Tamil refugee welcoming

The 492 Tamil refugees arrived by boat and a clamour over bogus claimants flocking to Canada because it’s so easy to get in arose once again.

How about a few facts?

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says there is no upsurge in asylum seekers trying to get into the rich countries of the world.

Analyzing its exhaustive statistics, the UN agency says the numbers of asylum seekers remain stable and that while they did increase in some countries they fell precipitously in others.

Nineteen countries posted increases, 25 countries registered declines. But on average, little change.

Scandinavian countries got the largest number of asylum applications with 51,100 in 2009, an increase of 13 per cent over 2008, the highest upswing in six years.

However, refugee claims fell sharply in southern Europe, in some places, Italy, for example, by as much as 42 per cent.

How about Canada? This country, although commendably ranked third for its acceptance of refugees, saw the number of asylum seekers drop by 10 per cent, mostly due to declining claims from Haiti and Mexico. Germany, on the other hand, recorded a 25-percent increase and France 19 per cent.

Canada has a two-track system for assisting refugees.

Track 1 is a resettlement program for refugees seeking asylum from outside the country. These are often refugees who are safe but stranded in camps. About 20 countries accept 100,000 of these refugees a year and Canada takes 10,000 to 12,000, or about one in 10.

Track 2, the domestic asylum system, provides protection for refugees at risk of torture, cruel or unusual punishment in their homeland and who have fled directly to Canada. This number varies from year to year.

In 2009, about 34,000 such refugees came to Canada.

But to put this in perspective, there were 377,200 such refugees worldwide that year and 343,000 sought asylum in other countries.

Under the system, once a claim is made, a Canadian citizenship and immigration officer determines whether the asylum-seeker is eligible and, if so, refers that claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a decision. This is the process the present Tamil refugee claimants now undergo.

So they are being treated in exactly the same fashion as every other refugee.

Another complaint about the Tamil refugees is that they came to Canada and didn’t go to countries closer to their homeland.

But the UN refugee agency’s latest figures show that of the 146,098 refugees now identified as being from Sri Lanka, 126,955 did go to other countries.

In fact, 73,000 — about half — went to India. Tamil refugees seeking asylum are distributed across 57 countries.

So, there is no playing Canada for the patsy.

In fact, RSD Watch [for Refugee Status Determination], an American non-government agency that tracks these arcane statistics, says that based on 2007 numbers, Canada’s rate for recognizing refugee claims was lower than that for the UN High Commission on Refugees.

It says that while Canada’s RSD system is considered one of the best by refugee advocates, it granted recognition to 52 per cent, compared to a rate for the UN High Commission of 79 per cent.

Recognition rates vary according to need, however. Canada recognized 81 per cent of applicants from Afghanistan and 84 per cent from Iran.

The three highest rates were for three of the most dangerous regions on the planet, Somalia at 93 per cent, Eritrea at 94 per cent and Sri Lanka at 92 per cent.

Yet the Canadian Council for Refugees notes that only a small minority of refugees ever make it to the rich countries of the north. In fact, the humanitarian burden falls most heavily upon the poor.

In 2006, for example, Tanzania took in more refugees than Canada, France, Australia, the U.S., Germany, Spain and Japan combined. Canada took in 43,500 refugees in 2006 while Chad, Kenya, Thailand, Iran, Jordan and Syria each took in 250,000.

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Twenty-four hours after the fact, Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed the final head count after Monday’s mass court appearance by those charged in connection to the G20 summit protests.

In total, 304 people were on the docket at the Ontario Court of Justice facing charges ranging from mischief to obstructing a peace officer and possession of weapons.

By the time the dust had settled, 73 cases were either settled or dismissed.

Nine of the 73 were people listed in error. “For example, a person being named twice,” ministry spokesman Brenda Crawley wrote in an email.

Of the remaining 64, 22 people had their charges withdrawn through “diversion,” meaning they either made a small charitable donation or agreed to perform community service. Five people had their charges withdrawn after they agreed to sign peace bonds. Thirty-one people had their charges withdrawn or stayed — which means the Crown has a year in which it could opt to revive the charges. There were also six guilty pleas.

In all, 58 had their charges withdrawn or stayed.

The ministry did not respond to a request to provide a further breakdown of the charges.

Two hundred and twenty-seven people had their matters adjourned to dates from the end of August to mid-October. They include several people who are choosing to fight their charges after rejecting overtures by the prosecution.

In addition, four accused did not appear in court Monday and bench warrants were issued.

Toronto police and officers from other forces arrested more than 1,000 people connected to the G20 protests in late June. Many were detained in a makeshift detention centre but released without charges.

Critics say law enforcement, after letting vandals run amok, smashing windows and burning police cars, then became heavy-handed by needlessly charging non-violent protesters.

Three hundred people ultimately were charged with criminal offences, including 17 people the Crown alleges were ringleaders responsible for organizing the mayhem unleashed in downtown Toronto during the summit.

Last week in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Crown appealed the release of purported organizers Leah Henderson and Alex Hundert, alleged to have had roles in organizing the protests that caused thousands of dollars in property damage.

He reserved his decision until next month. Next week, Erik Lankin, who has been jailed since his arrest June 26, will seek to get out of custody. He was denied bail in July.

The trials for the remaining accused could be up to two years away.

VANCOUVER – Rally and march organized by No One is Illegal calling for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers and an end to racist and restrictive Canadian immigration policies. Similar events were held in Victoria and other communities across the country. From the No One is Illegal press release: Surviving a dangerous journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP.

Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation. Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of ‘illegals’, ‘terrorists’, and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable.

Well-known neo-Nazis, like Paul Fromm and the Aryan Guard, also known as the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back. This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.” No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement.

The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!

immigration minister Jason Kenney

New rules to strengthen Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program were announced today by the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Changes that were initially published in the Canada Gazette Part 1 on October 9, 2009 are now being implemented.

“The government is taking action to protect temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, from potential abuse and exploitation,” said Minister Jason Kenney. “We owe it to them, their employers and all Canadians to ensure that the program is fair and equitable. After all, they are an essential element of Canada’s economic success.”

“These changes represent an important step. Temporary foreign workers help the Canadian economy by filling labour needs  in sectors where Canadians or permanent residents are not readily available,” said Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. “Our government is taking action to improve the integrity of the program while ensuring that these people are afforded the necessary protections.”

Highlights of the changes, which come into effect on April 1, 2011, include:

• a more rigorous assessment of the genuineness of the job offer;
• a two-year prohibition from hiring temporary foreign workers for employers who fail to meet their commitments to workers with respect to wages, working conditions and occupation; and
• a limit on the length of time a temporary foreign worker may work in Canada before returning home.

Employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers, will now be assessed against past compliance with program requirements before authorization can be granted. Employers found to have violated worker rights may be refused authorization to hire a foreign worker.

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program helps address temporary labour shortages by allowing employers to hire foreign workers when sufficient numbers of Canadian workers are not readily available. Without access to temporary foreign labour, many small businesses would not be able to function and would be forced into insolvency.

Tamil Immigrants

Back in October, the decision was made almost instantly.

Minutes after a rusty cargo ship named Ocean Lady docked at Victoria, B.C., dozens of border services agents streamed into the vessel and escorted the 76 illegal Sri Lankan migrants off it.

Immediately deemed a potential security threat, they were taken to detention centres in Vancouver.

Now, less than a year later, all 76 migrants have been released and have since applied for asylum.

Most of them are living in Toronto. “I really believed that when the war ended, there would be peace,” said a Tamil farmer from near Jaffna, a city on the northern tip of Sri Lanka. “But Tamils are still being persecuted. If I hadn’t left, I would have been killed.”

The 34-year-old, who didn’t want his name to be used, said he’s a Tamil, not a terrorist.But differentiating between refugees and Tamil Tigers has always been a thorny issue.

The Tigers are the military arm of the Tamil separatist movement, which fought a bloody 26-year civil war with the Sri Lankan government forces before being defeated in May 2009. The organization is considered a terrorist group by many countries, including Canada.

Over the past three decades, thousands of refugees have come to Canada where most live peacefully. Some have joined the Tigers and have worked for the movement.

When the Ocean Lady landed, there were fears some migrants were Tigers. But community leaders point out that the 76 men have been investigated and “it’s been proved they have no ties to terrorists,” said Periathamby Casinadhen, who volunteers with the Canadian Tamil Congress.

Three men, who were on board the Ocean Lady and are now living in the Toronto area, spoke to the Star about why and how they fled the tiny island country.

They didn’t want their names to be published for fear of retaliation against their families, who are still in Sri Lanka. “When my family is here safe, you can take my photograph too,” said one man, who is in his 30s. He is from the eastern province in Sri Lanka and his work constantly brought him in conflict with the government. “Sometimes when I left the house for work, I didn’t think I would ever return.” (The Star can’t mention his profession or where he lived in because it would easily identify him and put his family’s safety in jeopardy.)

He was wearing a grey check shirt, dark blue jeans and was sitting at the Scarborough offices of the Canadian Tamil Congress. He always carries a pink plastic photo album — it has about two dozen photos of his wife and young daughter.

“I don’t know when I’ll see then again but at least they don’t have to worry about me getting killed.”

The three men the Star spoke to recounted atrocities against the Tamils by government forces.

“I’m not surprised,” said Todd Ross, who is with the Canadian Human Rights Voice, a non-profit group trying to raise awareness of human rights concerns in Sri Lanka. “Things have gotten out of hand in that country.”

He pointed out that the Canadian government has said it would like to reunite families. “But the problem is our visa officers have no access to north Sri Lanka, where most Tamils live,” he said. “So people are doing whatever they can to escape.”

It’s not easy though. A 33-year-old farmer, who was thrown into a camp after the rebels were defeated, says thousands of Tamils live within the confines of barbed wire and are watched over by armed soldiers.

A few days after he arrived at the camp, he says he was photographed — a sign of danger. “Some men had been photographed and taken away. . . no one saw them again.”

That night, he claims he paid a soldier to get fake travel IDs; the same soldier helped him escape. In three days, the farmer was in Colombo and then flew to Malaysia.

Then he was introduced to a “travel agent” who told him that he could get him “thousands of kilometres” away from Sri Lanka if he paid $45,000 (Cdn.). The farmer says he did and one night he and a dozen other men were packed into a dingy trawler and taken to a ship.

It was the Ocean Lady. All the Tamil migrants live with Toronto families, who have posted their bonds. They report to the Immigration and Refugee Board officials every week.

Some of them have got work permits but most are on welfare. “They don’t want to be a burden on Canadians. . . they are learning English and as they get their work permits, we are helping them find work,” said David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress. “That’s sounds fair to me.”

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Canada is calling You

So, why should you pick Canada for your higher studies? For several reasons, including the fact that the country has one of the world’s best education systems offering options for high-tech research across all levels of study
. A wide array of study

programmes.
. Value for money (vis-à-vis cost of education and living).

Option of permanent immigration: Canada created an immigration programme called the Canadian Experience Class, specifically for international graduates. This programme is meant to help those with Canadian degrees and/or work experience in a skilled trade or profession or technical occupation in Canada to immigrate permanently. For more details, visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website, www.cic.gc.ca.
. Sizeable Indian population with friendly people.
. Beautiful country, considered safe, with a good quality of life.

Indian numbers: The published figures for 2009 are not available. As for the previous year, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 3244 Indian students went to Canada in 2008, while their total population there that year was 7314

Programmes popular with Indian students: These include engineering (computer, electrical, mechanical etc), business (MBA and BBA), computer science and information technology, animation, arts (psychology, political science, international relations, sociology, gender studies etc).

Session commences: The university and college session begins in September. Some institutions have January intakes as well.

When to apply: Deadlines vary, but in general you should apply at least eight months before your desired programme commences. Check with individual institutions where you wish to study.

How to apply and to/ through whom: Most institutions and provinces now have an online application form. Application forms for most institutions can be downloaded directly from their websites. Some provinces have a common application form. For Ontario, the central point is the Ontario Universities’
Application Centre (www.ouac.on.ca) while for Alberta, it’s the Alberta Learning Information Service (http://alis.alberta.ca).

British Columbia has the Post-Secondary Application Service of BC (www.pas.bc.ca).

Deadlines for UG and PG programmes: For the fall (September) session, which has the biggest intake, the deadlines can be as early as December to March.

Popular courses like engineering and business get filled up quickly. If seats are available, colleges will accept applications till April-May.

What all is required in the application: Every Canadian institution has its own policy on entry requirements. Therefore, shortlist your target university and contact it for details.
Generally, the following are required.
. Completed application form
. Mark sheets [Class X, XI and XII (pre-Boards) in case of UG aspirants or college/university results for Master’s or doctorate contenders] attested by your
school/institute. If your school gives you grades for XII, include these as well.
. TOEFL or IELTS score (if the test has not yet been taken, indicate its date). Some institutions prefer to receive test scores directly from TOEFL or IELTS.
Most Canadian universities and colleges do not require the SAT score.
. GMAT scores (for MBA studies, if applicable).
. Statement of Purpose (SoP) or study plan.
. Recommendation letters.
. Full portfolio (for creative subjects like animation, performing arts and fashion studies).
Annual tuition fees: The annual tuition and student fees for colleges and universities is somewhere around C$8,000 to C$18,000.

Visit www.educationau-incanada.ca for more details, including study costs.

Pay up:
Groceries for one person: C$200 – C$300 (per month).
A dozen eggs: C$2-3.
A bag of rice (2 kg): C$2 to C$6.
One-way local bus fare: C$2.25.
Average restaurant meal: C$10 to C$25 per head.

Source: www.studyincanada.com.
Accommodation options: Available in most institutions. Room and dining costs may be around C$5,000 to C$10,000 a year. Private accommodation generally tends to be cheaper. The monthly rent for a one-room apartment can be C$500 to C$1100, depending on the city, according towww.studyincanada.com.

You may roughly need between C$15,000 and C$30,000 for your tuition and living expenses. Contact your chosen college/university for more information.
Scholarships/ financial support: A number of universities offer entrance scholarships based on candidates’ Class XII marks. Graduate students have several options, such as scholarships, bursaries, teaching or research assistantships, grants and fellowships. For more details, check outwww.scholarships.gc.ca.

Part-time jobs: An international student is allowed to work on campus (without a work permit), and off campus for up to 20 hours a week during terms and full time in scheduled breaks, provided s/he maintains “satisfactory academic results”, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. More details are given on (www.cic.gc.ca)

Student visa: Visa application forms and checklist are available through Abrams & Krochak Canadian Immigration Lawyers.
Job opportunities after graduation in the country: Canada’s Post-Graduation Work Permit Program allows international students
completing eligible programmes to work there for up to three years across Canada. The permit cannot be valid for more than the duration of your study programme.

Further details on http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work.asp.

Ship carrying Tamil migrants

Canadian Immigration Officials are monitoring a ship that may be headed to British Columbia. According to a Sri Lanka newspaper the ship is carrying Tamil migrants. According to the newspaper, the Colombo Observer, the ship is carrying 200 migrants, some of them Tamil Tigers.

The Colombo Observer reported that the ship was last spotted in May in the Gulf of Thailand.MV Sun Sea earlier known as Harin Panich 19, is captained by an LTTE Sea Tiger leader Vinod and manned by a 24-member crew. The Colombo Sunday Observer reports that the ship was heading towards Australia two weeks ago and the Sri Lankan Government tipped off the Australians. It also says that Canada is likely to admit the ships entry, but deny citizenship to those identified as LTTE.Just last October a ship that had crossed the Pacific Ocean and was intercepted in Canadian waters.

There were 76 Tamils aboard, which are now in the refugee system. Their claim was that Tamils were still being persecuted by the Sri Lankan government. Canada’s Immigration Minister, Jason Kenney, is trying to streamline the refugee process. Last year it announced VISA requirements for Mexicans and citizens of the Czech Republic due to bogus refugee claims. Refugee Claims are bogged down in bureaucracy with bogus claims, while real refugee claims are also held up. The governemnts new procedures are said to speed up those claims.

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Home Prices Rising

Stubbornly high unemployment rates got you down? Not sold on the economic recovery? Look no further than America’s polite neighbor to the north, where jobs numbers are surging and home prices have been rising steadily for nearly a year.

Last month, Canada, a nation with roughly one tenth of our population, created about 10,000 more new jobs than America.

Yes, Canada’s economic recovery is outpacing our own. In terms of sheer job creation, June saw Canada create jobs at a pace that was five times the rate predicted by economists, Bloomberg News reports. Canada added 93,200 jobs in June, while U.S. private employers added just 83,000.

Thanks to strong hiring in the service sector,Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 7.9 from 8.1 percent, while America’s unemployment ratecame in at 9.5 percent in June, falling only because of a large exodus of Americans looking for work. All told, the U.S. lost 125,000 jobs in June because of a wave of Census layoffs.

Real estate prices tell a similar story. After 10 straight monthly gains, Canadian home prices rose0.3 percent in May, reports Bloomberg News. In the States, things are somewhat bleaker. Many areas showed small home price gains in May, , but in many other areas prices remain close to their April 2009 lows, according to the latest data from the widely-watched S&P/Case-Shiller index.

Canadian real estate broker Royal LePage predicts Canada’s home prices could rise an average of 6.8 percent in 2010. Meanwhile, the IMF, though remaining relatively upbeat on the U.S. housing and job markets, warned that the foreclosure crisis could lead to a double-dip in home prices.

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Major Canadian Immigration Rule Changes

MAJOR CANADIAN IMMIGRATION RULE CHANGES

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced major changes to the Independent/Skilled Worker Class and to the Investor Category of the Business Class with no advance notice.

A.            INDEPENDENT/SKILLED WORKER CLASS

1.            Changes

a.            As of June 26, 2010, to be eligible to apply for Permanent Residence in Canada in the Independent/Skilled Worker Class, an applicant must:

• include the results of his/her official language proficiency test, AND
• have a valid offer of arranged employment, OR
• have one (1) year of continuous full-time paid work experience or two (2) years of continuous half-time paid work experience in at least one (1) of the following twenty-nine (29) occupations:

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture) – click on link for job description
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management – click on link for job description
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3111 Specialist Physicians
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 Registered Nurses
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

b.            A maximum of twenty thousand (20,000) Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing until July of next year. Within the twenty thousand (20,000) cap, a maximum of one thousand (1,000) Federal Skilled Worker Applications per eligible occupation (any one (1) of the twenty-nine (29) occupations that appears on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List) will be considered for processing until July of next year.

2.            What does this mean?

a.            Existing Clients of Abrams & Krochak

(i)            Application already filed

If you are already a client of Abrams & Krochak and your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada was filed with Citizenship and Immigration Canada BEFORE June 26, 2010, the changes to the eligibility requirements for the Independent/Skilled Worker Class do NOT apply to you.  Your Application will be processed in accordance with the eligibility requirements and General Occupations (Demand) List that existed from November 28, 2008 to June 25, 2010.

(ii)            Application not yet filed

If you are already a client of Abrams & Krochak and your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada was NOT filed with Citizenship and Immigration Canada BEFORE June 26, 2010, the changes to the eligibility requirements for the Independent/Skilled Worker Class DO apply to you.  Your Application will be processed in accordance with the new eligibility requirements and General Occupations (Demand) List that exist as of June 26, 2010.  Your eligibility MIGHT be affected.  If you ARE still eligible to apply, you should move to have your Application filed AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE before the quota for your particular occupation and/or the quota for the Independent/Skilled Worker Class is/are reached for the period of June 2010 to June 2011.  Please send an e-mail to info@akcanada.com to ascertain your eligibility status and/or the current status of your Application.

b.            Non-Clients of Abrams & Krochak

(i)            Eligibility already assessed

If you had your eligibility to immigrate to Canada in the Independent/Skilled Worker Class already favourably assessed by Abrams & Krochak and wish to have your eligibility re-assessed in accordance with the new eligibility requirements, please send an e-mail to askus@akcanada.com with your request.  You will receive your reassessment within one (1) business day.

If you had your eligibility to immigrate to Canada in the Independent/Skilled Worker Class already favourably reassessed by Abrams & Krochak OR you are certain that you meet the new eligibility requirements and you wish to apply for Permanent Residence in Canada as a Skilled Worker with our assistance, it is IMPERATIVE that you retain/engage our services AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE so that we can file your Application for Permanent Residence before the quota for your particular occupation and/or the quota for the Independent/Skilled Worker Class is/are reached.  Otherwise, you may have to wait until next year’s List is announced; however, should you do so, you run the risk that your particular occupation might no longer appear on that List, thereby rendering you ineligible to immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker.  If you no longer have instructions on how to retain/engage Abrams & Krochak’s services, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/resources/ind.cfm.

(ii)            Eligibility not yet assessed

If you are interested in immigrating to Canada as a skilled worker but you have not yet had your eligibility to do so assessed by Abrams & Krochak, we invite you to complete our Free Online Assessment Questionnaire at http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm.  You will receive your assessment within one (1) business day.

B.            INVESTOR CATEGORY OF THE BUSINESS CLASS

1.            Changes

The Government of Canada is proposing new eligibility criteria for the Immigrant Investor Program. These proposed regulatory changes would require new investors to have a personal net worth of 1.6 million CAD, up from 800,000 CAD, and make an investment of 800,000 CAD, up from 400,000 CAD.  As a result, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will temporarily stop accepting new Applications until the changes are finalized. Only Applications postmarked or received before June 26, 2010, will be accepted. This will prevent a flood of Applications before the new criteria take effect, which would stretch processing times even further.

2.            What does this mean?

a.            Existing Clients of Abrams & Krochak

(i)            Application already filed

If you are already a client of Abrams & Krochak and your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada was filed with Citizenship and Immigration Canada BEFORE June 26, 2010, any changes to the eligibility requirements for the Investor Category of the Business Class will NOT apply to you.  Your Application will be processed in accordance with the eligibility requirements that existed from November 28, 2008 to June 25, 2010.

(ii)            Application not yet filed

If you are already a client of Abrams & Krochak and your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada was NOT filed with Citizenship and Immigration Canada BEFORE June 26, 2010, any changes to the eligibility requirements for the Investor Category of the Business Class MIGHT apply to you.  Furthermore, you will be unable to file your Application with Citizenship and Immigration Canada until such time as the moratorium on new Investor Applications is lifted.  Current speculation is that the moratorium will not be lifted until the fall of 2010.

In the circumstances, you have one (1) of two (2) options:

1. You can wait until the moratorium is lifted and, if new eligibility requirements are enacted, see whether you meet them and then decide what to do.

OR

2. You can consider migrating to Canada NOW in the Entrepreneur Category of the Business Class, assuming you meet the eligibility criteria (click on the word “Entrepreneur” to learn about the eligibility criteria for this category).

Please send an e-mail to info@akcanada.com to ascertain your eligibility status and/or the current status of your Application.

b.            Non-Clients of Abrams & Krochak

(i)            Eligibility already assessed

If you already had your eligibility to immigrate to Canada in the Investor Category of the Business Class favourably assessed by Abrams & Krochak and wish to apply for Permanent Residence in Canada as an Investor with our assistance, you have one (1) of three (3) options:

1. If you wish to formally retain/engage our services (i.e. because you believe that you will meet the new eligibility criteria should they be enacted), you can do so; however, we would not be able to file your Application until such time as Citizenship and Immigration Canada lifts the moratorium on new Applications.  Current speculation is that this will occur in the fall of 2010.

2. You can contact our office, again, in the fall of 2010 for a reassessment of your eligibility to immigrate to Canada in the Investor Category of the Business Class in accordance with the eligibility criteria in existence at that time.

3. You can consider migrating to Canada NOW in the Entrepreneur Category of the Business Class, assuming you meet the eligibility criteria (click on the word “Entrepreneur” to learn about the eligibility criteria for this category).

If you no longer have instructions on how to retain/engage Abrams & Krochak’s services, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/resources/bus_inv.cfm.

(ii)            Eligibility not yet assessed

If you are interested in immigrating to Canada as an Investor but you have not yet had your eligibility to do so assessed by Abrams & Krochak, we invite you to revisit our website in the fall of 2010 (when there is more certainty as to the eligibility requirements for the Investor Category of the Business Class)  and complete our Free Online Assessment Questionnaire at http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm.  You will receive your assessment within one (1) business day.

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