Effective January 18, 2012, CIC is reporting its fastest processing times in years, taking an average of 15-16 days to adjudicate applications filed online, and only 30-46 days to adjudicate applications filed by mail.

This comes as very welcome news for many temporary residents currently seeking to extend their status in Canada. It does, however, bear some implications on those workers seeking to extend permits that rely on an approved Labour Market Opinion (LMO). LMO applications across the country are still taking very long to process, with processing times in Ontario, for example, most recently being reported at approximately 12 weeks. As work permit extensions will not be approved before an LMO is issued, timing is critical for these types of applications and advance planning even more vital.

For further information on Canadian work permits, visitor records, or study permits and the extension process, please contact the Bomza Law Group!

Under this new directive the Department has refused to provide accommodation to allow individuals who must remove their face covering while taking the citizenship oath to do so in private and before a female official. The response from National Headquarters to the National Immigration Law Section Chair on December 13^th, 2011 was:

“…there are no options for private oath taking or oath taking with a female official as all candidates for citizenship are to repeat the oath together with the presiding official.”

There are Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms at stake with the position currently being taken by the government which will have to be tested and balanced by the courts.

• Individuals requesting Braille or large print format.
• Individuals who self identify as all of the following:
• do not have access to the internet or who do not have a printer;
• do not have family members or friends who can assist them; and
• unable to access application kits via an organization or business due to a mobility disability.
• Individuals who reside in remote areas where internet access is unavailable. This can be verified on the Industry Canada website at: www.ic.gc.ca/app/sitt/bbmap/hm.html?lng=eng.
• Individuals requesting one of the following CIC forms:
• Handling of Public Money payment receipt (IMM 5401);
• Insufficient fee receipt (IMM 5412);
• Supplementary Identification form (IMM 5455) for the Permanent Resident Card; or
• Privately sponsored refugees requesting the Application for Permanent Residence in Canada: Convention refugees abroad and humanitarian-protected persons abroad (IMM 6000) [for missions only].

Recently, the CIC provided some further details regarding the “Super Visa” and the criteria that applicants must meet. In a bulletin released December 1, 2011, the government confirmed that an applicant is eligible for a Super Visa if he or she has:

• provided proof of the parent or grandparent relationship to the Canadian citizen or permanent resident;
• undergone a medical examination and is admissible on health grounds;
• provided satisfactory evidence of private medical insurance from a Canadian insurance company, valid for a minimum period of one year from the date of entry which:
• covers the applicant for health care, hospitalization and repatriation;
• provides a minimum of $100,000 coverage; and
• is valid for each entry toCanadaand available for review by the examining officer upon request; and
• provided a written and signed promise of financial support, e.g. a letter of invitation, from the host child or grandchild for the entire duration the applicant intends to stay inCanada. The letter must be accompanied by evidence of their means of providing such support.

Given the above criteria, it is evident that the “Super Visa” has almost identical eligibility and document requirements to the sponsorship application for permanent residence, including proof of relationship, evidence of financial support by the sponsoring family member, and the completion of a medical exam. Despite undergoing essentially the same process, however, there remains one key exception. While parents and grandparents who were previously able to be sponsored for permanent residence would benefit from all rights of permanent residency, including the right to work and have provincial healthcare coverage, Super Visa applicants will only be granted extended visitor status.

For further details on this announcement or information on how to sponsor a member of the Family Class to Canada, please contact the Bomza Law Group.

With Canada’s recently updated regulations, employers are required to notify immigration authorities of any substantial changes to the salary, location, duties or other working conditions of their temporary foreign workers and, where such changes occur, apply for a new LMO and/or work permit accordingly.

For the first time since the new regulations were put into force, Service Canada has provided some insight into the precise parameters of what may constitute ‘substantially the same’. In a recent colloquium with immigration professionals, Service Canada advised that they will consider the following changes to be ‘substantial’:

• Changes in salary of 2% or more (this includes both decreases and increases in salary);
• Changes to scope of duties or work in Canada (particularly if the new position is classified under a new National Occupational Classification (NOC) code);
• Changes to work location; and
• Any other changes to the terms or conditions of the offer of employment

Where any of the above changes have occurred in the employment of a foreign national holding an LMO-based work permit, employers are recommended to apply for a new Labour Market Opinion prior to implementing the change.

Moving forward, Canadian authorities will also begin performing more ‘spot audits’ of companies hiring temporary foreign workers in Canada to ensure compliance. As part of such spot audits, companies will be requested to provide documents related to the employment of the company’s staff and temporary foreign workers. Employers must therefore ensure that they are keeping detailed and accurate records for all matters regarding the employment of temporary foreign workers, including copies of work permits, approved LMOs, payroll records, and tax documents.

For further information on Canada’s foreign worker program and compliance requirements, please contact the Bomza Law Group.

The litigants, some of whom applied as far back as 2004 are asking the Federal Court of Canada to rule that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) must process their applications within a reasonable time frame. CIC is being accused of violating a pledge to assess and finalize decisions in a timely fashion.

Ottawa has argued restrictions are needed to reduce a backlog of 900,000 applications however, the government has effectively ceased assessing applications filed before 2008 when the first wave of changes to the Federal Skilled Worker program were brought into effect to “fast-track” the program and reduce processing wait times.

The Federal Court has not yet determined whether it will hear any of these cases however, in 2002 and 2003, the federal government was confronted with a similar stream of court challenges to new regulations and the treatment of backlogged cases. Ottawa offered a $2.9 million settlement to 105,000 backlogged applicants, agreeing to get rid of the new rule that affected pre-existing applications negatively.

Starting November 5, 2011, many international PhD students will be eligible to submit applications for processing as federal skilled workers. To be eligible, PhD students must have:

1. Completed at least two years of study toward the attainment of a PhD; and
2. Remain in good academic standing at a provincially recognized post-secondary educational institution in Canada.

Those who have recently graduated from a Canadian PhD program will also be eligible to apply, provided they do so within 12 months of their graduation.

This announcement is consistent with the current priority of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to attract and retain highly skilled economic immigrants.

Currently, more than 165,000 parents and grandparents who have applied to become permanent residents of Canada are still waiting for a final decision. Each year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) receives applications for sponsorship of nearly 38,000 parents and grandparents, a number that will only continue to expand if no action is taken. As indicated in last week’s blog post, however, the pile of applications received from Canadian citizens and permanent residents seeking to sponsor their parents and grandparents has only continued to grow as, in the past two years, processing times have more than doubled.

As part of this plan, the Government pledges to carry out the following four actions:

1. More sponsorhsip applications under this category will be assessed in 2012 as the Government plans to admit nearly 60% more sponsored parents and grandparents next year, from nearly 15,500 in 2010 to 25,000 in 2012.

2. The government is introducing the new “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa,” which will be valid for up to 10 years. The multiple-entry visa will allow an applicant to remain in Canada for up to 24 months at a time without the need for renewal of their status. The Parent and Grandparent Super Visa will come into effect on December 1, 2011, and CIC will be able to issue the visas, on average, within eight weeks of the application. While this will enable parents and grandparents to enter Canada more quickly, the SuperVisa will only grant them benefits of a visitor – Parent and Grandparent Super Visa applicants will not be entitled access to the Canadian healthcare system and, as a condition to obtaining the visa, all applicants will be required to obtain private Canadian health-care insurance for their stay in Canada.

3. The government will consult Canadians on how to redesign the parents and grandparents program to ensure that it is sustainable in the future. The redesigned program must avoid future large backlogs and be sensitive to fiscal constraints.

4. Effective tomorrow, November 5, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration will no longer accept any applications to sponsor parents or grandparents. This moratorium on such sponsorship applications will be in effect for the next 24 months.

For further details on this announcement or information on how to sponsor a member of the Family Class to Canada, please contact the Bomza Law Group.