Five Immigrants Receive Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards

Posted on October 2, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Five individuals received Ottawa Local Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards yesterday in the first annual Ottawa Immigration Forum, organized by the Ottawa Local Immigrant Partnership (Citizenship and Immigration Canada)

Five Canadian immigrants received awards for their entrepreneurship at the first annual Ottawa Immigration Forum yesterday.

The Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneur Award ceremomy is organized by the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP) and given to individuals judged to have made valuable contributions to the local economy.

Yesterday’s recipients were:

Valery Tolstikhin, founder of OneChip Photonics Inc, who won in the Fast-growth enterprises category. OneChip Photonics manufactures high performance optical transceivers for broadband applications.

Dr. Dipak Roy, founder of D-TA Systems Inc, the winner of the award in the Innovation-oriented enterprises category. D-TA Systems provides sonar and radar signal processors for the defence, aerospace and wireless industries.

Vinod Rajasekaran, creator of HUB Ottawa, won in the Social enterprises category. HUB Ottawa is an innovation incubator that provides collaborative office space and networking events to members.

Dr. Supriya Mishra, founder of visionTech4u, the winner of the Women entrepreneurs category award. VisionTech4U provides IT consultancy in the Ottawa area.

Obaid Ahmed, founder of OAK Computing, won in the under 35 Youth business entrepreneurs category. OAK Computing is a software development company that manages several start-ups.

OLIP is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) as part of the federal government’s campaign to boost the integration of immigrants into the Canadian economy.

Data emerging over the last few years, showing a growing income gap between recent immigrants and other Canadians, has spurred the federal and several provincial governments to fund initiatives by local immigrant serving organizations like OLIP to reverse the situation.

New Language Requirements For Canadian Citizenship Coming into Effect November 1st

Posted on September 28, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

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The UBC English Language Institute is one of thousands of locations where individuals can take an IELTS exam. Citizenship applicants will be required to submit the results from CIC-approved third-party tests like the IELTS or provide evidence of completion of secondary or post-secondary education in English or French to be have their application processed.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced today that the majority of citizenship applicants will be required to demonstrate language proficiency in English or French when they apply, effective November 1st, 2012.

Currently, CIC assesses applicants’ language proficiency through the interaction their staff have with the applicant, and from the applicant’s citizenship knowledge test results.

Under coming changes, citizenship applicants will be required to submit the results of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test, and score at least 4.0 and 4.5 on the speaking and listening portions, respectively.

In order for applicants to demonstrate French language proficiency, they will be required to submit the results of the Test d’évaluation de français (TEF), and score at least 181 and 145 on the speaking and listening portions.

Applicants can have the language test requirement waived if they can show evidence of having completed secondary or post-secondary education in English or French.

The new language requirements will only apply to applicants aged 18-54.

Recent Immigrant Feared for His Life After Call From Crooked Immigration Official

Posted on September 25, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Former CIC official Barriero plead guilty to three counts of breach of public trust on July 3rd for asking immigration applicants for bribes. He was sentenced to 44 months in prison on September 20th.

An article in The Star recounts the experience of an applicant for permanent residence in Canada who was called by an immigration official who was recently convicted of breach of public trust.

George Gonsalves Barriero, who worked for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for a total of 12 years, was promoted to a senior position with the authority to approve applications or refer them for further risk assessments in 2005, and that is when a court found that he began asking permanent resident applicants in the hispanic community for bribes.

Sidnei Ramalho, who had applied for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, told The Star that he feared for his life when he received a call from the immigration official in charge of his case, Barriero, who told him he would come by Ramalho’s home to pick up the money Ramalho needed to pay to get a “good letter” from him: “I don’t know him, I don’t know what he’s capable of .. I was really afraid he could send some guy here to kill me.”

Mr. Ramalho told his immigration consultant about the incident who advised him to not communicate with Barriero and let the RCMP investigate. The altercation with Barriero has left him living in fear:

Since the ordeal, Ramalho has installed cameras in his apartment, extra locks on his door — which he keeps a steel bar behind — and doesn’t answer calls from phone numbers he doesn’t recognize.

Mr. Barriero was sentenced on September 20th to 44 months in prison on three counts of breach of public trust.

Federal Government Imposing Visa Requirements on St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland

Posted on September 13, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

The tropical Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia was one of the countries that lost its visa-exempt status in Canada on September 12th due to what CIC said were high levels of asylum claims and unreliable passports

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) announced this week that citizens of St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (St. Vincent), Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland will require a visa to travel to Canada, effective 12:01 AM EDT on September 12th.

Individuals who held passports from these countries were previously visa exempt, but due to what CIC says is unreliability in the authenticity of travel documents from these countries, the exemption is being repealed. It was found that citizens from these countries were able to legally change their names and acquire new passports, allowing them to re-enter Canada with new passports after being deported from Canada as security risks.

Visa requirements were also imposed due to the excessively high number of asylum seekers from St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Namibia. The worst offender was Namibia, from which an astonishing 71 percent of those who visited Canada claimed refugee status in 2011, according to CIC.

Commenting on the visa imposition, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said: “These changes are necessary because all the countries concerned have an immigration violation rate of over thirty percent, well above the level we deem acceptable for countries benefiting from a visa exemption.”

CIC said that the Canadian government regularly reviews the visa requirements it places on other countries, and that countries are aware of the conditions they must meet to receive a visa exemption.

Immigration Minister Announces 3,100 Having Citizenship Revoked, 11,000 Under Investigation

Posted on September 10, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Nearly 11,000 individuals are under investigation by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for submitting fraudulent proof of residence to meet requirements for maintaining permanent residency status and qualifying for Canadian citizenship (Citizenship and Immigration Canada)

The investigation into citizenship and permanent residence fraud has expanded to nearly 11,000 people, and federal immigration authorities are in the process of revoking the citizenship of 3,100 individuals, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced today.

“Today’s announcement is the end-result of the hard work done by the RCMP and CBSA, and they should be congratulated for their dedicated effort in bringing these charges forward. These efforts reinforce our government’s commitment to protecting the integrity of our immigration system,” commented Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

The citizenship and permanent residence fraud constituted a permanent resident paying crooked consultants up to $25,000 for a family of five over four or more years to fabricate falsified proof of Canadian residence, in order to qualify for Canadian citizenship or maintain their permanent resident status.

Individuals falsify proof of residence to meet the requirement under Canadian law for permanent residents to live in Canada for three years out of the preceding four years to be granted Canadian citizenship, and also to meet the requirement to reside in Canada for two out of five years to retain their status as permanent residents.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) said that it is currently investigating 5,000 cases of permanent residents who are believed to be engaged in residence fraud. CIC believes most of these individuals are currently outside the country.

According to CIC, almost 1,800 applicants under investigation have abandoned their citizenship applications as information about the investigation has been publicized.

Immigration Minister to Make Announcement About 2,900 People Under Investigation for Citizenship Fraud

Posted on September 9, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Statue of Justicia in Ottawa, Canada. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is expected to announce on Monday that upwards of 2,900 people are having their Canadian citizenship revoked for fraudulent citizenship applications.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is scheduled to speak to the press tomorrow and is expected to announce that 2,900 people will be stripped of their Canadian citizenship for providing fake proof of residency.

Most of the individuals under investigation were clients of a small number of consultants who offered to help people qualify for citizenship through fraudulent means. The fraud involved proof of residency being fabricated in order to misrepresent the duration of their residency in Canada in their citizenship application.

The revocation comes after a two year RCMP investigation that found up to 8,300 potential cases of fraud.

The press conference will be held at 10:00 AM tomorrow at the National Press Theatre in Canada.

How to Prepare for New Canadian Immigration Rules

Posted on September 8, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

New Canadians taking the Citizenship Oath. The Federal Skilled Worker Program will resume in January 2013 with new rules, and you can take steps now to increase chances of being eligible.

A guide provided by Jim Metcalfe of Pace Immigration provides tips on what hopeful Canadian immigrants can do to prepare for changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program:

Now that the Minister of Immigration has signalled his intention to change the selection criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker program, it is a good idea to plan ahead if you want to apply.

The guide advises that would-be applicants take steps now to prepare to apply rather than waiting until the new occupation list is released, as it could be too late by then. It cites past openings of the Federal Skilled Worker Program to new applications which saw the quotas for some listed occupations fill up over night.

The specific steps suggested by the guide are:

You and your spouse doing an English or French language test, (the IELTS test and TEF test, respectively), as the new FSW assessment rules will award points for language proficiency for both the principal applicant and the spouse, rather than only the principal applicant as is the case now.
Prepare a resume, and ensure the experience listed matches the description of duties and responsibilities in the NOC (National Occupation Classification) for the occupation you are applying under. Also look through the NOC to see if you qualify for other occupations.
Prepare your “education documents, transcripts and course descriptions” as the new FSW program will require that you to get an assessment of the foreign credential’s equivalent value in Canada.
Prepare “biographical documents and proof of funds”.
If you have a spouse or common-law partner, make sure they make the same preparations in case your spouse’s occupation is on the list.
If you need further assistance, consult with a qualified professional.

CICS Immigration Consulting recommends considering these additional steps as well:

Improve your English and/or French language skills. Language will play a bigger role under the new FSW assessment rules.
Look for a job in Canada: temporary foreign workers in skilled occupations (defined as as skill type 0, A or B in the NOC) will only require one year of full-time Canadian work experience to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class under coming changes, rather than 24 months of work experience required now. The new Federal Skilled Worker Program will also award more points for Canadian work experience than foreign work experience.
If you have a long time horizon for immigrating to Canada and are willing to enter a new line of work to do so, consider starting a career in a skilled trade, like welder, heavy duty equipment mechanic and millwright, as they are in high demand in Canada and will offer a new route to immigration through a newly created Federal Skilled Trades Program.

Border Services Report Says Bogus Refugees From Hungary Could Cost Canada $222 Million A Year

Posted on August 31, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Bill C-31 is expected to reduce the costs imposed by bogus refugee claimants

A recent report by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) estimates that each refugee claimant who has their application rejected by the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), due either to lack of evidence of persecution in their home country or failing to show up to refugee hearings, costs the Canadian government over $50,000.

The country that produces the highest number of refugee claimants in Canada is Hungary, where 4,442 of the people who applied for refugee status in Canada last year hail from.

Virtually all applicants from Hungary had their refugee claim rejected, but before their cases were processed and they were deported, the cost of the welfare and health care provided to them by the Canadian government could have amounted to over $222 million last year alone according to the report, based on the $50,000 cost per failed claimant estimate.

Not only do provincial governments pay claimants welfare while they are in Canada, but also sometimes for up to seven months after they have left the country due to insufficient information sharing between the CBSA, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and provincial social services authorities, according to the report.

Most of the claimants from Hungary are Romani, a stateless ethnic minority who reside primarily in Europe and who are sometimes referred to as gypsies -though this term is considered derogotary by many Roma organizations.

The Canadian government has said that 40 percent of Hungarian Roma who claim refugee status are from a town called Miskolc, where a large-scale organized effort to send people to Canada to claim refugee status is centered in.

The federal government has taken steps to reduce bogus refugee claims and the costs they impose on federal and provincial governments in Canada with the passing of Bill C-31 in June.

The legislation gave the Department of Citizenship and Immigration the discretion to create a list of ‘safe’ democratic countries with a reputation of respecting human rights, and the authority to reject refugee claims by individuals from those countries and deport the claimants within 45 days, rather than the typical 1,000 days that refugee claims take to process.

This would enable Canada to place Hungary on the safe list and reduce the processing time of refugee claims from that country.

The bill also eliminated free pharmaceutical, vision and dental care for refugee claimants, which CIC argued was fair given those services are not available to Canadian citizens through Medicare.

Immigration Dept to Clamp Down on Student Visa Misuse

Posted on August 20, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is looking to reduce misuse of student visas to gain access to the Canadian labour market (CICS News)

The federal government plans on tightening rules for those on student visas to reduce inappropriate use of the visas to work in Canada.

The new rules will seek to prevent the practice of gaining entrance into Canada on a student visa, but instead of attending school, using the time in Canada to work.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says that while Australia and the UK have instituted rules to ensure that organizations that claim to be educational institutions are what they claim to be, and that foreign nationals on student visas are attending classes, Canada has no such safeguards in place.

Kenney said the Immigration Department is proposing that provinces create lists of “credible post-secondary institutions”, and that only student visa applicants that enrol in a listed school be accepted. The proposal further calls for monitoring of foreign nationals on student visas to verify they are attending classes.

The proposal would also eliminate student visas for education programs that are less than six months in length, and would restrict work permits for those on student visas to work relevant to their courses, like co-ops.

The proposed restriction on work permits would eliminate one of the competitive advantages that a report by a government advisory panel says Canada has over its main competitors in attracting international students.

Details of Revised Federal Skilled Worker Program Released

Posted on August 19, 2012 by CICS Immigration Team

Skilled tradespersons in eligible vocations like construction work will be able to apply for Canadian permanent residence under the new Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) (Paul Keheler)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) unveiled information on Friday about the new Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) that will be launched in the new year.

The revised program will have more demanding language requirements, more selective credential assessment, and will give preference to Canadian work experience over foreign work experience, among other changes.

CIC placed a temporary freeze on the acceptance of new applications for the FSWP on July 1st to give the immigration department time to instate change that it said were needed to address shortcomings in the program.

The following are the major changes to the FSWP that were announced in Friday’s release:

Increasing the maximum points awarded for proficiency in an official language, from 16 to 24 points
Awarding a maximum of 12 points to applicants aged 19 to 35, and decreasing the points awarded until age 46
Reducing the maximum number of points awarded for foreign work experience from 21 to 15
Eliminating points awarded for spousal education and awarding points for spousal language proficiency instead
Awarding a maximum of 10 points for Canadian work experience
Awarding points for foreign education credentials based on an assessment of the foreign credential’s equivalent value in Canada as assessed by an organization that is designated to provide credential assessment and authentication

New Federal Skilled Trades Worker Program

In addition to the changes to the FSWP, CIC also announced the details of a new Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) that will be open to tradespersons skilled in eligible trade occupations.

The requirements announced for the FSTP are:

An offer of employment of a duration of least one year from up to two Canadian employers or a Certificate of Qualification from a provincial or territorial Apprenticeship Authority.
Proficiency in an official language
At least two years of work experience in an eligible skilled trade in the last five years
Required qualifications in the skill trade as described by the National Occupational Classification (NOC)

Changes to the Canadian Experience Class

As forecasted by CIC earlier in the year, the Canadian work experience required to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program will be reduced from 24 months to 12 months, to allow temporary foreign workers in Canada to more quickly qualify for Canadian permanent residence status.