On June 26, 2011, we reported that Citizenship and Immigration Canada had imposed an annual quota of 700 Federal Immigrant Investor Program applications each year. This quota came into effect on July 1, 2011.
Unfortunately, we have heard that this quota has already been reached. Investor applicants may still consider the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program and the investor programs available under most of the Provincial Nominee Programs.
On June 24, 2011, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that Canada would be adjusting its intake of applications from economic immigrants “to further reduce the backlog and improve wait times.” Effective July 1, 2011, the changes will affect new applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker (“FSW”) Program, the Federal Immigrant Investor Program, and the Federal Entrepreneur Program.
The previous Ministerial Instructions, which were published on June 26, 2010, stated that FSW applicants who did not have an offer of employment would not be accepted for processing unless they fell under one of the 29 occupations listed in the instructions. In addition, these applicants were subject to a total cap of 20,000 per year and a sub-cap of 1,000 per year for each of the 29 listed occupations.
As of July 1, 2011, FSW applicants who do not have an offer of employment in Canada will now be limited to a total cap of 10,000 a year and a sub-cap of 500 per year for each of 29 listed occupations. This represents a 50% reduction in both the total number of FSW applicants (who are permitted to apply without an offer of employment in Canada) and in the number that may apply in each of the 29 listed occupations each year.
Minister Kenney is also introducing an annual cap of 700 on new Federal Immigrant Investor applications. Although last year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) made changes that raised the minimum net worth and investment requirements, Minister Kenny claims that it continues to receive applications in excess of what is required. The annual cap on new applications will supposedly allow for progress on backlog reduction while ensuring that CIC has a sufficient volume of new files to meet its commitments.
Minister Kenney is also introducing a temporary moratorium on new Federal Entrepreneur Program applications. According to the announcement, wait times for this program currently stretch to eight years in some visa offices; by ceasing to accept new applications as of July 1, 2011, CIC will supposedly prevent further processing delays.
The announcement states that the Federal Entrepreneur Program will undergo a review in the coming months to ensure that Canada is better able to attract and retain innovative entrepreneurs. However, in recent years, only a small number of applicants has applied under the Federal Entrepreneur Program. Although time will tell, it is quite possible that the Federal Entrepreneur Program will never be reinstated.
The official news release appears here.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced that, effective December 23, 2010, if you are submitting a language test with your application, the results are now valid for 2 years from the time you took the test, instead of 1 year. This change applies to Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class and Business Class Immigrants (which includes Investor, Entrepreneur, and Self-Employed categories).
On November 10, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) published regulations in the Canada Gazette, which reinstate the Canadian Federal Immigrant Investor Program (“IIP”). These regulations come into force on December 1, 2010.
On June 26, 2010, CIC published proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette, which would increase the personal net worth and investment amounts utilized by the IIP. Under the proposed regulations, the investment required under the IIP would increase from $400,000.00CAD to $800,000.00CAD. In addition, the personal net worth required to qualify under the IIP would increase from $800,000.00CAD to $1.6 Million CAD.
CIC also published Ministerial Instructions in the Canada Gazette, which established a moratorium on new IIP applications from June 26, 2010, until the date that the final regulations became effective. According to the Ministerial Instructions, no applications under the program were to be accepted unless they were post-marked or received by CIC before June 26, 2010. The stated purpose of the moratorium was to mitigate the growing surge in such applications under the lower investment and personal net worth levels.
According to CIC, a net worth of $800,000CAD in 1999 was considered substantial enough to attract applicants with the financial wherewithal and expertise to make a significant positive economic contribution to Canada. However, due to increasing global wealth, CIC believed that a net worth of $800,000 was now within easy reach of a modest property owner in a large city, who may not have other transferable resources as originally envisioned. In addition, CIC stated that most other countries with similar programs now required an investment closer to $1 Million CAD.
The new regulations, which were published on November 10, 2010, reinstate the IIP and implement the higher investment and net worth levels that were initially announced on June 26, 2010. As of December 1, 2010, applicants under the IIP are required to invest $800,000CAD and to establish a personal net worth of $1.6 Million CAD.
On November 10, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) published regulations in the Canada Gazette, which reinstate the Canadian Federal Immigrant Investor Program (“IIP”). These regulations came into force on December 1, 2010.
On June 26, 2010, CIC published proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette, which would increase the personal net worth and investment amounts utilized by the IIP. Under the proposed regulations, the investment required under the IIP would increase from $400,000.00CAD to $800,000.00CAD. In addition, the personal net worth required to qualify under the IIP would increase from $800,000.00CAD to $1.6 Million CAD.
CIC also published Ministerial Instructions in the Canada Gazette, which established a moratorium on new IIP applications from June 26, 2010, until the date that the final regulations became effective. According to the Ministerial Instructions, no applications under the program were to be accepted unless they were post-marked or received by CIC before June 26, 2010. The stated purpose of the moratorium was to mitigate the growing surge in such applications under the lower investment and personal net worth levels.
According to CIC, a net worth of $800,000CAD in 1999 was considered substantial enough to attract applicants with the financial wherewithal and expertise to make a significant positive economic contribution to Canada. However, due to increasing global wealth, CIC believed that a net worth of $800,000 was now within easy reach of a modest property owner in a large city, who may not have other transferable resources as originally envisioned. In addition, CIC stated that most other countries with similar programs now required an investment closer to $1 Million CAD.
The new regulations, which were published on November 10, 2010, reinstate the IIP and implement the higher investment and net worth levels that were initially announced on June 26, 2010. As of December 1, 2010, applicants under the IIP are required to invest $800,000CAD and to establish a personal net worth of $1.6 Million CAD.
On September 23, 2010, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced a final rule, which adjusted its filing fees for immigration applications and petitions. The final rule was published in the Federal Register on September 24, 2010, and will become effective as of November 23, 2010. Applications or petitions postmarked or otherwise filed on or after this date must include the new fee, or they will be rejected.
The final rule will increase overall fees by a weighted average of about 10 percent but will not increase the fee for the naturalization application. The final fee rule establishes three new fees for:
The final fee rule also adjusts fees for the premium processing service. According to USCIS, this adjustment will ensure that it can “continue to modernize as an efficient and effective organization.”
The final fee rule reduces fees for six individual applications and petitions:
In addition, the final fee rule eliminates two citizenship-related fees for those service members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces who are eligible to file an Application for Naturalization (Form N-400) with no fee:
Lastly, the final fee rule expands the availability of fee waivers to new categories, including:
The new fee schedule is available on the USCIS website here.
On June 26, 2010, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney told a news conference that Canada is adjusting its 2010 immigration plan to put even greater emphasis on economic recovery and further reduce the federal skilled worker backlog. “When I met with my provincial colleagues last week, they all stressed the importance of economic immigration,” Minister Kenney said. “As we recover from the recession, increasing economic immigration will help ensure employers have the workers they need to supplement our domestic labour supply.”
Each year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) sets out a plan for the number of immigrants it intends to welcome within economic, family and humanitarian immigration categories. The planned range for 2010 is 240,000 – 265,000 immigrants. CIC generally achieves the midpoint of this range. In 2010, CIC anticipates achieving the upper end of this range, allowing Canada to welcome more immigrants in the economic category than originally planned. This includes federal skilled workers and record-level numbers of provincial nominees, without reducing the number in the family or humanitarian immigration categories.
Minister Kenney noted that some of his provincial colleagues expect the need will grow further in the years ahead. “This is something we will need to take into consideration when we consult more broadly on plans for future years,” he said.
Even with higher numbers of economic immigrants, Canada still receives many more applications than can be processed in a timely way. As a result, the department is limiting the number of new applications it will consider in the federal skilled worker category every year.
“Canada will continue to welcome historically high numbers of immigrants, but we need to manage the number of new applications or risk creating new backlogs and longer processing times,” Minister Kenney said. “We have more than enough applications on hand now to fill many of our needs, and we want to be fair to those people who have been waiting the longest.”
Effective immediately, to be eligible to apply as a federal skilled worker, applicants must either have a job offer, or they must have experience in one of 29 in-demand occupations. These occupations were identified through analysis of updated labour market information and consultations with provinces, territories, stakeholders and the public.
For those applying under the occupation list, the government will limit the number of applications considered for processing to 20,000 per year as a way to better manage the supply of applications with labour market demand. Within the 20,000 limit, a maximum of 1,000 applications per occupation will be considered. The limit does not apply to applicants with a job offer.
In addition, all federal skilled worker and Canadian Experience Class applicants must submit the results of an independent language test before they will be considered.
Other than the language test result requirement, these changes apply only to the federal skilled worker immigration category. The authority for the changes, known as ministerial instructions, comes from amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act approved by Parliament in 2008 as part of the Action Plan for Faster Immigration.
The instructions are meant as a flexible tool to allow the government to keep the intake of applications for economic immigration in line with the number and types of jobs available in Canada, as well as reduce application backlogs and processing times.
Since the first instructions were issued in November 2008, the backlog of federal skilled worker applicants in process prior to the legislation has dropped from 640,000 to 380,000. The majority of decisions on new applications are being made in six to 12 months, compared with up to six years prior to the changes. But in the first quarter of 2010, the number of new applications rose significantly beyond the department’s ability to process them in a timely way, leading to the recognition that a more refined approach is necessary.
“These changes bring Canada in line with the practices of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, our main competitors for skilled immigrants,” said Minister Kenney. “They help match the supply of applicants to our processing capacity and today’s post-recession job market needs. This is the only responsible way to manage our immigration system.”
The Government is also proposing new eligibility criteria for the immigrant investor program so it makes an even greater contribution to the Canadian economy. Proposed regulatory changes will require new investors to have a personal net worth of $1.6M, up from $800,000, and make an investment of $800,000, up from $400,000. These proposals were pre-published today in the Canada Gazette for a 30-day public comment period.
Canada’s current criteria for investors are the lowest in the world, and have not been changed since 1999. As a result the program draws a larger number of applicants than can be admitted every year under the immigration plan, and processing times are increasing.
Until the changes are finalized, the Government will stop accepting new investor applications to prevent a flood of applications before the new criteria take effect, which would stretch processing times even further. When the new criteria are in place, new applications will be processed alongside the old ones. In this way, Canada can begin to realize the benefits of the changes immediately.
“Canada needs investor immigrants,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes are necessary to keep Canada’s program competitive with that of other countries, and keep pace with the changing economy.”
A link to the official press release from CIC appears here.
On June 26, 2010, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) published proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette, which will increase the personal net worth and investment amounts utilized by the Canadian Federal Immigrant Investor Program (the “Program”). Under the proposed regulations, the investment required under the Program will increase from $400,000.00CAD to $800,000.00CAD. In addition, the personal net worth required to qualify under the Program will increase from $800,000.00CAD to $1.6 Million CAD. Once the comment period has ended, the final regulations will be published and these higher investment and personal net worth amounts will become effective.
CIC has also published Ministerial Instructions in the Canada Gazette, which will create an “administrative pause” from June 26, 2010 until the date that the final regulations become effective. According to the Ministerial Instructions, no applications under the Program will be accepted unless they are post-marked or received by CIC before June 26, 2010. No subsequent applications will be accepted until the final regulations become effective. The objective of this “administrative pause” is to mitigate the growing surge in such applications under the current investment and personal net worth levels.
According to CIC, a net worth of $800,000CAD in 1999 was considered substantial enough to attract applicants with the financial wherewithal and expertise to make a significant positive economic contribution to Canada. Due to increasing global wealth, a net worth of $800,000 is now within easy reach of a modest property owner in a large city, who may not have other transferable resources as originally envisioned. In addition, CIC states that most other countries with similar programs now require an investment closer to $1 Million CAD. It therefore feels that the Program has become underpriced on the international market. CIC wishes to increase the investment amount to $800,000.00CAD for this reason.
CIC has indicated that the current net economic benefit to Canada from each investment made under the program is only $59,229.00CAD due to the requirement to repay the investment after five years. It estimates that, under the new investment level, the net economic benefit to Canada will increase to approximately $89,000.00CAD.
On May 20, 2010, the Department of State (“DOS”) published an interim final rule in the Federal Register to increase nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, also known as the Machine-Readable Visa (“MRV”) fee, and Border Crossing Card (“BCC”) fees. The interim final rule also establishes a tiered structure with separate fees for different nonimmigrant visa categories. The new fees are scheduled to go into effect on June 4, 2010.
According to DOS website, it is increasing fees to ensure sufficient resources to cover the rising cost of processing nonimmigrant visas. The fee increase applies both to nonimmigrant visas placed in passports and to border crossing cards issued to certain applicants in Mexico.
According to DOS, the new, tiered fee structure was created to cover the higher unit costs for processing certain categories of nonimmigrant visas that are more complicated and require more in-depth consideration than most other categories of nonimmigrant visas. For a number of reasons, including new security enhancements, DOS believes that the $131.00USD MRV fee set on January 1, 2008 no longer covers the current, actual cost of processing nonimmigrant visas.
As of June 4, 2010, the following MRV fees will be applicable:
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney extended his thanks today to Vancouver police and British Columbia prosecutors for their work recently in convicting an immigration consultant of fraud. Minister Kenney reiterated his intention to bring in further measures at the federal level to ensure consultants are more closely monitored and regulated, and that those who commit fraud are punished.
“Unscrupulous consultants are a significant problem and tackling it requires all levels of government to work together and make it a priority,” said Minister Kenney. “This case sends a message to fraudulent consultants that if they attempt to steal money from people trying to immigrate to this country, they will be caught and they will be punished.”
“Preying on people who are desperate to have a new start in Canada, or who are trying to bring their family members here, is unconscionable. As the Speech from the Throne promised, we will be taking steps to address this.”
Earlier this month in Vancouver, after an investigation by the West Vancouver Police Department, consultant Fereydoun Hadad was sentenced in provincial court to one year in prison after pleading guilty in January to defrauding a man seeking to immigrate to Canada from Iran of over $49,000, and for using a document as if it were genuine while knowing that said document was forged. A one year probation term will follow the prison sentence.
Mr. Hadad had convinced the prospective immigrant to set up a bank account in Canada, saying it was needed to immigrate in the investor class. He helped him set up the account and then forged the man’s signature to take the money out of the account.
The official press release is available here.