The Canadian Immigrant Investor Program supports the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act objective “to support the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions of Canada” by attracting experienced business people and their economic resources to Canada.  Candidates for the Immigrant Investor Program must demonstrate business experience and, prior to June 26, 2010, a Personal Net Worth of $800,000 CDN and make an “investment” of $400,000 CDN in the Canadian economy in the form of a five-year, zero-interest loan to the Government of Canada, which is fully refunded after the five-year period.

On June 26, 2010, the Government of Canada imposed a moratorium on new Investor Applications.  Now, it has been announced that the moratorium will be lifted on December 1, 2010.  As of December 1, 2010, the Government of Canada will once again accept Investor Applications; however, the Personal Net Worth and investment amounts have been doubled.  Applicants must have a Personal Net Worth of $1.6 million CDN and they must make an investment of $800,000 CDN in the form of a five-year, zero-interest loan to the Government of Canada, which is fully refunded after the five-year period.

Why was this done?  According to the Government, thresholds for Personal Net Worth and investment amounts, specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, had remained unchanged since 1999 and were outdated. The relative impact of a $400,000 “investment” CDN on economic development in 2010 compared to a decade earlier, along with changing client profiles, international competitiveness, and increased provincial/territorial participation in the program, underscored the need for updated Personal Net Worth and investment amounts to reflect today’s global wealth.

What does this mean to you?

If your eligibility to immigrate to Canada as an Investor was favourably assessed by Abrams & Krochak and you did not file your Application for Permanent Residence in Canada before the moratorium on new Applications was imposed and you meet the $1.6 million CDN Personal Net Worth requirement, you can now proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans.  Should you wish to engage our services, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/resources/bus_inv.cfm.  We can have your entire Application package prepared and ready for filing on or after December 1, 2010 so that you do not lose valuable time.

If you do not know whether you meet the eligibility requirements for the Investor category of the Business Class but are interested, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm and choose “Business” from the drop-down menu for a free assessment of your eligibility within one business day.

If you applied for Permanent Residence in Canada as an Investor before the moratorium on new Applications was imposed, these changes do NOT affect you.

On Saturday, June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced major changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Class with no advance notice. Unless an applicant has arranged employment, he/she must now have at least 1 year of continuous full-time paid work experience or 2 years of continuous half-time paid work experience in at least 1 of 29 occupations to even be eligible to apply.  Citizenship and Immigration Canada also imposed a quota.  A maximum of 20,000 Federal Skilled Worker applications will be considered for processing until July of 2011 AND within the 20,000 cap, a maximum of 1,000 applications will be accepted per eligible occupation (i.e. any 1 of the 29 occupations that appears on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List).

On Monday, November 1, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada released approximate figures as to how many Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of that date and…of those…how many were received in each of the 29 eligible occupations.

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, approximately 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications were received as of November 1, 2010.  The maximum for the category is 20,000.  Of the 3,309 Federal Skilled Worker applications received, the breakdown, according to eligible occupation, is as follows:

Applications received toward the overall cap: 3,309 of 20,000 as of November 1, 2010

Applications received per eligible occupation

(by National Occupational Classification [NOC] code) Number of Complete Applications Received*

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers  134
0811 Primary Production Managers (except Agriculture)  32
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management 1,000 (No Longer Available – Quota Reached)
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners  45
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists 158
2151 Architects 181
3111 Specialist Physicians  138
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians   167
3113 Dentists 208
3131 Pharmacists   284
3142 Physiotherapists    57
3152 Registered Nurses  461
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists 11
3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists   4
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses  21
4151 Psychologists   37
4152 Social Workers   95
6241 Chefs 17
6242 Cooks  48
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades 26
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades  58
7241 Electricians (except Industrial and Power System)  34
7242 Industrial Electricians  40
7251 Plumbers  8
7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators 10
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics  14
7371 Crane Operators  0
7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction   2
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service   19

*The number of complete Federal Skilled Worker applications received as of November 1, 2010, is approximate.

NOTE: Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only. There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

What does this mean?  It means several things.

1.      Canada is still accepting skilled workers and has not yet met its 20,000 quota for the category.

2.      If your work experience is in occupation 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management (whose quota has been reached), you must either find another occupation on Canada’s General Occupations (Demand) List in which you have a minimum of one (1) year of paid full-time work experience within the past ten (10) years to satisfy eligibility requirements OR you must wait until the new General Occupations (Demand) List is released on July 1, 2011 to see whether 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management is still on the list OR obtain Arranged Employment.

3.      If your work experience is in an occupation in which many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3152 Registered Nurses), you should proceed with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans as soon as possible and move quickly to file your completed Application package before the quota for your occupation is filled.

4.      If your work experience is in an occupation in which not many applicants have already applied (i.e. 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists/3222 Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists), that is not a reason to delay or defer your proposed Canadian Immigration plans to a later date.  The overall quota for the Federal Skilled Worker category is 20,000.  Once that number is met, no further applications will be accepted, regardless of whether your particular occupation has met its own 1,000 applicant quota or not.

*Because application intake fluctuates, these figures are meant as a guide only.  There is no guarantee that an application sent in now will fall within the cap.

If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have any questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to info@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak but had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker favourably assessed by the firm and you have questions, regarding this information, please send your questions, in the form of an e-mail, to askus@akcanada.com

If you are not yet a client of Abrams & Krochak and have not yet had your eligibility to migrate to Canada as a Federal Skilled Worker assessed by the firm, but you wish to receive such an assessment, please visit http://www.akcanada.com/assessment.cfm

We look forward to representing you and to seeing you soon in Canada.

OTTAWA – Canada’s immigration minister is travelling to Australia to see what can be learned about dealing with boatloads of illegal immigrants and refugee claimants.

Jason Kenney is currently on a 10-day trip through India, China and the Philippines to deal with the issue of overseas immigration fraud.

On a conference call with reporters on Thursday he announced that he would add a trip to the Australian capital of Canberra.

In addition to meeting with Australian officials, Kenney will also tour a detention centre for passengers on migrant boats.

Australia adopted a policy of processing these boats on remote Pacific islands back in 2001, a year that saw more than 5,000 people arrive by sea claiming refugee status.

The policy was discontinued in 2007 but brought back after more than 60 boats landed in 2009. The issue was a major factor in the Australian election last month that saw the Labour Party lose several seats and only hang onto power with the help of independents.

In addition to visiting Australia, Kenney announced that former CSIS director Ward Elcock has been asked to review the human smuggling situation.

The former spymaster will travel to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Australia to see what can be done to prevent more boats from heading to Canada.

Officials at the foreign affairs department say they are already working with other countries to prevent a repeat of the MV Sun Sea, which carried about 500 Tamil asylum seekers when it arrived in British Columbia last month.

The government acknowledges that more boats are likely but will not confirm rumours regarding how many. Estimates range from one ship to five heading to Canada over the next few months.

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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