Ziaie Law: News

International Students Part 5 – Pathways to Permanent Residence Continued

23/8/2018

Sometimes it feels like Canada's regulations and programs for Permanent Resident change on a weekly basis. In truth there are more than a dozen programs available at both the federal and provincial level and these programs are constantly changing and evolving. The answer to whether you qualify for permanent residence in Canada may change from month to month and is wholly dependent upon your individual circumstances. Therefore, it is impossible to summarize all the possible pathways to permanent residence but below are the highlights of the main programs currently available for skilled workers.

Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
You may qualify to apply for PR under CEC if:

You have strong English or French Skills
Have at least one year of Canadian work experience at a skilled or managerial level

This program is managed through the Express Entry system and therefore the applicants with the most points will qualify and be selected from the Express Entry pool. There is no specific requirement for a post-secondary degree or to have a job offer but these can increase your points and thereby increase your chance of having a successful CEC application.

Federal Skilled Worker Class (FSW)
You may qualify to apply for PR under the FSW class if:

You have strong English or French Skills
Have at least one year full-time experience at a skilled or managerial level
Have completed at least secondary education

Again this program is managed through the Express Entry system and the higher your points the more likely you are to be successful. Given the minimum scores that have been selected over the past year, applicants who are younger, have extremely good language skills and have either worked or studied in Canada are the most likely to succeed in this category.

Federal Skilled Trades Class (FST)
You may qualify to apply for PR under the FST class if:

You have strong English or French Skills
Have at least 2 years full-time experience in a skilled trade in the past 5 years
You have an offer of employment for at least one year OR a certificate of qualification in that skilled trade issued in Canada

Similar to the FSW and CEC this program is managed through the Express Entry system and the higher your points the more likely you are to be successful.

Provincial Nominee Program
There are numerous programs to attract skilled worker in each province, and the province of Quebec has its own specific program for permanent residents. While the requirements of each of these programs differ they often require strong language skills as well as a connection to the province such as having completed studies there or having a job offer from a local employer.

Atlantic Immigration Pilot
The Atlantic Immigration Pilot (AIP) is a partnership between the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic provinces (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island) and the aim of the AIP is to attract and retain talent in these provinces by offering a faster path to permanent residence.

The AIP allows employers in these provinces to hire qualified candidates for jobs that they have not been able to fill locally. In order to qualify you must have a job offer from a local employer and fall under one of the three programs: High-skilled Program, Intermediate-skilled Program and International Graduate Program (for those who have studied in one of the provinces).

Each step that you take will impact your ability to qualify under any of these programs in the future. Therefore if you are interested in planning out your pathway to permanent residence you should speak with an experienced immigration lawyer as soon as possible.

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International Students Part 4 – Pathways to permanent residence for international students

16/8/2018

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Over the past few weeks I have written about the options available for students who choose to study in Canada as international students. What happens when you complete your studies? Do you have any option for working or becoming a permanent resident in Canada? The good news is that in many cases, depending on your circumstances, the answer to these questions is yes and you may be able to work and go on to become a permanent resident of Canada.

Canada's immigration policy has shifted from attracting and processing skilled worker applicants from outside of Canada to encouraging international students and foreign workers already in Canada to apply for permanent residence. These candidates have already spent time in Canada, having studied or gained Canadian work experience, which so often is a barrier for the successful establishment of new immigrants to Canada. Therefore, after you complete your studies in Canada there are a number of different programs that may put you on a pathway to Canadian permanent residence.

Post-graduate work permit
After you graduate, you may be able to work temporarily, depending on where, what program and how long you studied. To work in Canada after you graduate, you need a work permit. The work experience you gain while working may help you qualify for permanent residence.

If you graduated from a designated learning institution, you may be eligible to apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP). Not all designated learning institutions make you eligible for a post-graduation work permit and therefore you must be careful in choosing where you study and the program you will enrol in.

To get a post-graduation work permit, you must:

be 18 or older when you apply
have continuously studied full-time in Canada in a study program at least eight months long
have a document from your school (transcript, official letter, certificate, etc.) that confirms you completed and passed all your program requirements
have graduated from a:
public post-secondary school, such as a college, trade/technical school or university, or CEGEP in Quebec or
private post-secondary school that operates under the same rules as public schools (currently applies only to certain private post-secondary institutions in Quebec) or
private secondary or post-secondary school (in Quebec) that offers qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer, leading to a diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) or an attestation de spécialisation professionnelle (ASP) or
Canadian private school that can legally award degrees under provincial law (for example, Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate degree) but only if you are enrolled in a study programs leading to a degree as authorized by the province
apply for a work permit within 90 days of when it was confirmed that you completed your program and
have a valid study permit when you apply for the work permit.
If your program of study was less than eight months long or you studied for more than eight months but not continuously (for example, you took a semester off), or if you completed a study program by distance learning either from abroad or from within Canada you will not be eligible to obtain a PGWP. Also, recipients of certain scholarships, such as the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program, are not eligible for the PGWP. Finally, the PGWP is a one-time opportunity: if you have already had a post-graduation work permit following any other program of study you will not be eligible to receive a second PGWP.

With a PGWP you will be able to work legally in Canada for the duration of your work permit. Any employer that wants to hire you will not need to go through the bureaucratic process of demonstrating why they need to hire a non-Canadian employee. And most importantly you will build up your work experience to help you in qualifying for one of Canada's immigration programs such as the Canada Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program or one of the Provincial Nominee Programs. Therefore, it is extremely important that you ensure that your program of study qualifies you to receive a PGWP and that you apply in time and meet all the conditions in order to successfully obtain a PGWP if you wish to embark on a possible path to Canadian permanent residence.

What happens after you complete your studies and gain Canadian work experience? Next week I will be writing about the latest eligibility requirements of these pathways to permanent residence.

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International Students Part 3 – Studying in Primary or High School in Canada

11/8/2018

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Over the past few weeks I have written about international students that choose to study in Canada. Typically when we think about international students we think of college and university students pursuing post-secondary education. This week I want to turn to another group of international students: minor international students studying in Canada at the primary and secondary school level.

Why Do Families Choose Canada?
There are different reasons why a family may choose to have their minor child study in Canada as an international student: the child may be accompanying his or her parents as they work or study in Canada, or the family may have an immigration application in process and want their child to have a head start and study in Canada before the family receives their immigration status. However, in an increasing number of cases families are choosing for their minor children to study in Canadian primary and secondary schools and obtain a Canadian high school diploma.

The numbers are interesting and while there are no official number released for 2018 yet, the number of international students applying to the school boards in Ontario and British Columbia has increased significantly in the past five years.

Which School Should We Choose?
Minor children have the option to choose between a number of different school options: public schools, Catholic schools and private schools. Depending on the type of experience that the child or child's family is looking for it is possible to find a school that is suitable. Some schools offer homestay opportunities that allow their students to live with a local family. There are also boarding schools that allow students to live in the school's dormatories. While there are many different school options, if you are looking to enrol in a private school it must be certified by the provincial Ministry of Education as a registered private school.

If you would like your child to study in Canada you should start the application process as soon as possible because spaces in schools fill up and you have to act fast to get into the most popular schools.

At What Age Should Minor Students Come To Canada?
It is possible to study from grade 1 to 12 as a minor student. However, the most popular grades are in high school, and particularly grade 11 and 12, that allow students to become familiar with the Canadian education system, improve their English and have a better chance of entering Canadian post-secondary education.

Who is a Custodian?
Across Canada the age at which a child is considered a minor is different. For example in Ontario it is children under 18 but in British Columbia it is children under 19. If a minor child is studying in Canada they must either be living with their parent or legal guardian, or they must have a custodian. A custodian is a responsible adult, who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who will take care of and support the minor child.

In the case of younger children it is often advisable that they be accompanied by at least one parent and we routinely obtain visitor visas for parents to accompany younger children studying in Canada. However, where a parent cannot accompany the child a suitable custodian can be selected and the custodian must undertake to take care of the child in Canada. A custodian can be a close family member such as an aunt or uncle or trusted family friend. If it is not possible to find such a person there are companies that provide custodianship services.

Unfortunately there is no clear federal or provincial program to oversee the custodians for international students, therefore it is extremely important for parents to ensure that they find qualified custodians for their children. The government will likely have to create a framework for supervision of custodians in the future as the number of minor international students increases across Canada.

Do Minor Students Need A Study Permit?
Students that want to enrol fulltime in a school in Canada, for studies that are longer than 6 months long, must have a valid study permit. Depending on the circumstances of each case an immigration lawyer can advise you of the required documents for the study permit application. It is important to note that one of the most important requirements in order to obtain a study permit is for the child's family to demonstrate that they will be able to cover all the expenses related to the child's studies and stay in Canada.

If you are interested in having your child study in Canada you must apply as early as possible as processing of study permits can take several weeks, and can become more complicated if coupled with a visitor visa application for an accompanying parent.

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Second Round of Application Intake for Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Applications Good News for up to 8500 families across Canada

2/8/2018

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Once again there is good news for thousands of applicants who tried to sponsor their parents or grandparents earlier this year. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada ran a lottery for those interested in sponsoring their parents in the spring and issued 10,000 invitations to apply. The deadline for submitting these applications was May 25, 2018.

I wrote in my article in December that IRCC would likely not receive 10,000 applications, despite efforts that IRCC made to ask additional questions to ensure those registering for the lottery actually qualified. The prediction was correct and IRCC is now allowing a second round of applications for the parent and grandparent sponsorship program. 8500 new applicants have been chosen and they will have 60 days to submit their complete sponsorship applications to IRCC.

If you registered your interest to sponsor your parents or grandparents in January but were not previously chosen you should check your inbox for an email from IRCC. You can also check the confirmation number here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/sponsor-parents-grandparents/selected.html

If you are one of the lucky applicants who has been chosen, make sure to review all the eligibility requirements and submit a complete application. IRCC is very strict and I have seen applications returned for missing a single signature, an old photo or one copy instead of an original.

Eligibility Requirement for Parent & Grandparent Sponsorship
In order to sponsor, you must:

be 18 years of age or older;
be a Canadian citizen, Registered Indian or permanent resident;
be sponsoring your parent or grandparent;
live in Canada;
sign an undertaking promising to provide for the basic requirements of the person being sponsored for a period of 20 years;
sign an agreement with the person you are sponsoring that confirms that each of you understands your mutual obligations and responsibilities;
prove that you have sufficient income to provide the basic requirements for your family members in Canada as well as the persons included in your sponsorship undertaking. You may also have a co-signer.

The minimum necessary income requirement is based on the size of your family and the number of people you are sponsoring and is assessed based on your income from the three years preceding your application. For example for a family of three sponsoring both their mother and father, the applicant (along with a potential co-signer) would need to show income of at least $65,377 in 2015 and $66,654 in 2016 and $67,400 in 2017. This amount varies based on the number of people in the family and those being sponsored. The income is verified based on proof of income from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Note: This information is not intended as legal advice or opinion. You should always seek specialized legal advice with regards to your situation as the facts of each case are unique and the application of law varies in every case.

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NEWS

International Students Part 5 – Pathways to Permanent Residence Continued

International Students Part 4 – Pathways to permanent residence for international students

International Students Part 3 – Studying in Primary or High School in Canada

Second Round of Application Intake for Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Applications Good News for up to 8500 families across Canada

Authors:
Zeynab Ziaie
Zahra Ziaie

Archives

Categories

NEWS

International Students Part 5 – Pathways to Permanent Residence Continued

International Students Part 4 – Pathways to permanent residence for international students

International Students Part 3 – Studying in Primary or High School in Canada

Second Round of Application Intake for Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Applications Good News for up to 8500 families across Canada

Authors: Zeynab Ziaie Zahra Ziaie

Archives

Categories

Authors:
Zeynab Ziaie
Zahra Ziaie