Category Archives: News

Immigration News

Changes Coming to Canada’s Citizenship Act

February 24, 2016 nkic

New immigrants to Canada may have an easier time qualifying for citizenship with changes coming in the next few weeks to Canada’s Citizenship Act, says Immigration Minister John McCallum in a recent CBC News interview.

“We are in general trying to reduce the barriers people have to overcome to become a citizen,” McCallum said in an interview on CBC News Network’s Power & Politics Thursday.

During the recent election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to repeal the Conservatives’ controversial bill C-24, also known as the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act. The bill, which became law last year, gave the government the power to remove Canadian citizenship from people convicted of terrorism, espionage or treason if they also held foreign citizenship.

But McCallum said the Liberal government has two main goals when it comes to making its changes to the Citizenship Act.

“We would make it impossible for the government to take away someone’s citizenship, and we would reduce the barriers currently in place that people have to overcome,” he said.

One of those barriers is a test to prove language proficiency in English or French. Bill C-24 expanded the age range for people required to take that test, to those aged 14 to 64 from a range of 18 to 54.

McCallum hinted the government is considering restoring the original age limit, among other changes.

“We could bring it back to [age] 54,” he said. “That’s an adjustment at the margin on the grounds that some older people coming to this country may not be fully proficient in English, although their children will be and their grandchildren certainly will be.”

“It’s one of the things we are potentially considering,” he added.

But McCallum made clear the government has no plans to scrap the language testing.

“I think you could call it tweaks to the system, and certainly not ditching the system.”

As for when Canadians can expect an announcement from the government, McCallum said to be on watch “in the coming days and weeks, but not very many weeks.”

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News, USA Immigration Programs

USA EB-5 Upcoming Price Increase Postponed Until September 2016

January 17, 2016 nkic

On Dec. 15, 2015, one day prior to the expiration of the EB-5 program on Dec. 16, House and Senate leadership have recommended that the EB-5 program be extended until Sept. 30, 2016. The language for extension will be included as part of the larger omnibus appropriations bill that is anticipated to be passed on Friday. This “clean extension” will mean that nothing to the program will change, such as minimum investment amounts, definitions for Targeted Employment Areas, or other reforms. All I-924, I-526, and I-829 petitions will continue to be accepted, processed, and adjudicated as normal, until a new reform bill is passed or until the program’s sunset on Sept. 30, 2016.

The EB-5 Investment Coalition, with the support of key members of the EB-5 industry, have worked tirelessly to advocate the EB-5 program and to recommend reform measures that will be beneficial to the greater EB-5 industry. Over the last year, five bills seeking to reform the EB-5 program have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, all proposing different measures for reform and improvement. When the EB-5 program was due to expire on Sept. 30, 2015, it was temporarily extended through a temporary government funding bill, a “continuing resolution,” until Dec. 11, 2015. In November 2015, a discussion draft produced by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees was widely circulated through the EB-5 industry, expanding upon S.1501, a Senate bill that was introduced in June 2015. Members of the EB-5 industry, including EB-5 IC, provided feedback and comments to the discussion draft, with the intent of making the EB-5 program workable while also advocating for strong integrity and enforcement measures. While negotiations were extensive and significant changes were agreed upon through the efforts of EB-5 IC and its partners, including the Real Estate Roundtable and the Chamber of Commerce, there were still many changes needed to make the bill workable. As it became clear that certain points of the discussion draft needed further negotiation, comment, and study, EB-5 IC and its partners, recognized the need for more time to work on different aspects of the bill, and sent a letter to the House and Senate leadership, requesting a one year extension with integrity measures.

As the deadline of Dec. 16 quickly approached, the House and Senate leadership recognized the need for more work on the bill as voices of the EB-5 industry were heard, and as a result, an extension of the EB-5 program until Sept. 30, 2016, will be included with the omnibus appropriations bill, along with the other expiring immigration programs (R-1 visas for religious workers, the Conrad 30 waiver program for J-1 medical workers, and the E-verify program.)

EB-5 IC Board Members Laura Foote Reiff and Jeff Campion recognize the equally tireless work of key Congressional leaders by stating: “We thank our champions in Congress; House and Senate Leadership and Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. We especially thank senators Cornyn, Flake, and Schumer, and congressman Pete Sessions – who ensured that our voices would be heard.”

The next 10 months will be critical in ensuring that members of the EB-5 industry work together with Congress to ensure that meaningful reforms take place that will protect all stakeholders of the industry. EB-5 IC will continue to work tirelessly with its partners to ensure that all interests are represented.

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News, Provincial Nominee Programs, Saskatchewan Immigration

Saskatchewan Reopens Express Entry Stream

January 17, 2016 nkic

The end-of-year rush on Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) Express Entry nominations being issued continues, with Saskatchewan having announced on December 16, 2015 that, effective immediately, 500 additional applications will be accepted under the ‘International Skilled Worker – Express Entry’ sub-category of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP).
Saskatchewan also announced a corresponding increase to the year’s application quota for this sub-category, from 2,500 to 3,000.

As this is an enhanced immigration stream, a successful nomination will result in applicants being awarded 600 points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) at a subsequent draw from the Express Entry pool.
The latest SINP announcement marks the second time this month, and fourth time this year, that the International Skilled Worker – Express Entry sub-category has opened. Each time this sub-category has opened it has also filled quickly. The previous intake period lasted just four days, and the current application intake is also expected to be filled quickly.

This sub-category is limited to candidates in the Express Entry pool who, in addition to meeting the requirements of a federal immigration program (Federal Skilled Worker Class, Federal Skilled Trades Class or Canadian Experience Class), must also satisfy the requirements of the SINP International Skilled Worker Express Entry sub category. This includes obtaining 60 points on Saskatchewan’s point assessment grid.

In addition, candidates must:

• demonstrate proficiency in either English or French; and
• have completed a minimum of one year of post-secondary education or training that has resulted in a degree, diploma, certificate, or a certificate equivalent to a trade certificate and which is comparable to the Canadian education system, as verified by an Educational Credential Assessment.
A potential candidate must also demonstrate a minimum level of work experience related to his or her field of education or training. This work experience may be either:
• at least one year of work experience in the past 10 years in a skilled profession (non-trades); or
• at least two years of work experience in a skilled trade in the past five years; or
• at least one year of skilled work experience in Canada in the past three years (trades and non-trades). This work experience must be in a high skilled occupation (NOC “0”, “A” or “B”) that is considered to be in-demand in Saskatchewan.
A complete list of in-demand occupations can be found at the end of this article.

The Application Process

Candidates eligible for and interested in applying to the Saskatchewan Express Entry sub-category should follow these steps:
1. Submit an online profile on CIC’s Express Entry immigration selection system and get accepted into the Express Entry pool.
2. Apply to the SINP for provincial nomination. Documents and all forms need to be attached to the SINP application. If approved for a nomination, the SINP will enter the details of the nomination into CIC’s Express Entry system and send a nomination letter to the candidate explaining the next steps.
3. After the SINP enters the nomination information into a candidate’s Express Entry profile, he or she will be awarded an additional 600 points for a nomination under the Express Entry Comprehensive Ranking System and receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence at a subsequent draw from the pool. From the moment a candidate receives an invitation to apply for permanent residence, he or she will have 60 days to submit an application for permanent residence.

End-of-year PNP Rush

At the 23rd Annual Immigration Law Summit held in November in Toronto, Ontario, a spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) stated that an increase in the CRS point requirement in order for candidates to receive an ITA was largely due to the fact that many provinces did not open their Express Entry Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams, through which successful candidates may obtain an additional 600 CRS points, until months after the system was launched. As a result, there has been a rush of PNP certificates being issued to proactive candidates in the Express Entry pool.

Another example of the end of year PNP Express Entry rush is Ontario. On November 24th Ontario announced that as a result of a glitch, candidates who were eligible for the Ontario Immigration Nominee Program (OINP) Express Entry streams should re-submit their Express Entry profiles in order to be visible to the province. Since then, Ontario has quickly invited some of these candidates to apply under its Express Entry PNP streams.

Both the SINP and OINP only issue nominations or notifications of interest to candidates who have a profile in the Express Entry pool.

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