Amendments to Three Canadian Immigration Programs Effective from 1st July!

According to a report by the Citizenship and Immigration Department of Canada, there will be certain changes to three of the federal immigration programs of the country. This will be implemented from July 1. To reduce the backlog of visa applications, the Canadian Immigration department will make some modifications in the process of accepting of applications from particular immigration categories.

To become eligible for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the applicants should have at least one year of salaried work experience in one of the 29 appropriate occupations or have a valid employment offer from a Canadian employer.

The Canadian Immigration and Citizenship Department which is also known as CIC, has declared that the list of 29 eligible occupations will be the same for the next one year. But, for the purpose of processing, only a few applications will be accepted.

From July 1 this year, for each occupation, only 500 applications will be accepted, while 10,000 applications in total will be covered for the coming year. Applicants with confirmed job offer from a Canadian employer will not affect by the caps.

The Canadian immigration officials have asked the applicants to submit their applications soon. According to them, within a very limited period, these 29 occupations list will be filled up.

According to the CIC, only 700 Federal Immigrant Investor applications will be accepted for processing for the coming year. The financial institutions of this country, which act as facilitators in this program, have reported that applicants have to submit government processing fees, their copy of passports, along with the completed simplified forms. However, the rest of supporting documents will be required at the later stage.

To qualify for the Federal Immigrant Investor Program, the candidates need to have: prior experience in business, minimum asset worth C$1,600,000 CAN, and a secured investment capacity of C$800,000 CAN.

From July first, 2011, the Immigration and Citizenship Department of Canada will not accept any new Federal Entrepreneur applications. However, the department has not mentioned any fixed time for accepting the new applications and it will be suspended until further notification form Ministry.

Coming to Federal Skilled Worker Program, it must be noted that the quota of 500 applications per NOC is for worldwide immigrants, and this will lead to a fast-track process of applications. It is advisable to wrap up fast your decision of Canada immigration and prepare your Canada visa application by hiring an expert Canada immigration consultancy.