Home2018 - Page 2 of 3 - Immigration Lawyer Vancouver, Canada | Sas & Ing Immigration Law Centre

Once upon a time, prospective Canadian immigrants were masters of their own destiny. They could make an application for permanent residence as a skilled worker and so long as they paid the application fee, it would be processed - eventually. And so long as they met the selection criteria, they would become immigrants. But over many years, there developed a huge backlog of applicants. This led to the introduction of the Express Entry selection system where applicants are no longer in charge of their immigration destinies. The government ranks applicants based upon such factors as education, age, work experience and language proficiency in English and French and those with the highest scores are given an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Without an ITA, a person cannot apply for permanent residence to Canada. What alternatives are there for prospective applicants?

As a Vancouver immigration lawyer, I am often struck by the frequency with which clients come seeking help with an immigration matter that has arisen because of a lack of truthfulness in the application process. I am further surprised at the number of times that clients advise that they were told not be truthful by a former immigration professional.

Canada’s government firmly believes that immigration plays a vital role in our society and its economy. In the past few years, Canada has made clear that we want to grow our immigration levels to offset our aging population and has introduced new program initiatives to attract more skilled talent from across the globe. With unprecedented levels of immigration inevitably come growing pains.

It is a sad reality that when business people come to consult with our Vancouver immigration lawyers for Canadian immigration opportunities, we have very few options to provide them with. The Federal Investor and Entrepreneur programs were terminated in 2014. The current Start Up Visa category requires securing a Canadian financier to invest in a prospective business concept.

In the past several years, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have set ambitious immigration targets to attract newcomers to Canada. The majority of these newcomers are economic immigrants who bring human capital to our country and enrich our communities by sharing their unique set of skills, knowledge and experiences from abroad.

Canada’s Express Entry selection system can be a challenge for prospective immigrants who must score enough Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points in order to garner an Invitation to Apply (ITA). Now mid way through the fourth year of Express Entry, applicant scores earning an ITA have ranged from a high of 886 to a low of 413 but have recently settled in the mid 400’s over the past year. However, the bulk of prospective applicants in the pool, hover around the 400-point score range. How does a prospective Canadian immigrant increase their CRS score to be able to apply for permanent residence under Express Entry? Here are some tips to increase your CRS point score from the point of view of a Vancouver immigration lawyer.

As with most things in life, the success of your immigration case will often come down to timing. Having a basic understanding of the immigration application process and how long you can expect to wait to be approved can often be the difference between a successful or unsuccessful outcome because most immigration strategies will require sufficient time to successfully execute. By obtaining advice and becoming familiar with these application processes, program requirements and estimated processing time frames, you will be the master of your own immigration destiny.

International students are a key part of Canada’s economic immigration program. Under the Express Entry selection program, which is the cornerstone of Canada’s economic immigration program, applicants who have studied or worked in Canada garner more points than those who haven’t. Obtaining work in Canada is not so easy to arrange when you are in a different country and on another continent.

At the end of February 2018, the Canadian government announced its commitment of $440 million to help Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) fulfill its goal of increasing overall immigration levels over the next three years.