Immigration levels will continue to rise in Canada over the next three years – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is expected to welcome as many as 350,000 new permanent residents per year by 2021.
Christmas came early this year for Canadians and permanent residents who have parents or grandparents living abroad and who are wanting to come to immigrate to Canada. Starting in January 2019, the parents and grandparents sponsorship program (“PGP”) will be re-opened on a first-come-first served basis to accept 20,000 applications to help families reunite in Canada.
Many international travelers are well-versed in border security and customs protocols at ports of entry. Yet many people find it stressful to be questioned by a border security officer, worrying that they may say the wrong things. Horror stories abound about delayed or cancelled trips as a result of interrogations gone wrong. Some travelers find themselves being referred for extra questioning every time they travel to Canada.
As a Vancouver immigration lawyer, I often meet with clients asking for advice on how to overcome a refused application or even two or more refusals. You might be wondering why somebody would wait to ask for advice after receiving a refusal or why they would make unsuccessful application after application expecting a different result.
Families hoping to reunite with their parents and grandparents in Canada will be ecstatic to learn that their chances of helping their loved ones immigrate have drastically improved. Effective July 28, 2018, the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has increased the cap on the number of sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents that will be processed each year by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) from 10,000 to 17,000.
On June 8, 2018, the Honorable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) introduced Canada’s new Student Direct Stream (SDS) program which fast tracks study permit applications for international students from China, India, Vietnam and the Philippines.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Sas and Ing Immigration Law Centre LLP
A partnership between Catherine Sas Law Corporation and Victor Ing Law Corporation
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