opendoorimmigration.ca

Mexican refugee claimant murdered after deportation

mina — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:20:47 +0000

A very tragic story about a Mexican woman who was refused refugee status in Canada and was deported back to Mexico where she was murdered.
Read more here on CBC.

Wiping out the FSW backlog…unfairly

mina — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:34 +0000

The Harper government is hitting the reset button on a lengthy queue of foreigners who’ve been waiting for half a decade to be accepted as skilled immigrants.

Thursday’s federal budget announced about 284,000 non-Canadians seeking to be received as residents will be told they’ve lost their place in line and have to apply again. The figure includes applicants as well as their spouses and dependents.

Ottawa is refunding the $130-million in fees these people paid to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

The catch is that in 2008 the federal government changed the criteria it used to select immigrants under this program. In 2008, it designated 19 occupations as priorities for immigration and beefed up language proficiency requirements for applicants.

So not all of those who’ve lost their place in line may be eligible or desired by Canada under the new rules established in 2008.

The change will leave a working queue of 160,000 people who’ve applied since 2008 under the new rules, most of whom can expect their applications to be judged within six to 12 months.

Office Closure: February 22-29, 2012

mina — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:06:41 +0000

Please note our office will be closed from February 22 to 29, 2012.

Should you require assistance, our office will be open on March 1, 2012. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you.

Effective March 1, 2012, we are moving into our brand new office!

mina — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:04:12 +0000

Yes, we are moving again, but this will be the last time for a long time (hopefully!).

We are moving into the MacCosham Lofts downtown on 10301-109 st, Suite 204. This is a very exciting time for us, and we hope you will visit us at our new office.

For February, we will still operate at our current address at 112, 11614-119 St.

Parent, grandparent immigration applications on hold: CBC News reports

mina — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:52:48 +0000

By Laura Payton

Canada is no longer accepting applications from people who want to join their children or grandchildren in Canada, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced today.

The citizenship and immigration minister also announced a new super visa for people who want to visit their family members. The 10-year visa would allow them to stay for up to two years at a time. People will have to have private medical insurance and meet a minimum income level to have their parents or grandparents accepted.

Kenney also announced the government is increasing by 60 per cent the number of parents and grandparents who will be accepted every year, bringing it to 25,000 from 15,300 last year.

The purpose is to clear a backlog of hundreds of thousands of applications, he said.

He’s spent much of the week talking about next year’s targets and changes within Canada’s immigration system. Earlier this week, he and Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, announced a change that will allow international students earning their PhDs in Canada to apply to become Canadian under a skilled worker program. It could mean faster processing for those in programs that qualify.

Last month, Kenney talked about taking fewer applications under the family reunification program but accepting more applicants. He says it would help cut a massive backlog.

Marriage fraud targeted by Canada border agency

mina — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:46:28 +0000

Full news article here

Canada’s border agency has opened more than three dozen criminal investigations related to marriage fraud in the last few years, newly released documents show.

The Canada Border Services Agency has also begun a probe of possible organized criminal involvement in arranging marriages of convenience to attain status in Canada.

Information from the government’s immigration case processing centre in Alberta revealed similarities among marriage sponsorships that led them to suspect phoney relationships. Citizenship and Immigration officials enlisted border services enforcement officers to investigate the cases in an effort known as Project Honeymoon.

Overall, from 2008 through the end of the last year, the border agency opened 39 criminal investigations of suspected marriage fraud.

However, the internal border agency documents — disclosed under the Access to Information Act — acknowledge the cases require considerable resources, and many never make it to court.

Release of the internal statistics comes as the Conservative government pursues a regulatory change that would require people coming to Canada to join their partner to stay in the relationship for two years or more before being formally granted permanent residence. There are two types of marriage-of-convenience cases.

In the first, a foreign national victimizes a well-intentioned Canadian sponsor by using the relationship to gain status in Canada. Usually such cases are handled by the Immigration and Refugee Board, and can result in the offending party being ordered out of Canada. The second kind involves the knowing participation of both parties — cases the border agency considers “organized fraud” to be pursued criminally.

“These cases require resource-intensive investigations in order to obtain sufficient evidence to support the laying of criminal charges and successful prosecution,” says a December 2010 memo prepared for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews by agency president Luc Portelance.

The border agency carries out regulatory and criminal investigations of marriage-of-convenience cases “as available resources permit,” adds the memo. While the agency does not have “specific funding” for marriage fraud enforcement, it has shifted resources to help address cases. Between 2008, when the agency began compiling figures, and the end of last year, it had received some 200 leads on possible marriage fraud from various sources. Of these, 39 warranted a formal investigation, with charges laid in seven cases, including three convictions.

As of December 2010, 17 of the cases remained open. The border agency said Monday that more recent statistics were not immediately available. The internal memos indicate the agency bristled at media coverage last year suggesting “a lack of action” on marriage fraud. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney did little to dispel that notion recently, telling the CBC it’s not up to him how many cases the border agency pursues.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Kenney did commend overseas border agency officers for helping screen out fraudulent marriage cases at the application stage. But Kenney said when cases slip through and the parties make it to Canada, it’s tougher for authorities. “Right now we have very few tools to deal with that. Because we need to be able to go to a court and prove that they entered into their marriage with bad faith,” he said. “So it’s virtually impossible for us to get successful convictions on marriage fraud cases after the fact. Which is why we need an additional tool.”

Under the proposed regulatory move, a partner from abroad who has been in a relationship with their Canadian sponsor for less than two years would be granted only “conditional permanent residence.” The newcomer would then have to remain in a bona fide relationship with their sponsor for a period of two years or more following arrival — or risk having their permanent resident status revoked.

Cut immigration applications to fix backlog, Kenney says

mina — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:33:11 +0000

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

Canada needs to accept fewer applications from people wanting to live here, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says, and he’s eyeing the family class for cuts.

Canada is facing too big a backlog and, despite accepting 254,000 applications every year, there are one million people who are waiting to hear whether they can move to Canada, the citizenship and immigration minister said Thursday.

Canada gets about 420,000 applications every year and refuses about 10 per cent of those.

Speaking to the House committee on citizenship and immigration, Kenney said processing applications faster won’t fix the backlog problem. And it isn’t possible to accept enough people to deal with it either.

The only options, he said, are to vastly increase acceptances, or take fewer applications and keep processing the ones already received.

“Those are the only two possible solutions. It’s a math problem,” Kenney told reporters after the committee meeting.

Cut family class applications

Kenney pointed to the family class, under which parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens can immigrate. His department received 37,500 applications in 2010 but admits 18,500. Right now, there’s a 10-year wait time for processing.

“Merely for us just to tread water, we would have to double the number of people coming into that program … and that wouldn’t even reduce the backlog,” he said.

Kenney said other countries require a minimal family income, private health insurance or a bond to limit parent and grandparent applications.

Immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said Kenney’s right to suggest a cap on the parents and grandparents category.

“Unless you solve the intake problem, you’re going to have a growing backlog with growing processing times and it’s time to bite the bullet,” he told reporters after the committee meeting.

Kurland said a 20,000 cap is appropriate, and that the government should break the applicants into categories.

“Bring in as priority one the single parents overseas. Priority two is you bring in parents where the families can pony up $75,000 up front to defray medicare costs, either with permanent resident visa on payment or [for $75,000] give that family a 10-year visitor visa to Canada and that way they can be here waiting until their number comes up in the immigration inventory overseas.”

Speaking to Rosemary Barton on CBC’s Power & Politics, Kenney called the $75,000 payment “a very interesting idea.”

“I’ve heard similar ideas about asking people to share in a greater portion of the social and health-care costs. And maybe that’s one practical way of bringing more fairness while limiting the number of new applications so we can avoid the big backlogs. That’s a very valid idea,” he said.

The Conservative government and previous Liberal governments averaged about 18,000 parent and grandparent entrants a year, he added.

Kenney says the department is launching consultations on cutting the backlog.

NDP immigration critic Don Davies said reducing parent and grandparent applications is the wrong way to go.

“What I object to the most is the minister has come into this so-called study, these meetings, with a preconceived conclusion. The only policy tool that he’s looking at is capping applications. Well, that’s not the only policy tool available to the minister,” Davies said.

He wants Canada to accept another 100,000 immigrants every year, arguing a per capita measurement doesn’t make sense because the country has so much space.

By Laura Payton, CBC News

“Fraud Wife” Leads Distraught Indo-Canadian Groom To Commit Suicide!

mina — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:24:54 +0000

To see full news article

SURREY – There is much outrage when a woman is killed in the Indo-Canadian community with the usual suspect shouting loud about inequality and women’s rights but hardly a whisper when a man dies as a direct result of family problems.

This is exactly what happened to Gurdip Singh Saroya, who’s new wife Harmanjit Kaur Dhami arrived on Oct. 12 but wouldn’t let him touch her. She immediately wanted to move to Toronto, by herself.

Unable to take this emotional fraud – Gurdip Saroya jumped off the Pattullo Bridge on Monday morning, just five days after his wife’s arrival, and killed himself.

Who’s to blame for his DEATH?

Saroya’s family is clearly putting the blame on his “fraud wife” Harmanjit Kaur. They say her behaviour and wanting to move to Toronto by herself made Gurdip distraught, realizing the strange marital incident he found himself in.

Gurdip Singh Saroya married Harmanjit Kaur Dhami in India on February 11, 2011.

Dhami arrived in Canada on Wednesday, October 12 and the Saroya family was at the airport to welcome her.

Rajwinder Kaur Braham, the sister of Saroya, told Sher-E-Punjab Radio, that Harmanjit Kaur was very distant and quiet and that she was not welcoming of her new husband.

“He tried to hug her, but she kept telling him not to touch her,” Braham recalls in Punjabi.

Braham said at one point, Dhami even called 911 alleging that Gurdip Singh was assaulting her.

Over the next few days after Dhami’s arrival, Braham says Dhami stated on more than one occasion that she would not be staying here and that she wanted to go to Toronto.

Braham says when her brother and his new wife were on their way to the travel agent, Dhami said that she did not want Saroya to go to Toronto with her.

At this point, according to Braham, Dhami bolted from the car.

The Saroya family now believes that Dhami used her marriage to get to Canada.

Police have yet to confirm the details of Gurdip Singh Saroya’s death.

Welcome to our Greek visitors!

mina — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:27:04 +0000

I have noticed a lot of inquiries and traffic from our visitors in Greece. Thank you for visiting our site and showing interest in Canada!

I have had many similiar inquiries so I thought I would post a message on here to help explain the process of immigrating to Canada.
First, coming to Canada is not an easy process. It is time-consuming and takes a long time. But in the end, it is worth it if you want to start a new life.

The main way of coming to Canada is through the Federal Skilled Worker program. There are two ways of qualifying.

The first way is by having at least one year work experience in specific occupations that are needed in Canada. These occupations are:

0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management (Cap reached)
1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
2151 Architects
3111 Specialist Physicians
3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3113 Dentists
3131 Pharmacists
3142 Physiotherapists
3152 Registered Nurses (Cap reached)
3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
4151 Psychologists
4152 Social Workers
6241 Chefs
6242 Cooks
7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
7242 Industrial Electricians
7251 Plumbers
7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
7371 Crane Operators
7372 Drillers & Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

The second option is to have a permanent job offer in Canada that is considered “skilled”. This means you will need to find an employer in Canada first to help you. The best way for you to find an employer is usually in person. So if you are really interested in coming to Canada, I encourage you to visit the country first. From there, perhaps you can find a job. Please note that “skilled” is defined by Canada. You can find more information on skilled workers and what type of jobs they are at the National Occupational List in Canada.

This is very general information. But hopefully it will help clear some things up for you. You can also read more information here.

New regulatory body to govern immigration consultants – Open Door comments on OMNI TV

mina — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:37:49 +0000

Effective June 30, 2011, members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants will have 120 days to transition over to the new regulatory body governing immigration consultants. The government is hoping that this new body – part of Bill C-35 – will help crack down on crooked immigration consultants.

There are mixed feelings about this new regulatory body. The news segments touches on one of them – the concern of how Canada will regulate crooked ghost consultants overseas. Do they have any jurisdiction over them.

There is also concern about how the new regulatory body will operate and welcome new members. Will they be more strict about who can be an immigration consultant? I sure hope so. Or will they lower their admission standards allowing more people to easily become consultants and opening the gates to potentially more crooked consultants.

Lastly, will the new body really make a difference in cracking down on crooked immigration consultants. Only time will tell…

Check out their new website: http://www.iccrc-crcic.ca/