Many people that I have spoken with over the years are under the misapprehension that as soon as someone marries a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, that confers special status on the foreign spouse. Marriage to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada confers no immediate status on anyone. Once married, it is necessary for the Canadian to apply to sponsor his/her spouse to become a Canadian citizen in order to obtain permanent resident status for the spouse. A permanent resident of Canada must be residing inside in Canada in order to commence the spousal application for Canadian immigration. The Canadian citizen may be residing abroad when the application to sponsor is filed as long as evidence of his/her intention to return to Canada is included with the application once the spouse’s visa has been issued.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.

In Ontario, employers wishing to employ foreign live-in caregivers are currently not required to advertise as there is no need to demonstrate to HRSDC that the employer is unable to find a suitable employee from within Canada before submitting the application to HRSDC. Once the signed offer of employment with a signature of acceptance from the employee is obtained, the application can be submitted to HRSDC for review. Once the offer of employment is confirmed by HRSDC, the foreign live-in caregiver may apply for a work permit at the visa office responsible for his/her country of citizenship. After working in Canada for two years as a live-in caregiver, an application for permanent residence can be submitted from within Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.

If ever there was a reason not to delay applying for Permanent Residence in Canada in the Independent / Skilled Worker Class, here is a convincing one: there is a report that all immigrants applying to come to Canada as skilled workers could soon be forced to take a test to show they are proficient in English or French. Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials say the proposed immigration measure would make the process of immigrants proving they can fluently speak one of Canada’s official languages more transparent, the Toronto Star reported.

Current immigration policy allows immigrants who claim to speak either English or French to bypass such tests through a simple letter although, in most instances, formal language testing is still required by Immigration officials.

The proposed tests will even apply to those who grew up speaking English or French.

Translated, this means that an applicant from England who grew up speaking English or an applicant from France who grew up speaking French will have to sit for the test as well.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.

On April 21, 2008, The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, announced changes to work permits for international students who graduate from eligible programs at certain Canadian post-secondary institutions, making it easier to attract foreign students to immigrate to Canada.

Effective immediately, and for the first time, these international students would be able to obtain an open work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, with no restrictions on the type of employment and no requirement for a job offer. In addition, the duration of the work permit has been extended to three years across the country. Previously, Canadian immigration work permits for international students only allowed them to work for one or two years, depending on location.

Immigrating to Canada? Visit www.akcanada.com for more information or a free assessment.