Tag Archives: NKIC Newsletter – July 2015

The new EU Visa-Free Travel for Dominica and Grenada Citizens signed on 28 May, 2015 allows allows for short-stay visa waivers. Other countries included in the agreement are St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, the Republic of Vanuatu, the independent State of Samoa and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

On behalf of the EU, the agreements were signed by Ms. Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and by Mr. Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship. On the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) side, representatives from the 7 countries signed the agreements.

The new visa regime provides for visa-free travel for EU citizens when traveling to the territory of these countries and for citizens of these countries when traveling to the EU, for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period. “Today’s agreements will encourage people-to-people contacts, boost tourism, and invigorate business between the EU and these seven ACP countries”, said Ms. Zanda Kalniņa -Lukaševica, Parliamentary State Secretary for EU Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Latvia.

In order to benefit from visa-free travel, citizens from the EU and the signatory countries must be in possession of a valid ordinary, diplomatic, service/official or special passport. Visa-free travel applies to all categories of persons and for any kind of purposes of travel (for instance tourism, cultural visits, scientific activities, family visits, business etc.), except to persons traveling for the purpose of carrying out a paid activity.

The decisions on the conclusion of the agreements will now be sent to the European Parliament with a view to obtaining its consent before they can be concluded. However, they will apply on a provisional basis as from 28 May 2015.

Ireland and the United Kingdom will not be subject to the application of the agreement, in accordance with the protocols annexed to the EU treaties. The visa regime to these member states remains subject to their national legislation.

Please Contact Us for more information on the Commonwealth of Dominica and Grenada citizenship programs.

Canadian Immigration

New minimum age of eligibility of spouses and partners

July 4, 2015 nkic

The new minimum age of eligibility of spouses and partners in temporary and permanent Canadian immigration programs applications will help decrease the risk of early and forced marriage and may also serve as a disincentive for individuals under 18 to enter into marriages of convenience in order to obtain immigration status in Canada, as they will no longer be able to be sponsored as a spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner. It may also decrease the number of potentially vulnerable young spouses or partners immigrating to Canada who are unable to prevent an early or forced marriage from occurring because they have not yet reached full maturity or do not possess the ability to act in their own best interest.

The Regulations changes include:

5. For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered

(a) the spouse or common-law partner of a person if the foreign national is under the age of 18 years;

(b) the spouse of a person if

(i) the foreign national or the person was, at the time of their marriage, the spouse of another person, or

(ii) the person has lived separate and apart from the foreign national for at least one year and is the common-law partner of another person.

117. (9) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the family class by virtue of their relationship to a sponsor if

(a) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner and is under 18 years of age;

125. (1) A foreign national shall not be considered a member of the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class by virtue of their relationship to the sponsor if

(a) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse or common-law partner and is under 18 years of age;

These changes came into effect on June 10, 2015.

Please Contact Us for more information on theses changes.

Canadian Citizenship

Remaining Canadian Citizenship Act Reforms Came Into Force

July 4, 2015 nkic

The remaining Canadian Citizenship Act reforms came into force on June 11, 2015. New citizenship applications are expected to be finalized in a year or less, and it is expected that the backlog of older files will have been eliminated by the end of this fiscal year. Individuals who submitted a citizenship application before April 1, 2015 will have a decision by March 31, 2016.

Key changes include:

Adult applicants must now be physically present in Canada for at least 1,460 days (four years) during the six years before the date of their application, and they must be physically present in Canada for at least 183 days in each of four calendar years within the qualifying period. This is aimed at ensuring that citizenship applicants develop a strong attachment to Canada.
Applicants between the ages of 14 and 64 must meet basic knowledge and language requirements. This is aimed at ensuring that more new citizens are better prepared for life in Canada.
Citizenship will be automatically extended to additional “Lost Canadians” on June 11th, who were born before 1947, and did not become citizens on January 1, 1947 when the first Canadian Citizenship Act came into effect. This will also apply to their children born in the first generation outside Canada.
Adult applicants must declare their intent to reside in Canada once they become citizens and meet their personal income tax obligations in order to be eligible for citizenship.
To help improve program integrity, there are now stronger penalties for fraud and misrepresentation (to a maximum fine of $100,000 and/or up to five years in prison). This is aimed at deterring unscrupulous applicants who are prepared to misrepresent themselves, or advise others to do so.
The newly-designated Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC) is the new regulatory body for citizenship consultants. Only members of the ICCRC, lawyers or notaries (including paralegals and students at law) can be paid to provide citizenship applicants with representation or advice.
New application forms, aligned with the new rules for eligibility, will be available on the CIC website as of June 11, 2015. Any applications received using the old forms received after June 10, 2015 will be returned to the applicant.

Please Contact Us for more information regarding these changes.

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