Citizenship And Immigration

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: Some call it clich while others call it irrefutable fact: our country has been and will continue to be built by immigrants. From economic prosperity to social harmony, the well-being of Canada and its people are intrinsically linked to both our immigration policy and the way immigrants are treated in this country, according to The Star. Where we stand on immigration is a reflection of who we are as a nation and Citizenship and Immigration Canada CIC is currently consulting the public on Canadas future immigration plan. Very few Canadians know about this, and even fewer may participate. Given the consultation design and the questions posed by CIC, perhaps that should not be a surprise. Yet immigration is forever a subject of polarized debate. On the one hand, with the aging population and ever declining birth rate, many Canadians economists and demographers among them are calling for a significant increase in immigration intakes. On the other side of the debate are those including some newcomers arguing for a decline or even a complete halt of immigration in light of current unemployment rates and the persistent underutilization of immigrants talents and skills. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: A statement released Thursday from Citizenship and Immigration Canada says the federal government remains committed to helping new Canadians fully integrate into the economy, and it will assume direct management of settlement programs in B.C. in April, according to Huffington Post. B.C.'s Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk says the federal government gave the province $22 million a year for ESL training under the Canada-BC Immigration Agreement, and of that money his ministry received about $17 million and VICTORIA - Citizenship and Immigration Canada says federal English-as-a-second-language programs for new British Columbians will continue despite the provincial government's concerns about funding changes. The statement also says Citizenship and Immigration Canada has been working with the B.C. government to ensure there will be no service interruptions during the transition. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Canadian Citizenship Dept: The Citizenship and Immigration Canada office in Sydney, N.S., handles citizenship applications for the entire country, according to CBC. "Citizenship and Immigration as a department has a fixed amount of resources and we're facing increasing applications in all of our program areas." Immigrants are having to wait 15 to 19 months to have Canadian citizenship applications approved as the office that handles the applications struggles with increased demand. 'I don't think this is a good way of welcoming our fellow Canadian citizens-to-be.' Edward Chung, Korean Association of P.E.I. "Really it's just a question of enough resources to process all the applications we receive," CIC operations manager Paul Snow told News last week. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship And Immigration Dept: Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show the government will issue about 11,000 visas this year to parents and grandparents of Canadian residents, down from more than 16,000 last year. Tom Hanson/Canadian Press Among the hardest hit by the lower immigration targets will be parents and grandparents seeking to join their children in Canada, according to numbers obtained from the Citizenship and Immigration Department through the Access to Information Act, according to CBC. Richard Kurland, the Vancouver-based immigration lawyer who filed the access-to-information request, said he is surprised the government has decided to grant fewer visas to parents and grandparents, considering how the Conservatives have courted new Canadians as voters and new figures indicate the federal government hopes to reduce overall immigration next year by five per cent, mainly by cutting back on family reunification visas. The figures indicate the government will issue about 11,000 family reunification visas for parents and grandparents overseas, down from more than 16,000 last year. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship and Immigration Canada: TORONTO - Citizenship and Immigration Canada is reviewing its files to determine if there is evidence of applicants obtaining their citizenship fraudulently. , according to Winnipeg Free Press. The Mounties allege copies of the tests were used so that clients of a citizenship consultant could gain citizenship without meeting the proper requirements. Judge Philip Gaynor is pictured in 2008, in a CIC photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Citizenship and Immigration Canada This follows fraud and theft charges being laid against a former citizenship judge for allegedly passing copies of citizenship exams to a Toronto-area immigration consultant. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: On Tuesday, Citizenship and Immigration Canada retracted a statement from Alexander that said the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council had banned Selliah for unethical behaviour. , according to CBC. But the complaint against the Toronto-based immigration consultant was actually resolved without any finding of wrongdoing or fault, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Negendra Selliah, a n immigration consultant, says federal Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has damaged his reputation after wrongfully accusing him of fraud. "Our government will not tolerate immigration fraud and we applaud the for taking action," Alexander said last Thursday. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration Levels Dept: While holding immigration levels steady for 2012, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said in his annual report he plans to rejig the selection criteria for skilled immigrants, giving preference to those who are young, fluent in English/French and have Canadian work and education credentials, according to The Star. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is committed to move toward more efficient and effective processing, stronger program integrity and improved client service, Kenney said in his 2011 report, tabled in the House of Commons late Tuesday and the federal government is planning to further restrict immigration from overseas by favouring temporary migrants who are already studying and working in Canada. The government will also continue to beef up its border enforcement by implementing the Temporary Resident Biometrics Project. By 2013, selected foreigners will be required to provide biometrics, such as fingerprints, when they apply for visas to study and work to Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship And Immigration Canada Dept: Gyula Kolompar, of Coquitlam, was released Tuesday in Vancouver by Immigration and Refugee Board member Leeann King. King said the ministry didn't provide enough evidence that the man was a flight risk, despite allegedly fleeing B.C. for Ontario last year after he and three family members were charged with running a Lower Mainland mail theft ring, according to CBC. At a detention hearing Tuesday, Citizenship and Immigration Canada officer Kevin Boothroyd argued the 47-year-old Hungarian refugee is unlikely to appear for an admissibility hearing scheduled next month and an admitted B.C. fraudster has been released from federal custody despite Citizenship and Immigration Canada concerns that he would flee before a hearing to determine if he can remain in the country. Kolompar pleaded guilty last week to four counts of fraud in connection with the operation, which cashed cheques from stolen mail. His wife and son have also been found guilty, and his brother is in immigration custody. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration Policy Dept: Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney originally announced the program to assist Afghans who face extraordinary personal risk because of their support to Canada s mission in Kandahar, according to The Star. By the end of May, only 25 of 114 applicants had been approved to move to Canada by a committee made up of officials from the departments of National Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Development and Immigration and Citizenship and kANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN Ottawa s promised fast-track immigration policy for Afghan translators has left many interpreters stuck in ting blocks and fearing for their lives. Kenney said he expected a few hundred successful applicants to qualify by the time the mission and the program ends in 2011. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship and Immigration Canada: In a Star op-ed last week, immigrant advocates Debbie Douglas and Avvy Yao-Yao Go argued that the public consultation being conducted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada CIC is deeply flawed. CICs online background paper and survey questions, they claim, have an overwhelmingly economic slant designed to produce responses favouring economic-class immigrants at the expense of family-class ones and refugees. Therefore, the authors urge, Canadians should weigh in on the consultation in order to ensure a full range of perspectives not just economic ones shape CICs plans for Canadas future, according to The Star. For Canada as a country to succeed, we need immigrants of all backgrounds and skills to come here to build a permanent home. For immigrants to succeed, they need to have a sense of belonging that only comes about when their entire families are integrated into Canadian society and What if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it? Thats an entertaining stumper. But what if immigration activists make an argument and no one grasps it? Thats something more serious and its a very real worry raised by current attempts to question the direction that Canadas immigration policy is taking. As for the nature of these non-economic perspectives, Douglas and Go assume them to be fairly self-evident. Immigration policy has multi-purpose roles captured by the concept of nation-building, they assert, adding: there is more to Canada than our GDP index or the size of our treasury. In line with that logic, they believe, a sound notion of national success goes well beyond economic statistics: (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Department Of Citizenship And Immigration Dept: “It certainly strikes me as ridiculous and a bit ludicrous,” Dr. Landreth said. “The irony of someone who’s immigrating to Canada to teach English being asked to take an English test is probably not lost on most people.”, according to Globe And Mail. Dr. Landreth, 30, has a tenure-track position at the University of Ottawa, where she has worked for the last year on a temporary permit. She is American by birth and moved to Canada after finishing her PhD at New York University. Her husband, James Brooke-Smith, a British citizen who also holds a PhD in English literature, has been working as a lecturer in Ottawa and will also have to take the test and she has a PhD in English literature. She has been hired to teach English literature to Canada’s budding scholars. Yet her application for immigration will not be processed unless she submits to a $280 English language test, thanks to a ministerial instruction signed by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last month. It might seem no more than a bureaucratic hassle, but critics say the decision runs roughshod over immigration law, which states that applicants don’t have to write the test if they can provide other evidence, in writing, of their proficiency in an official language. In response, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration said that in the past, written submissions had to be evaluated by immigration officers; an independently administered test will help prevent fraud and ensure a fair and transparent method of evaluation, a spokeswoman said. As reported in the news.
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Immigration Lawyer Dept: "There definitely was some exploitation of foreign workers," says Ackah. "Underlying all of these regulatory changes for the foreign worker program is that we recognize . . . that we are an aging population and that foreign workers -skilled and lower-skilled -are going to be key to our future growth.", according to Calgary Herald. "The policies, especially in Alberta, that had been developed during the boom were seen as negatively impacting Canadians and permanent residents of Canada, so they wanted to slow down the tide of foreign workers and focus on taking care of Canadians first," she says. "The motivation is correct." The rules governing temporary foreign workers are set to change April 1 when new regulations take effect that will change the way companies hire everybody from oilpatch workers to live-in caregivers. Labour shortages lead to complications whenever they occur, says Evelyn Ackah, a business immigration lawyer in Calgary. Employers who don't adhere to the new regulation could be "blackballed" on a Citizenship and Immigration Canada website that will be established and banned from using temporary foreign workers for two years. Other changes to the system could further comprise an employer's international reputation and its ability to use these workers, says Ackah. As reported in the news.
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Federal Immigration Dept: Inter-Cultural Neighbourhood Social Services was shut down in 2009 after the federal immigration department terminated the agency s $5-million annual funding for language, employment and referral services to newcomers in Mississauga and Brampton, according to The Star. In September, the immigration department filed a statement of defence, claiming the agency had a history of financial irregularities, reporting inconsistencies and questionable financial practices. The defendants said the funding was cut for those reasons and an Ontario court has ordered Citizenship and Immigration Canada to substantiate allegations of financial irregularities when it cancelled funding to a Peel immigrant service agency. The agency is suing the government and two federal employees, as well as five former agency employees who allegedly complained to CIC about the organization s operations. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship And Immigration Office Dept: In June, the CIC immigration offices in Charlottetown, Saint John and Moncton closed. After the federal budget was delivered the Citizenship and Immigration Office in Charlottetown was left one half-time employee who does not work directly with the public, according to CBC. "I recently spoke with the other MP offices and they are experiencing the same thing," he stated and charlottetown MP Sean Casey, and other members of parliament, are speaking out over Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the lack of support for immigrants on the Island. Charlottetown MP Sean Casey says he has seen an increase in the number of people looking for help with immigration concerns over the past three months. In a press release posted on Casey's website Thursday he said he has seen an increase in the number of people looking for help over the past three months. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship And Immigration Dept: The charges against 57-year-old Hassan Al-Awaid were filed after an investigation by the RCMP that was referred by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to The Star. He also faces nine charges of false representation under the Citizenship Act and hALIFAX The RCMP have laid 53 charges against an immigration counsellor in Halifax, alleging he fraudulently helped a number of people obtain permanent resident status and Canadian citizenship. Al-Awaid faces 22 charges of counselling misrepresentation and 22 charges of misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship And Immigration Dept: The fax, a copy of which was obtained by News, was sent to Markham MP John McCallum from the Mississauga case processing centre of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and appears to be in response to an application by an immigrant to sponsor a parent to come to Canada, according to CBC. Late Thursday, a senior government source told News that the Department of Citizenship and Immigration is still processing family reunification visa applications. The source said the fax was sent in error and that the processing of family reunification visas has not been frozen and liberal Leader Bob Rae demanded answers about Canada's family reunification visa policy in question period Thursday, after a government fax was sent to a Liberal MP's office suggesting a freeze on parental sponsorships. The fax states: "As we are not currently processing any parental sponsorships at this time new or returned cases , this case will be finalized once we get the go-ahead from management to start working on parental sponsorships again." As reported in the news.
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Immigrant Class Dept: The number of foreigners admitted under the Canadian Experience Class program is expected to rise to 7,000 in 2012 from 2,545 in 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced Wednesday. It is currently the Department of Citizenship and Immigration s fastest-growing immigration program, according to Globe and Mail. We should pick the best and brightest and seek to attract them in what is increasingly a global marketplace for human capital, he said and this type of economic immigrant class, unveiled three years ago, was the first new avenue to obtaining a permanent residency card in decades. The initiative is perhaps Canada s most hard-nosed effort to place a premium on newcomers whom Ottawa believes fit best into Canada s economy, removing obstacles for a class of immigrants that Mr. Kenney calls the most likely to succeed. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Immigration Program Dept: A contingent of Canadian military and civilian officials said International Management Services, or IMS, told interpreters that their immigration papers were being considered even though not every application was, according to CBC. They submitted the report in March after spending three weeks in Kandahar reviewing applications under a special immigration program and a company that supplies Afghan translators for Canada's mission in Kandahar may have mistakenly raised the interpreters' hopes of emigrating to Canada, according to a newly released document. The officials noted the finding in a report to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. As reported in the news.
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Citizenship and Immigration Canada: Source: Passport Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to CTV and - Some facts about diplomatic and special passports: Diplomatic passports are issued to high-ranking government officials, diplomats and representatives, and delegates of the Canadian government to international governmental organizations or conferences of a diplomatic nature. Special passports are issued to people holding office, such as members of Parliament, senators or members of provincial cabinets, and to people employed by the federal government in a non-diplomatic capacity who are travelling on an official mission or to a post abroad. A special or diplomatic passport confirms one identity and role as an official of the government of Canada. However, only those accredited to a foreign country have diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic and special passports have been issued as ePassports, which include a biometric security chip, since 2009. Passport Canada has issued more than 50,000 of these electronic diplomatic and special passports. The Citizenship and Immigration minister may authorize issuance of a diplomatic passport to: The Governor General, prime minister, Supreme Court judges, cabinet members, lieutenant governors, Speakers of Parliament, Opposition leaders, deputy ministers; Ambassadors, ministers, high commissioners, officers of diplomatic rank, attaches, trade commissioners and consular officers serving the Canadian government abroad; Representatives and delegates of the Canadian government to international governmental organizations and international conferences of a diplomatic nature; Cohabiting members of the immediate family of a person to whom a passport has been issued for any of the above reasons; Diplomatic couriers. The minister may authorize issuance of a special passport to: Members of the Privy Council who are not cabinet ministers; MPs and senators; Provincial premiers, members of provincial cabinets and Speakers of provincial legislative assemblies; Justices of the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal; Employees of the federal government in a non-diplomatic capacity on an official mission or travelling to a post abroad; Private citizens employed in senior positions by international governmental organizations of which Canada is a member; Private citizens who are official delegates to international conferences of a non-diplomatic nature; Private citizens serving as official advisers or experts on Canadian government delegations to international conferences; Cohabiting members of the immediate family of a person to whom a passport has been issued for any of the above reasons. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada: If they had to dance around in a moose hat, they d do it, said Mamann, a former immigration officer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, according to The Star. Related : Jean Chr tien stopped plan to get rid of oath to Queen, says former minister Immigration lawyer Guidy Mamann says most of his clients will do just about anything to become a Canadian citizen. However, on Friday, three permanent residents of Canada challenged a portion of the Citizenship Act that requires them to swear allegiance to the Queen in order to become Canadian citizens. All three refuse to take the oath, which states: I affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.