Canada with their family and help them integrate into our communities and our economy.

Increasing the number of admission spaces for spouses and partners is one of the measures the Government has taken to support family reunification. Through Budget 2016, $25 million was also allocated to support faster and more predictable processing times for family sponsorship.

What this means for applicants

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has begun to work on reducing its current spousal sponsorship backlog.

Reducing the backlog means complete and straightforward spousal sponsorship applications will be finalized faster.

The backlog reduction applies to applications received through the family class (overseas processing) as well as the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (in-Canada processing).

All applications will continue to undergo the necessary screening to ensure that individuals do not pose a health, safety or security risk to Canadians and that the relationships are genuine.

If you have already submitted an application to sponsor your spouse or partner, IRCC may contact you to advise you if we need additional information to help process your application. You do not need to contact us, but please make sure your file is up to date.

If you are contacted, please respond to any communication you receive from us within the time frame provided in order to ensure that we can properly process your application. The success of our efforts relies on your cooperation.

If you have not yet submitted an application to sponsor your spouse or partner but plan to do so, the application will not be dealt with as part of our backlog reduction efforts, but it will be processed as quickly as possible.

IRCC’s work to reduce the backlog will eventually benefit all spousal applicants—whether they are already in the backlog or submitting a new application—by bringing down wait times for all.

Please Contact Us for more information.

Citizenship by Investment, Citizenship by Investment - Commomwealth Countries, News, NKIC Newsletter

Citizenship by Investment Updates

June 21, 2016 nkic

USA – EB-5 Program

Regulations are in process to change the EB-5 program on Sept. 30, 2016. After that time, the following changes are expected to occur:

(1) Investment levels are expected to change from $500,000 to $800,000 in Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs), and from $1M to $1.2M in non-TEAs.

(2) The definition of TEAs may change, meaning that urban areas could be re-classified as non-TEA and subject to the higher investment level.

(3) The I-526 filing fee is expected to increase from USD $1,500 to $3,675 (this could occur prior to Sept. 30).

The current $500,000 investment level will remain in effect for all applications filed with USCIS before September 30, 2016 (less than 5 months from now). We do not expect the current program to be extended again.

To lock-in cases under the existing pricing and program, it is highly recommended that you submit any pending EB-5 application right away, work with our team to complete the documentation requirements quickly, and encourage your clients to transfer their funds as soon as possible, so that their applications may be sent to USCIS prior to September 2016.

We are currently offering a very secure EB-5 project, which is already under construction (and will be completed in October 2016), and which greatly exceeds the job creation requirement (26 jobs created per investor, versus the required 10 jobs per investor). Please contact us for full details on this exciting new EB-5 project. Iranians are encouraged to apply.

Under EB-5, there is no language requirement, no age limit, and no management experience requirement. Applicants must have a net worth of minimum $1 million USD, and be able to document the source and path of funds for the investment and fees. There is no longer an OFAC requirement for Iranians, and refused Quebec and Canadian investor cases are welcome to apply to EB-5

Grenada – Citizenship by Investment Program

We are now offering a freehold real estate investment option, with a minimum purchase price of USD $350,000. This eco-sensitive development offers an attractive rate of return to investors, and a commission to agents. Please Contact Us for full details of this exciting investment option, and note that the cash option is also still available.

Grenada citizens are eligible to apply for USA E-2 temporary residence visas. The E-2 visa allows applicants to invest in a USA business and live in the USA while running that business for a period of 2 years (after which time the visa may be renewed in increments of 2 years, with no cap on the number of renewals). There are tax benefits to the E-2 visa, but note that it is not a path to permanent residency. Full details may be found on the USCIS website:

https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/e-2-treaty-investors

Citizens of Grenada may now travel visa-free to all the countries of the European Union and China. The Grenada program offers fast processing (2-3 months), and there is no residency, language, education, or interview requirement. There are no nationality restrictions under this program, so all nationalities may apply.

Antigua – Citizenship by Investment Program

Investment levels changed on May 1, 2016. Please find attached our updated Cost Calculator for details.

Antigua has recently announced that the ban on Iranians and Iraqis will be lifted. That is, Iranians and Iraqis will be eligible to apply, but must reside outside Iran or Iraq, and have earned their investment funds outside Iran or Iraq. We will keep you apprised once more details are released.

An Antigua passport allows visa-free travel to many countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, and Hong Kong. Confederation is currently offering an attractive real estate investment, in addition to the cash investment option. Please contact us to receive full details.

Dominica – Economic Citizenship Program

Dominica has lifted its ban on certain nationalities. That is, any nationality may now apply.

Investment levels are expected to increase in August, 2016. If you have any potential Dominica applicants, we highly recommend that you send their files to Confederation as soon as possible, to ensure they are processed at the current investment levels.

Citizens of Dominica may travel visa-free to all the countries of the European Union, Hong Kong, and the U.K. Dominica is a fast, efficient program, and offers both cash and real estate investment options.

St. Kitts – Citizenship by Investment Program

St. Kitts citizens may travel visa-free to all countries of the European Union, Hong Kong, and the U.K. The St. Kitts program offers both real estate and cash investment options, and there is no residency, language, or interview requirement.

Please Contact Us for more information.

NK Immigration Consultants

Category Archives: News

Canada Will Start Collecting Passport Exit Data

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