Inadmissible to Canada: Criminality Issues

Any person currently charged with or previously convicted of any criminal offence inside or outside of Canada may be inadmissible to Canada for visiting, working, studying or applying for permanent residence. Most visa applicants fail to understand that even minor offences such as some traffic violations may render them inadmissible to Canada. Examples of convictions that could make a person inadmissible to Canada include: drunken driving, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault, obstruction of justice.

If you are considered inadmissible to Canada because of a criminal conviction, there are still ways of coming to Canada.

The first one is Approval of Rehabilitation. If a person has been convicted of a criminal offence and more than five years have passed since the sentence, then that person is eligible for Approval of Rehabilitation. The candidate has to prove that they are not likely to commit an offence again.
One may apply for rehabilitation if five years have passed since the end of their sentence. Periods of probation are considered to be part of the sentence. If a person has been officially rehabilitated, they are no longer considered inadmissible to Canada.
The second way to overcome inadmissibility to Canada is to get a temporary resident permit. This application involves showing why it is necessary for the applicant to enter Canada and why he or she is not a risk to Canadian society. You must show why there is a compelling or urgent reasons for you to enter Canada. You will need to provide a criminal clearance certificate from the police authorities in all countries where you have resided at least six months since reaching the age of 18, including an FBI certificate for the United States and an RCMP certificate for Canada. A Temporary Resident Permit temporarily overcomes inadmissibility to Canada

Canadian Immigrant of 2010 Nominations

Girish Agrawal is senior executive consultant and financial advisor in Calgary, Alberta. His dedication to his profession as well as his desirte to share his knowledge and know-how with newly arrived immigrants got him a nomination for the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants in 2009. Today is the last they people can nominate any immigrant who they think has made a difference to the Canadian community for the Top 25 Canadian Immigrsants 2010. Nominations can be made by anyone by noon on February 1, 2010. After a panel of judges has made a preliminary screening, they will post the list of finalists in February and then it is up to Canadian people to vote online and choose the winner.

Who are the nominees? They could be successful entrepreneurs or a volunteers in the Canadian immigrant community, someone who has adapted well to the Canadian way of life through their own efforts and are trying to help fellow immigrants do the same.

Canada is a nation of immigrants. It is a cliché, but it is true. Many people come to this country as refugees from their native countries with no money, little luggage and limited language skills. The Top 25 Canadian Immigrants program is looking for people who have not given up when faced with difficulties like finding a job, an place to live and school for their children when they first arrived.

All last year nominees have something in common – a will to succeed. Almost all of them started wuth honing their English/French language skills – an absolute must and a first step into integration into the Canadian society. Many future successes have done odd jobs while learning the language – newspaper selling, waitressing, but they never regretted it because they understood it was a means to an end. Enrolling in professional qualification courses or investigating the local market to find a business niche is a typical second step for successful immigrants. From there, only the sky is the limit.

The most important message these awards are sending is: if they could make it, you can, too! There are many people who think about immigrating to Canada but they are unsure if they will be able to make a good life there. Well, if Girish Agrawal could, so can you. If you want to move to Canada but are unsure what the procedures are, contact CIC or an immigration consultation company for a quick start to you new life in Canada!

Maya Kotcheva

Alberta is a wonderful province, which takes in parts of the Rocky Mountains and the tranquil prairies of Western Canada. For ski and winter sports lovers it affords much - some of the world’s top winter sports resorts, namely Banff, Jasper and Calgary, are located in the province. Alberta is one of the fastest growing provinces in Canada and with its enormous oil reserves it affords much in the way of work particularly in its largest cities, Edmonton the capital and Calgary the largest city.

With a shortage of labour and an abundance of jobs, Alberta is trying to attract skilled immigrant workers who are currently working in the USA under the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Programme or AINP. The province has added two additional employment categories to the country’s General List of Occupations, which a skilled worker to Canada must belong to if they are to gain a work permit and permanent residence to Canada. The additional sectors focus on engineers and trades people, but the national list of 38 key occupations covers a diverse range of work including Sales, Marketing and Advertising Managers, Financial Auditors, Assessors and Valuers, Physicists, Biologists, Civil Engineers and Registered Nurses.

Anyone who fancies a permanent move to Alberta can apply for an H1B Work Visa providing they are currently working as a skilled worker in the States and have been doing so for the last year and so long as their occupation qualifies under the AINP Occupations Under Pressure List for the Strategic Recruitment Stream – U.S. Visa Holder Category.

You don’t have to have a job offer to come to Alberta but if you do it will expedite your application. Processing time takes around 8 months to a year but with Alberta’s fantastic scenery, affluent lifestyle and friendly people the wait is well worth it. Find out more about the H1B Visa to Canada at the Canada Immigration Law website

Missing Passports – An Unexpected Hurdle for Haitian Family Class Immigration

The federal government’s promise to fast track immigration applications from Haiti could be impossible to fulfill. The biggest obstacle is the requirement for a valid passport in order to process an immigration application. The earthquake of Jan 12 left many houses in ruins, and it is unlikely to expect that people will be able to produce their passports or any identity documents. However, without a proof of name, age, and family relationships it is very hard to process a family sponsorship application. Moreover, the immigration authorities need a passport to issue the visa in, and the passport with the visa is the legal means of entering Canada as an immigrant.

Many people think there is an easy solution to this problem. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act the immigration minister Kenney has the power to alter the requirements for immigration to Canada. It is within his powers to waive the requirement for a valid passport. However, according to Minister Kenney this will pose many problems.

Kenney has already agreed to waive the requirement for passport and medical examinations for a hundred Haitian orphans, who are to be adopted in Canada. At this point he is unwilling to do so for all Family Class emigrants for several reasons. The most important one of them is that lack of identity documents will make it difficult or impossible to perform a security and background check on a person. For this purpose a name and date of birth are essential. Canadian immigration authorities need to make sure that everybody who enters Canada does not present a health or security hazard to other Canadians.

Immigration lawyers, on the other hand, say that they can work around this requirement if the government will take an undertaking from Canadian citizens with good civil record why would testify who the prospective immigrant is and what the family relationship to the sponsor is.

While the government is mulling over this problem, it is strongly advisable for Canadians who have family members in Haiti to apply for sponsorship as soon as possible. They can apply ob their own or use representatives to make sure that applications are filled out correctly and all necessary documents are attached.

Maya Kotcheva

Haiti visa applications fast rack through Canada immigration

Canada is doing its bit to help those poor Haitians devastated by the shocking earthquake, which wrecked homes and took lives last week. As well as sending aid, the Canadian response is to fast track immigration applications to any Haitian directly affected by, the quake.

Many Haitians live in Canada already and any who want to bring their family members over are in a prime position to do so now. Any existing sponsorship applications as well as new ones will be expedited through the immigration system so long as they involve citizens from Haiti. Any outstanding adoption cases will also be given priority. Dependants accepted under the Family Class Programme would be parents, children, spouses and common-law partners and any family members who have been orphaned.

How effective this act of immigration charity will be is not easy to measure. Firstly the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince has been destroyed making it difficult if not impossible for those being sponsored to get their visa interview or to file documents. Of course Canada Immigration intends to open another office, but no date or plans are known as yet. Additionally, if your life has been wrecked by the earthquake are you really in a position to file forms and rush off to the immigration office?

Nevertheless, any citizens from Haiti who are currently resident in Canada should take advantage of the expedited service and apply to change resident status from permanent to obtaining Canada citizenship, or from extending their temporary status or changing it to permanent or residence status. Those Haiti citizens looking for a Canada work permit should also apply now. Canada immigration is waiving fees for certain applicants especially those who do not have work but wish to find some and need a work visa.

If you do have family members who have been affected by the disaster or indeed you are a Haitian in Canada wishing to upgrade or extends your stay here, the fastest and most efficient way to process a visa of any type is to use a private company like Canada Immigration Law who can ensure that all of the correct documents are sent with your application and that the application itself has been filled out accurately. When the swamp of Haitian immigration applications flood in, it will be those that are easy to process, which are prioritized first. For more information on immigration services to Canada visit Canada Immigration Law.

Libby Andrews

Earn Your Way to a Better Life in Canada

Many countries around the world have a wealth of highly skilled workers, but sadly salaries in those countries are pathetically low. This means that years of hard study to earn a medical or engineering degree or an IT diploma often yield a subsistence lifestyle. One way forward for professionals from poorer economies like India, Pakistan and Eastern Europe is to immigrate westwards where the higher standard of living is reflected in the size of the salaries given.

Canada is an excellent choice for any skilled worker looking to immigrate to a society with a high standard of living and an abundance of work. A low population coupled with a strong economy means that there are not enough people to fill the jobs available and to this end, the Canadian government has introduced a Federal Skilled Worker Visa in an attempt to attract foreign graduates and experienced professionals from other nations around the globe.

There are several ways that foreign professionals and qualified workers can move to Canada to work; There are several ways that foreign professionals and qualified workers can move to Canada to work; anyone with at least a years experience in one of the 38 key Canadian occupations is likely to be eligible as is a foreigner who is currently living in Canada on a temporary work permit or a student visa. Better still, anyone who can get a proven job offer before they apply for their visa is virtually guaranteed a new life here.Basically, each candidate must achieve 67 points based on a variety of selection criteria ranging from age to language ability. Canada wants its expanded workforce to be young and educated and to this end, applicants over 53 years of age do not score highly. The higher the educational qualifications the higher the points rank with those applicants with Masters Degrees or Doctorates receiving 25 points. Time served in the sense of work experience also counts highly with those people having over 4 years work experience in the same field receiving 21 points. A confirmed job offer in Canada wins a further 10. So a 37 year old university professor who spent 10 years working at the University of Delhi and has a job offer from the University of Toronto will most certainly get a Federal Skilled Worker visa. Nevertheless, it’s not just academics who are admitted to Canada on the Federal Skilled Worker visa; Canada desperately needs people qualified in the catering and hospitality business with Restaurant and Food Service Managers listed as a key profession along with Chefs, Cooks and Accommodation Service Managers. Canada also desperately needs workers to fill many gaps in its engineering, IT, Science and research posts.

The best way to determine whether you meet the correct requirements under the skilled worker visa ids to take a free immigration assessment at the Canada Immigration Law website

Good luck with your new life!

Libby Andrews

Sponsor Your Foreign Wife to Canada

With the growth of consumer society international travel becomes easier and more affordable every year, hence, one of people’s favourite pastimes. My friend Dan spent a summer vacation in Brazil and ever since that August has been raveling on about marrying the love of his life whom he met on the Copacabana beach. He was telling everybody who will listen how beautiful, feminine and family-oriented she is. Their wedding took place last February on the beach in Brazil.

Marriage and honeymoon abroad can be an exciting experience; however, they come to an abrupt end when you try to bring your wife back to Canada. Dan found out that the best way to go about is to sponsor his wife under the Family Class program. He found the process to be long and baffling. Dan had to fill out numerous application forms proving that he is able to provide his wife with a house to live in and support her. As an addition to paperwork, Alejandra had to undergo criminal check and a medical exam.

The most trying part of the process for them was when they had to prove to the Immigration authorities that the marriage was genuine. Dan is almost 40 and Alejandra is in her early twenties, so they were required to provide evidence that their relationship is real and they plan to live together in Canada. Dan shared with me that he had to print out all his emails to her, including the one containing the proposal, provide pictures of them together and answer the question if she likes tea or coffee in the morning. Alejandra was asked similar questions which were a real trial for her beginner English level.

I am sure the newlyweds never expected to be apart for the 9 months it took the immigration authorities to process their application and issue Alejandra an entrance visa to join him in Canada. Finally she flew in to Canada as a permanent resident. This happened just before Christmas, which they spent with his family in Manitoba. Dan’s wife turned out to be as sweet as he said she was. So my advice to everybody who wants to marry abroad is to plan ahead and be prepared for a long wait. There are companies which specialize in Canadian immigration and can help you shorten the process and help you throughout with documents and advice: http://www.canadaimmigrationlaw.net/