What this episode is about?

Nobody comes to Canada with expectation of not being successful. Immigration to a new country, however, often puts newcomers into unfortunate circumstances. Too many immigrants are unable to fulfill their potential because their professional certification is not valid in Canada. Getting certified in Canada is challenging to the absolute majority of newcomers, as it requires significant financial resources. Financial challenges are aggravated by the fact that newcomers often have low credit scores in Canada and thus are subject to terrible interest rates for their loans.

Well, there is a solution to this “no money – no certification, no certification – no money” loop!

Windmill provides microloans of up to $15,000 to skilled immigrants and refugees so they can succeed in their careers. They support clients to obtain the Canadian licensing or training required to work in their field, or to secure a position which matches their level of education, skills, and experience. Their loans can pay for exams, training, assessments, books and materials, living allowance, relocation costs, professional association fees, and other expenses related to advancing their career.

Thanks to these loans newcomers are included in the labor market in Canada and can compete for high wage jobs fully applying their foreign experience and knowledge. Higher wages mean higher taxes. As a result newcomers pay higher taxes and spend their hard-earned money in Canada thus stimulating economy.

About today’s guest of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Paula Calderon

National Director, Client Success

Originally from Colombia, Paula has spent her career leading workforce development projects that support the economic integration of newcomers to Canada. In the past, she pioneered ESL programs, worked on paid internship programs and oversaw various employment services and bridging programs supporting internationally trained professionals. She has also worked as a professor in the Career Development Practitioner program at George Brown College, has served as a mentor to newcomers and is the former President of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Colombian Professional Association. In 2018, Paula completed the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunity program and became an Aspen Institute Economic Opportunity Fellow.

You can reach out to Paula via:

• LinkedIn: Windmill Microlending
• Twitter: @windmillcanada
• Facebook: Windmill Microlending

Contact Windmill Microlending: 1-855-423-2262, windmillmicrolending.org

About the host of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Mark Holthe is a Canadian Immigration Lawyer based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He has started his legal career with a large national law firm in Calgary where he initiated the business immigration practice at the firm. Since those early days, he has had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of law firm configurations before finally realizing that the best place for him was within the confines of an immigration boutique firm of his own making.

As a Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark has particular experience in assisting clients with all aspects of Canadian immigration law. He assists large national and multinational companies in navigating the complex world of Canadian immigration and provides strategic immigration advice to international and domestic companies seeking to recruit and retain foreign skilled and semi-skilled personnel.

Mark also assists temporary foreign workers with their transition to permanent resident status in Canada and over the past few years, he has taken great satisfaction in helping individuals and families with their various immigration related needs. Mark finds no greater satisfaction than helping to facilitate the reunification of families.

While attending law school, Mark worked as an Immigration officer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada on the Alberta/Montana border. While completing his final year of law school, he worked as a pro bono student to the Canada Border Services Agency Hearings Officers representing the minister before the Immigration Appeal Division in Calgary, Alberta. As a result of his prior experience as an immigration officer, Mark has been able to enhance the services he offers to his cross-border and overseas clients. Since that time, he has continued to work hard fostering positive relationships with the various immigration related government departments and has focused a significant portion of his practice on cross-border matters.

About the Sponsor of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

This episode sponsored by Canadian Immigration Institute, a platform designed to help people navigate Canadian immigration on their own. On this platform, I offer Do-It-Yourself (DIY) video courses guiding you through the process of submitting your immigration application without a need to hire a lawyer. These video courses not only allow people to better understand Canadian immigration but also earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian immigration.

Visit Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com

Listen to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify and iTunes

Canadian Immigration Podcast is being broadcasted on our iTunes and Spotify channels. If you have enjoyed this podcast and think someone else would, too, please subscribe and share this episode!

Subscribe to our various social media channels

If you want to connect with me or retain Holthe Immigration Law to assist you with immigration to Canada feel free to book a consultation on our official website: www.holthelaw.com

Additionally, consider subscribing to our social media channels to stay up to date with the news on Canadian Immigration:

Canadian Immigration Institute Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvm03Tm2e-ndNkWhiiQUlA

Canadian Immigration Institute Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianImmigrationInstitute

Express Entry Law Private Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanadianImmigrationInstitute

Holthe Immigration Law LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/holthe-business-immigration-law

Holthe Immigration Law Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/holthe.immigration.law/

Holthe Immigration Law Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/HoltheLaw

Episode 084 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

What this episode is about?

In the midst of COVID 19 pandemic we, Canadian Immigration Lawyers often ask ourselves – what is going on with immigration and how Canada can adapt to the new normal with existing and new potential immigration programs? In light of the ongoing and severe economic crisis Canada really could use some investment and even consider rolling out a new immigration program to get back on track with the recovery from consequences of the pandemic. This would allow our country to bring in new awesome people, give a boost to our economy, create new jobs across Canada.

As a chair of the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section I have had a great opportunity to discuss immigration with number of organizations, including the Conference Board of Canada, which has been proposing some alternatives to the investor program. So, in this episode I bring on Phil Cohen to discuss what can we do as a country to help encourage more investment in Canada. During this episode we look into investor programs existing in other countries, in particular EB-5 program that exists in United States. This, then leads us to a discussion of how a program, similar to EB-5 would be of benefit to Canada.

EB-5 is an American immigration program that allows both, Americans and foreign nationals to set up companies that can raise money from immigrant investors. In return, investors can qualify for a Green Card (alternative to Canadian Permanent Residence) so long that the business achieves certain requirements, such as:

• The investor has to invest a minimum amount of $900,000 or $1,800,000 USD
• The business must create a minimum of 10 jobs for each investor the business takes on

This program allows to attract significant amount of investments to small and large businesses.  In times of economic uncertainty the program like EB-5, without a doubt, benefits not only the business seeking investment, but also has a great positive impact on economy and the public. Moreover, the cost of the capital typically ends up being much lower when businesses seeks for investments through EB-5 program.

Tune in to learn more details about American EB-5 program and potential benefit Canada would enjoy if we implement similar program in our country.

About today’s guest of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Phil Cohen is the founder and president of Strategic Element as well as the Editor-in-Chief of The EB-5 Definitive Guide (see: www.starteb5.com for more information). Phil has a long history of developing businesses, business concepts and products, dating back to 1993. With a career that began in the manufacturing sector, and grew to include new developments in technology and a variety of start-ups, Phil has progressively built up experience in the area of new business development with a focus on transforming ideas in to viable business models.

Phil has worked with large public companies as well as small and mid-sized start-ups and businesses.

Beyond the development of business concepts, models and plans, Phil has taken a hands-on role in the launch of several businesses and business initiatives. In so doing he has faced firsthand the realities and challenges faced by new businesses. This firsthand experience has provided him with the insight and real-life exposure necessary to develop businesses and business plans that work.

About the host of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

Mark Holthe is a Canadian Immigration Lawyer based in Lethbridge, Alberta. He has started his legal career with a large national law firm in Calgary where he initiated the business immigration practice at the firm. Since those early days, he has had the opportunity to work in a wide variety of law firm configurations before finally realizing that the best place for him was within the confines of an immigration boutique firm of his own making.

As a Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark has particular experience in assisting clients with all aspects of Canadian immigration law. He assists large national and multinational companies in navigating the complex world of Canadian immigration and provides strategic immigration advice to international and domestic companies seeking to recruit and retain foreign skilled and semi-skilled personnel.

Mark also assists temporary foreign workers with their transition to permanent resident status in Canada and over the past few years, he has taken great satisfaction in helping individuals and families with their various immigration related needs. Mark finds no greater satisfaction than helping to facilitate the reunification of families.

While attending law school, Mark worked as an Immigration officer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada on the Alberta/Montana border. While completing his final year of law school, he worked as a pro bono student to the Canada Border Services Agency Hearings Officers representing the minister before the Immigration Appeal Division in Calgary, Alberta. As a result of his prior experience as an immigration officer, Mark has been able to enhance the services he offers to his cross-border and overseas clients. Since that time, he has continued to work hard fostering positive relationships with the various immigration related government departments and has focused a significant portion of his practice on cross-border matters.

About the Sponsor of the Canadian Immigration Podcast

This episode sponsored by Canadian Immigration Institute, a platform designed to help people navigate Canadian immigration on their own. On this platform, I offer Do-It-Yourself (DIY) video courses guiding you through the process of submitting your immigration application without a need to hire a lawyer. These video courses not only allow people to better understand Canadian immigration but also earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian immigration.

Visit Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com

Listen to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify and iTunes

Canadian Immigration Podcast is being broadcasted on our iTunes and Spotify channels. If you have enjoyed this podcast and think someone else would, too, please subscribe and share this episode!

Subscribe to our various social media channels

If you want to connect with me or retain Holthe Immigration Law to assist you with immigration to Canada feel free to book a consultation on our official website: www.holthelaw.com

Additionally, consider subscribing to our social media channels to stay up to date with the news on Canadian Immigration:

Canadian Immigration Institute Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgvm03Tm2e-ndNkWhiiQUlA

Canadian Immigration Institute Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianImmigrationInstitute

Express Entry Law Private Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CanadianImmigrationInstitute

Holthe Immigration Law LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/holthe-business-immigration-law

Holthe Immigration Law Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/holthe.immigration.law/

Holthe Immigration Law Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/HoltheLaw

However, what if you never intended to misrepresent your case or did not even know that you have misrepresented something? This is just one of the issues that I have discussed with Rekha McNutt in today’s episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast where we touched on the various aspects of appealing the removal of PRs for misrepresentation.

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha has focused much of her practice on Federal Court Judicial Review applications of various types of negative immigration-related decisions.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is the past-Chair (2015-2016 & 2016-2017) of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section.

In this episode Rekha and I had an awesome and engaging conversation about misrepresentation and the consequences of such wrongdoings. It is surprising that there are so many ways how almost anyone can become a victim of their own carelessness, lack of understanding of the immigration processes or even reports filed by their close circle of friends or relatives. Rekha gave a full explanation of what misrepresentation really is and how serious and challenging the consequences may get if IRCC believes there was a misrep. Additionally, in this episode we discussed the following:

• what is the misrepresentation;
• examples of Innocent Misrepresentation;
• misrepresentation on inadmissibility vs. misrepresentation on eligibility;
• different ways IRCC finds out about cases of misrep;
• fairness letter and Section 44 reports;
• the process of removal of permanent residents for misrepresentation;
• different ways to fight your case if Immigration Division issues a removal order.

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

• Additional Resources:

  • Rekha’s firm: http://www.caronpartners.com/
  • How to contact Rekha: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com 
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Topics for our Next Podcast

If you have a suggestion for topics we could cover in the Podcast, please drop me a line at mholthe@holthelaw.com. If you know of anyone that would be interested in coming on the Podcast as a guest, please send them my way. share on facebook, share on twitter, share on LinkedIn

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes and Spotify

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha has focused much of her practice on Federal Court Judicial Review applications of various types of negative immigration-related decisions.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is the past-Chair (2015-2016 & 2016-2017) of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section.

In this episode Rekha and I had a very interesting discussion on challenging removal of PRs from Canada based on criminality. Rekha shared insights and demystified what happens to a PR charged with a criminal offense and how this fact is treated both within criminal as well as immigration system. Additionally, in this episode we discussed the following:

• consequences for a PR when charged with a criminal offense;
• types of criminal charges and difference between serious and regular criminality;
• options for appealing removal order;
• practical aspects of representing a client in appealing removal orders.

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

• Additional Resources:

  • Rekha’s firm: http://www.caronpartners.com/
  • How to contact Rekha: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com 
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes and Spotify

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha has focused much of her practice on Federal Court Judicial Review applications of various types of negative immigration-related decisions.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is the past-Chair (2015-2016 & 2016-2017) of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section.

In this episode Rekha and I had a very engaging discussion of all sorts of issues related to challenging Removal Orders and answered some of the most common questions about residency requirement for Canadian Permanent Residents:

• How can you lose your PR status in Canada?
• How much time do you have to stay in Canada to maintain your PR Status?
• Can a Canadian PR be turned away at the border for not meeting the residency requirement?
• How much time you have for appealing your Removal Order?
• Does the process of filing an appeal to IAD differ for in-Canada and outside of Canada appellants?
• Are there any exceptions to the residency requirement?
• What does a hearing at Immigration Appeals Division look like?
• How can you justify your absence in Canada?

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

• Additional Resources:

  • Rekha’s firm: http://www.caronpartners.com/
  • How to contact Rekha: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com 
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes and Spotify

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

For US companies relying upon foreign workers, Monday, June 23, 2020, was a day of significant disappointment. President Trump announced that many categories of foreign workers would no longer be granted entry to the US until the end of 2020. Fortunately, Canada’s immigration policy is far more welcoming. If you are a US company that is going to be hurt by these latest rounds of restrictions, Canada may just be the answer. Tune in to this episode where US Immigration Attorney, Nicole Ezer, explains what these restrictions mean for your company and Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Mark Holthe, shares some great “made-in-Canada” solutions to turn your disappointment into relief.

Many US companies were left reeling on Monday, June 23rd when President Trump announced that H-1B, L, J and H-2B visas would be blocked until the end of 2020. These four non-immigrant visa categories are relied upon heavily by US companies seeking to fill critical skill shortages in the US.

Now what is a US company going to do?

They were already hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but this most recent announcement feels like insult to injury.

In this episode US immigration attorney, Nicole Ezer shares some great insight into what these restrictions really mean for US companies and why things may not be as bad as they seem.  I then take some time to pull the curtain back on some very practical solutions that Canada’s facilitative immigration policy offer to struggling US companies and their foreign workers.

Nicole Ezer is the founder of Ezer Law Group, a business immigration boutique law firm based in Houston, Texas. She is my go-to attorney for any US bound business immigration need. We have collaborated for years on mutual cross-border clients and I have fortunate to call her my friend.

Nicole has practiced in the areas of family-based immigration, naturalization and asylum and participated in activities that provide education to industries and communities regarding immigration issues.

She is a frequent speaker before industry, HR groups and for attorney CLE activities, and is a 2002 Graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum. Nicole has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, teaching “Business Immigration Basics”.

Nicole has focused her practice on immigration policies and planning and consulting for companies of all sizes. She is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Nicole develops, implements and updates immigration policies for multinational corporations.

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Canada is a great option for suffering US companies?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Nicole Ezer’s law firm: https://ezerlawgroup.com/
  • The best way to reach Nicole:
    • Phone: (281) 404-7781
    • Website: https://ezerlawgroup.com/contacts/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes and Spotify

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Are you frustrated with your language scores? Have you considered writing both language tests? If you want to improve your scores, you have to listen to this episode with professional language instructor Garret Lim. He shares the real goods on what makes the IELTS different than the CELPIP. You can decide which one is better.

In this episode, Garret Lim shared some great insight into exactly what the CELPIP and IELTS tests cover. By knowing the differences between the two tests, you can make the right choice as to which is going to allow you to score the highest. After all, your entire future in Canada depends upon it.

Garret Lim is a career ESL teacher that has spent over 13 years teaching English as a second language. He has taught in 3 countries and has had students from over 30 different countries. Recently, he’s narrowed his focus a bit and is now specializing in test preparation for people wanting to immigrate to Canada who need to reach a certain proficiency band on one of the tests.

1. Why English is so important with respect to your Express Entry
2. What the CLB is and what it represents
3. How the CLB is measured.
4. Differences between the CELPIP and the IELTS
5. Final advice or tips for those taking the tests

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Is the IELTS really better than the CELPIP?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Garret’s website: http://tu-easy.online 

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes and Spotify

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Anyone dealing with a Canadian Border Services Officer understands right away that they carry considerable power and authority over who is granted entry to Canada and who is not. In this episode Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Arghavan Gerami joins me to discuss some challenges that currently exist within the Canada Border Services Agency and attempt to offer some solutions on how things can improve.

In this episode we will pull back the curtain on the inner workings of the CBSA. We discuss whether the approaches taken by the CBSA during COVID-19 are consistent with the principles of Open Government heralded by the Liberal government in their election platforms.  We also discussed the lack of transparency demonstrated bt the CBSA and whether the approach they take is consistent with the rule of law, a foundational pillar of our society.

There has been a significant lack of responsiveness by the CBSA to any attempts at dialogue in understanding the rationale for their decisions in turning people away at the border during COVID-19. Understanding the legal basis for these decisions formulates a critical component in the advice we provide to our clients as immigration lawyers. Lately, we have been left with far more questions than we have answers.

In a pandemic, people need even more transparency and clarity when it comes to the implementation of new policies and procedures. This lack of transparency can be seen most acutely in how the CBSA has been interpreting what is considered to be a “non-essential” purpose in the context of Canada’s travel restrictions. This episode was created in an attempt to encourage greater transparency with the CBSA. We hope you like it.

Arghavan Gerami Bio:

Arghavan Gerami is the Founder and Senior Counsel at Gerami Law Professional Corporation (‘PC’), a full-service immigration law firm in Ottawa, Ontario.  She completed her Juris Doctor and Master of Laws at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007.

Ms. Gerami worked at the Ministry of Attorney General and the Department of Justice before transitioning to private practice in 2011. She also had the privilege of serving the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Evans at the Federal Court of Appeal.

Since founding Gerami Law PC in 2011 Ms. Gerami has focused her practice on immigration and refugee litigation and represented numerous clients before the Federal and provincial Courts, as well as the various divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Ms. Gerami is an Executive Member on the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.  In 2017 and 2018 Ms. Gerami also served on the Organizing Committee of the annual CBA Immigration Law Conference.  She has been interviewed on national and local television and quoted in national and local newspapers such as The Globe and Mail, National Post and the Ottawa Citizen.  Ms. Gerami has also published numerous journal articles, presented at immigration and refugee law conferences and events across Canada, and provided guest lectures at the University of Ottawa.

As a Supervising Principal to articling students, Ms. Gerami enjoys facilitating the career development of law students and young lawyers. She also enjoys traveling as well as spending time with her two children, husband and Bambi (her dog).

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Is the CBSA above the Law?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Arghavan’s law firm: https://www.geramilaw.com/
  • Arghavan’s contact info: https://www.geramilaw.com/contact.html

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

This is the second part of a two-part series on the Canadian Business Immigration process. In this episode, immigration lawyer, Jeffrey Lowe, and I dive into the different types of investment strategies available to foreign nationals seeking to acquire permanent resident status in Canada. We take some time to pull back the curtain on the most common investment vehicles available to potential business immigration clients as they seek to realize their dream of securing PR status for them and their families.

Listen to our Canadian Immigration Podcast episode #077:

During this episode, you will learn about four common ways foreign nationals can invest in Canada. Jeffrey discusses the pros and cons of each of these pathways, and how to find business opportunities when investing in Canada.

What makes this episode so awesome is the case studies and analysis of different immigration scenarios available to business investors. In addition, this episode is chock-full of practical tips designed to help Canadian immigration lawyers and their high net worth clients navigate the complexities of the business immigration process.

If you would like to learn more about my guest, have a listen to Episode 19 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast where we discussed Jeffrey’s background and how he got into immigration.

Jeffrey Lowe has practiced Immigration and Business law in British Columbia since 1983. He holds both a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and is considered an innovator in the convergence of Business, Technology, and the Law. Jeffrey is the Chief Inspirational Officer of Lowe & Company and has taught Immigration Law, Practice Management and Legal Ethics to lawyers across Canada since 1990.

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Business Immigration programs are alive and well in Canada.”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Jeffrey’s firm: https://www.canadavisalaw.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

If you have a suggestion for topics we could cover in the Podcast, please drop me a line at mholthe@holthelaw.com. If you know of anyone that would be interested in coming on the Podcast as a guest, please send them my way. share on facebook, share on twitter, share on LinkedIn

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

One of the saddest things to see is for skilled immigrants and refugees to sacrifice so much to come to Canada and then not have the ability to continue working in their chosen profession once they get here. One of the more common barriers is the cost of applying for certification.

Often newcomers are unable to afford the application fees upon arrival and end up working in lower paying positions which only leave them with enough income to survive…never being able to afford the application fees. So what’s the solution? …..Windmill Microlending. Listen in to my interview with Onai Abote who shares the remarkable Windmill story and how it has helped countless immigrants realize their dream of working in their chosen profession in Canada.

Onai Petra Abote, is the Community Relationship Specialist with Windmill Microlending (formerly Immigrant Access Fund) in Calgary. Onai joined Windmill Microlending from Postmedia, publishers of the Calgary Herald and Calgary Sun where she was part of the advertising management team working as Media Coordinator and also featured as a columnist for both brands. Her achievements include developing clear internal communications for her department, successfully organizing high profile events, ensuring deadlines were met and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders. She also served as a committee member on the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund Committee – a fund that awards grants to some of the cities agencies working with vulnerable groups.

Onai is a qualified journalist with over 10 years’ experience working as a journalist in Zimbabwe – where she was born and raised. She worked as a freelance television producer for Reuters, and then later as Project Coordinator (and journalist) for The Source – Zimbabwe’s first business and financial news agency launched and supported by Thomson Reuters Foundation and European Journalism Centre.

As the Windmill Microlending Community Relationship Specialist in the Calgary office, Onai’s focus includes executing Windmill Microlending ongoing strategic outreach plan – deepening the organization’s extensive referral network of immigrant-serving organizations, learning institutions, regulatory bodies, professional associations and ethno- and occupation-specific groups. While the primary geographic focus is Calgary and Edmonton, she has also represented Windmill Microlending across British Columbia, and built referral networks across Canada in collaboration with counterparts in other provinces.

In this episode Onai and I covered the following areas:

• who is Windmill Microlending;
• what they do;
• why they do it; and
• how they do it.

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Windmill Microlending…an amazing company.”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Windmill Microlending: https://windmillmicrolending.org/
  • How to apply: https://windmillmicrolending.org/applicants/eligibility/
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

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The renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created a fair amount of anxiety for us immigration lawyers. What would they change? Would caps be put in place on renewals? Would certain professions be removed? Would the work permit options simply be scrapped? With all of the posturing of President Trump, these were all possible outcomes. On September 30, 2018, we learned the fate that awaited NAFTA….

Fortunately, all parties were able to recognize that the free flow of business personnel was in the best interest of all three member countries. When the dust settled, Chapter 16 of the newly branded United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA) was left untouched. We can expect the USMCA to become law some time in early 2020.

Most business immigration lawyers, such as myself (and our clients) let out a significant sigh of relief.

Although some of us carried faint hopes that these negotiations would provide an opportunity to update the list of professionals to include digital media occupations that didn’t exist back in 2004 when NAFTA was created. We will continue to settle for the status quo.

So now that NAFTA has not been scrapped, I want to take this opportunity to remind all of you Canadian, American, and Mexican business owners why the USMCA is so important for the movement of cross-border personnel and why it would have truly sucked to see it go.

In this episode, Billie Young an ex-immigration officer like me and member of my immigration Team here at Stringam LLP, joined me to share our “Top 5 reasons why every Canadian, American, and Mexican company will love the USMCA just as much as they did the old NAFTA“.

1. Business Visitors – working in Canada without a work permit
2. After-Sale Service Providers – service contemplated in original sales contract
3. Professionals – hands down…the best work permit option
4. Intra-company transferees – ideal for cross border transfers
5. Traders / Investors – less useful; however, can fill some gaps left by the others

[Tweet “Top 5 reasons immigration lawyers love the USMCA“]

Additional Resources:

• Mark and Billie’s firm – Stringam LLP: https://www.stringam.ca/
• If you need help with obtaining a work permit under NAFTA (USMCA) you can book a consult here: https://www.stringam.ca/immigration-mark-holthe/
• Text of the proposed United States Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA): https://ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/united-states-mexico-canada-agreement/united-states-mexico
• NAFTA (USMCA) Immigration Policy (Canada): https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/international-free-trade-agreements/north-american.html
• NAFTA Professional’s List: https://www.nafta-sec-alena.org/Home/Texts-of-the-Agreement/North-American-Free-Trade-Agreement?mvid=1&secid=8fd98e3e-4495-43a8-ba47-4a6955d6b5db#Ap1603.D.1

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Visa processing can be tricky business. Although IRCC has taken significant measures to streamline the process and make it easier for us to file applications online and through the various processing centres, inevitably efficiency of process runs into a wall…..for some of our clients, it can be a BRICK WALL. In this episode, Canadian immigration lawyer Christy Jones joins me to discuss some of the more challenging scenarios she has had to work through and together we share some strategies for helping you navigate those quirky cases we all seem to get from time to time.

As a young immigration lawyer, the best decision I ever made was to join the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration section. Why?

Because it is probably the most collegial group of professionals in the country. There was always someone willing to share their past experience dealing with tricky situations. This willingness to share gave me access to a wealth of experience that allowed me the ability to quickly climb the steep immigration learning curve essential to practicing in this ever changing area of the law.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I was joined by immigration lawyer Christy Jones who practices out of her firm in Toronto, to share some insight on the world of visa processing from a practical perspective. Anyone can follow the IRCC guides and document checklists essential for filing a complete application.

However, what do you do when things start to go off the rails and there is no instruction guide on how to deal with it?

You call a trusted colleague to see if they have already experienced something similar.

This episode is devoted to a number of case scenarios where Christy and I share our thoughts on how best to deal with them. Our listeners will quickly discover that despite our many years of immigration practice, and our relatively consistent approach to most situations, there are times when our approaches to resolving an issue can be quite different. I guess this is what makes immigration so challenging, and yet so enjoyable….there is always more than one way to solve a problem.

Here is a short list of the scenarios we discussed in this episode:

Scenario 1: Employee requiring a Work Permit, with one DUI is denied entry to Canada, and advised to seek a TRP through a visa office before attempting to re-enter. His intended position in Canada renders him eligible for expedited processing under the GSS.

Scenario 2: A GSS eligible application is to be prepared under the intra company transfer (specialized knowledge) provisions, but is not terribly strong. The applicant is visa exempt, but you are not sure whether an officer at the port of entry will agree with the specialized knowledge argument to be presented and the applicant has a long flight to Canada. You decide applying at the POE is too risky. Should you apply online to be processed under the GSS or submit the application to the IMWU for an opinion?

Scenario 3: Applicant with a Work Permit approved under the GSS arrives at the port of entry. The work permit is issued indicating that a medical exam is required within 30 days, however the applicant had not resided in a designated country, and there was no medical conducted toward Work Permit approval.

Scenario 4: An applicant eligible for a Work Permit exemption under the GSS is not issued a Visitor Record at the port of entry upon arrival.

[Tweet “Learn some tips on Visa Processing from experienced immigration counsel“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Christy Jones:
  • E-mail: cjones@jonesimmigrationlaw.com
• Christy’s law firm Jones Immigration Law: http://jonesimmigrationlaw.com/
• Case Scenarios discussed in this Episode: Jones Visa Processing Scenarios

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Are you an Alberta based foreign worker frustrated with how high the CRS has climbed for Express Entry? Are you beginning to think you will never get an ITA? If this is you, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program’s new Alberta Opportunity Stream may just be the solution for you. 

In this Episode I am flying solo to waste no time in demystifying the recent changes to the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program. I love to share information about immigration that affects my dear Province of Alberta. Finally, I have something to share that is actually a pretty big deal.

The Alberta Opportunity Stream was previously announced back in 2017 with a proposed launch date of January 2018. However, there was a fairly huge push back when stakeholders realized that anyone on an open work permit was going to be left in the dust when it came to getting nominations from the Province of Alberta. Credit to Brad Trefan and the other powers that be in Edmonton – they suspended the launch of the Alberta Opportunity Stream to listen to stakeholders and make sure they got it right. The local chapter of the Canadian Bar Association was one of many stakeholders who offered their thoughts on the proposed changes.

I think Brad and the gang actually did a pretty good job at getting the balance just about right!

On June 14, 2018 the Alberta Opportunity Stream was officially launched. In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I share my thoughts on the changes and highlight what this new Selection Criteria is all about.

[Tweet “Alberta Opportunity Stream comes to life.“]

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Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP – Season 3 Episode 4 – AINP – Alberta Opportunities Stream Launched

• Second attempt – Dec 2017 originally announced changes with little stakeholder involvement
o Anyone on open work permit – excluded – including PGWP
o Huge backlash resulted in suspension of rollout
• June 14th – relaunched the new Alberta Opportunities Stream

• Lots that we do not know about the new harmonized stream; including the criteria upon which the new Express Entry stream will be based upon.

o significant connection to Alberta likely required
o Maybe somewhat similar to OINP’s Human Capital Stream – don’t know at this stage.
• So what do we know?
• Program was dominated by some sectors and some occupations:

• 6311 – Food Service Supervisors
• 6211 – Retail Sales Supervisors
• 7511 – Transport Truck Drivers
• 1241 – Administrative assistants
• 7284 – Plasterers, Drywall Installers and Finishers and Lathers
• 3421 – Retail Salespersons
• 0631 – Restaurant and Food Services Managers
• 0621 – Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers
• 6315 – Cleaning Supervisors

• Application intake and nomination guidelines may be put in place that would set the maximum number of applications accepted and nominations issued each year, as well as maximums for applications and nominations by sector and occupation. Announcements about application intake and nomination guidelines will be available on the AINP news page.

Nomination certificate limits for 2018
As of June 14, 2018, the AINP:
• is authorized to issue a maximum of 5,600 nominations for the 2018 calendar year. This limit is set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
• has issued 2,277 nomination certificates in 2018  3323 spots left
• has approximately 4,700 applications awaiting assessment for eligibility
• Even with no new applications after June 14th – there are still 1,377 more applications than nomination spots
o There will be more application submitted this year
o We have a number going in right away
o Some will get refused or otherwise found ineligible
o Safe to say a slight backlog will continue to exist.

• So what has the AINP done to “reduce” the influx? A new Selection Criteria

• Let’s take a look at the Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS)’s new selection criteria

Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS)

• Selection Criteria has been both expanded and constricted
• New requirements such as language, education and income will be phased in over the next three years
o These will increase as time goes on – you can check the future requirements out at the Planned AOS Criteria Changes webpage.
o

Okay, let’s dig into this new selection criteria.

1. Residency status and work permit requirements

At the time your application is postmarked and at the time the AINP assesses your application:
• Valid work permit (not implied status or restoring status) based on one of these categories:
o LMIA
o IMP WP (includes IEC, NAFTA ICTs etc.) Spousal Open WPs EXCLUDED?
o PGWP AND:
 Graduated from Alberta Advanced Education approved post secondary institution AND;
 If 1 to 2 year diploma, the credential must be on the approved Alberta Advanced Education Undergraduate credentials list
• NOTE: Bachelors, masters, doctorals just need to be from one of the approved Alberta educational institutions AND
 Current occupation must be related to your field of study in Alberta
• If graduated with eligible 1 year certificate, your current occupation must also be related to your previous undergraduate or graduate field of study outside Canada.

2. Occupation requirements

• Only eligible occupations can qualify – must be on the list AND
• Work in occupation that matches your previous work experience – we’ll discuss what this means a little later
• If PGWP holder, your occupation must be related to your field of study in Alberta
o Issues:
 What does “related to your field of study mean”? How closely related? Only time will tell.
• Will a business admin diplomas still work for filling a food service supervisor position at Dairy Queen? – Maybe?
• If PGWP holder with only one year certificate your occupation must also relate to your previous undergrad or graduate field of study outside Canada? —-

o WOW! That is super restrictive for PGWP holders with one year programs. (Basically saying….go to Express Entry and don’t burn up our AINP nomination quota)
• POSITIVE – Most 0,A,B C AND D occupations will work – but there are ineligible occupations

• Two ineligible occupations lists exist (if your occupation is on the list – can’t apply to AINP:
o AOS list – applies to everyone – if your occupation is on the list
o ESDC High wage/ Low wage Alberta LMIA refusal to process list – applies to PGWP holders only

3. English or French language requirements
• CLB 4 – for each skill until June 14, 2019 – increases to CLB5
o 3413 Nurse aides and orderlies = CLB 7
• CELPIP/IELTS/TEF – valid for 2 years

4. Education requirements

• Minimum high school  in your country until Jan 1, 2012 = AB HS equivalency required
• PGWP – AB school, on the education list

5. Work experience requirements

• You must be working in an occupation that matches your work experience at the time your application is postmarked and at the time the AINP assesses your application.

• Qualifying Work Experience:
o Min 12 months – F/T in current occupation within last 18 months OR
o Min 24 months – F/T in current occupation in Canada (overseas) within last 30 months
 Can be a combination of experience in AB, Canada and/or abroad OR
o IF PGWP holder – min 6 months – F/T in current occupation in last 18 months AND current occupation related to your field of study in Alberta
• Work experience in Qualifying Period must be:
o F/T (30 hrs/w) NOTE: P/T will not be considered
o For same occupation as your current occupation
o Obtained in legal status
o Not gained while studying or doing co-op or internship
 EXCEPTION – co-op work placement or internship as part of study program
• Paid, F/T (30 hrs)
• Directly related to current occupation
• Work experience gained in Alberta

• Additional requirements:
o Licensing, registration, certification to work in occupation
 POINT TO CONSIDER: Optional Trades may now be eligible without trade certificate – provided not on the ineligible list
o Full time job offer from Alberta employer and working for that employer
 Employer must:
• Be incorporated or registered and operating in Alberta
o Established production capability, plant or place of business AND
• Job Offer signed by both parties and must:
o Continuous paid work
o F/T – 30 hours/week min
o Employment for 12 months+
o Work in your current occupation AND
o Eligible occupation that meets work permit requirements
 LMIA, IMP or PGWP related to field of study and education
o Ineligible situations:
 P/T employees – regardless of hours
 Independent Contractors
 Business owners
 Temp agency workers
 Directors, shareholders or agents of Alberta employer on Corporate Registry System (CORES)
 working in a home=based business
 virtual employees working for AB employer “outside” Alberta.

6. Income level requirements

• must meet a minimum gross annual income level based on your “family unit” size.
• Spouse, dependent child (under 22) (whether accompanying you or not)
• Must use the “Income Calculation Worksheet”
• Can include “taxable benefits” in income calculation:
o ■ automobiles or other motor vehicles
o ■ board and lodging
o ■ gifts and awards
o ■ group term life insurance policies
o ■ interest-free or low-interest loans
o ■ meals
o ■ security options
o ■ tool reimbursement or allowance
o ■ transit passes
o ■ tuition fees
• Can count spouse’s income towards family unit income if:
o has a yearly Alberta income before tax that is greater or equal to 42% of your yearly income before tax, and
o has a bona fide job offer from an Alberta employer for part-time or full-time work in any occupation and is working with authorization for that Alberta employer.

• Use Alberta’s Low Income Measure (LIM) chart (currently at 70% of the AB LIM)
o Increase to 75% Jan 1, 2020
o Increase to 80% Jan 1, 2021

[/spoiler]

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Do you need to get documents translated quickly for your immigration application? Are you struggling with who to choose and how to know if the person doing the translation is worth their salt? Tune in to this Episode where I interview the owner of one of the most respected translation and interpreter companies in Alberta. Not only will you come away with essential tips on how to choose a translator, but greater insight on how difficult it actually is to translate properly. Join me as we pull the curtains back on the mysterious world of document translation and interpretation.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I caught up with Monica De Maria, the Owner and President of Giovanni Translation and Interpretation located in Calgary, Alberta.

Giovanni Translation & Interpretation was formed 37 years ago in Calgary, Alberta. The company has grown over the decades and now offers translation and interpretation services in over 60 languages to the federal, provincial and municipal governments, oil companies, law enforcement agencies, the Courts, law firms, insurance companies, medical professionals, and community organizations.

The company was founded by Monica’s parents and she has continued forward in maintaining the company as one of the most well respected translation and interpretation companies in all of Alberta and beyond. It was an absolute pleasure to interview Monica. As a lawyer or consultant advising on Canadian immigration matters, you are most assuredly going to have need of a translator or interpreter at some point in time.

Monica is a graduate of the University of Calgary, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with distinction and of the University of Ottawa, where she was granted a BA Honours in Translation Magna Cum Laude.

Following graduation, Monica launched her career as a professional translator and interpreter offering services in any combination of French, Spanish and English. She is recognized as a certified legal interpreter by both the Association of Translators & Interpreters of Alberta (ATIA) and the Alberta Court Interpreters Association (ACIA). She is also accredited by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) as a French and Spanish interpreter and provides interpretation services to the IRB, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (formerly known as CIC). She travels all over the province of Alberta to interpret at court proceedings and questionings.

In addition to her skills as a legal interpreter, Monica is also recognized as a French and Spanish medical interpreter. She completed the Health Care Interpreter program at Bow Valley College in both French and Spanish and interprets at hospitals and clinics and for Independent Medical Examinations. Moreover, Monica provides simultaneous interpretation services at conferences and for the government.

In this episode, we covered the following topics:

1. The history of her company and how Monica got into translation.
2. The difference between a certified and uncertified translator.
3. The most common documents Giovanni translates for immigration purposes.
4. The process involved in getting a document translated.
5. How interpreters work with the IAD and IRB
6. Tips for choosing a translator
7. Best practices for working with a translator to get your documents translated fast.

[Tweet “Essential tips on getting your immigration document translated fast“]

Links from the Podcast

1. The best way to reach Monica De Maria:
   • E-mail: gtiservices@shaw.ca
   • Phone: 403-542-7614
2. Monica’s company – Giovanni Translators and Interpreters: http://www.gti-services.ca/contact

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

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Are you a foreign national dreaming of immigrating to Canada through Express Entry, but struggling to score high enough on the IELTS exam to qualify.  If you are… you are not alone! Over 1/3 of the comments on my Express Entry Law facebook group (now over 80,000 strong) relate in some way to that darn english test.

In this episode, former IELTS examiner and now English language instructor, Kris Enders joins me to pull the curtain back on the IELTS exam and share some essential tips on how to not only improve your current score, but rock the exam!

Although this topic departs slightly with the traditional immigration law theme on my Podcast, when over 1/3 of the comments on your Canadian immigration social media platform are focused on the IELTS exam, it’s time to shed some light on this nasty little beast that torments so many people.

I was introduced to Kris Enders, former IELTS examiner and now founder of the Canadian Mosaic English School when he found his way onto my Express Entry Law Facebook Group a few months back. Within a very short period of time, I knew that he was someone I could endorse. As a former high school teacher myself, his methods and strategies for mastering the IELTS exam were exactly in line with my approach to teaching.

After spending some time with Kris, I knew instantly that I need to get him on the Podcast so that he could share his knowledge and experience with not only all of you listeners to my Podcast, but many of your clients who are actively trying to obtain that elusive Invitation to Apply (ITA) through Express Entry. I know that anyone who takes the time to listen to this Podcast is going to realize why Kris is the “go-to” guy for improving English language abilities.

In this Episode we covered the following specific topics:

1. How student perception of the exam affect their success.
2. Why IELTS prep books really don’t help in scoring above a CLB7.
3. Why learning more vocabulary is not going to translate into the highest IELTS scores.
4. The greatest mistake people make when trying to improve their reading scores.
5. Understanding why scoring high on listening is really 50% reading skills.

[Tweet “Essential tips to improve your IELTS scores?“]

Special Discount for Canadian Immigration Podcast Subscribers

Kris and I got together to offer a discount to CIP listeners who are interested in taking some of Kris’ online training. If you let Kris know you heard about him through the “Canadian Immigration Podcast“, he will give you 10% off his regular rates. Regardless of the discount, it will be money well spent.

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Kris Enders:
  • Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/mosaicenglishschool/ 
• Special Resource Provided by Kris: 5 Tips for Language Test Success

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As many are likely aware by now… US President Donald Trump is acting quickly on his campaign promises. Through the use of some very strategic executive orders, he has shaken the very foundation of immigration law and policy in the United States. Although this Podcast is traditionally devoted to Canadian immigration, my special guest Heather Segal, a Canadian immigration lawyer and US immigration attorney, shares insight on not only what is happening in the US, but the potential impact it could have for Canadian immigration.

If you think what is happening in the US will have no impact on us in Canada, listen to what Heather has to say… you might just have a different outlook when you are finished!

If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering what the heck is going on south of the border. Although many of us thought President Donald Trump would do some pretty crazy things while in office, I’ll bet none of you thought he would act so quickly to ensure his campaign promises became a reality. I am seriously starting to think that President Trump’s wall between Mexico and the US might actually happen……. who actually “pays for it” is an entirely different topic.

Heather Segal and I had a great time talking about what is happening in the US and musing over the possible ramifications, both good and bad, for immigration in Canada. One thing is certain, we will be impacted one way or another. With any luck for us immigration lawyers, Canadian immigration will be booming once again in just a few short months.

Heather Segal is founder of Segal Immigration Law in Toronto. She is widely recognized for her expertise in immigration law and she speaks regularly at conferences and seminars throughout the world. Heather practices exclusively in the area of Canadian immigration law and American Consular and Border immigration law.

She has spent a decade as a Director on the Board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  She is currently a member of the AILA Customs and Border Protection National Liaison Committee. She was voted by her peers as one of the world’s leading practitioners in corporate immigration law in 2018 in Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration, a distinction I am also grateful to have received.

In this episode Heather and I discussed the following topics:

• background on the current executive orders and what they mean;
• how US immigration policy compares with immigration policy in Canada;
• the potential impacts of US immigration policy on Canadian immigration;
• what President Trump intends for H1B and L visas in the US; and
• what does President Trump have in store for NAFTA.

[Tweet “How will Trump’s immigration policy impact on Canada.“]

Additional Resources:

• The best ways to reach Heather Segal:
  • E-mail: heather@segalilaw.com
  • Phone: 416-656-2345
  • LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersegal1
• Heather’s firm Segal Immigration Law: http://segalilaw.com/
• Full Text of Trump’s Executive Order – “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States“: http://www.npr.org/2017/01/31/512439121/trumps-executive-order-on-immigration-annotated

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Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you are a foreign national planning on immigrating to the Province of Saskatchewan or a human resource manager seeking a way to retain your key Saskatechawan based foreign workers… this Episode is for you.

Canadian immigration lawyer Scott Bell shares some amazing insight on the inner workings of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program from an employer perspective and also touches on some of the unique Provincial regulations that impact on an employer’s ability to recruit foreign workers to work in Saskatchewan.

The various PNPs across the country offer some very unique and focused opportunities for foreign nationals seeking to immigrate to Canada. In most cases these PNPs have very unique requirements that distinguish themselves from the other PNPs. When trying to understand the inner workings of the various PNPs, the best place to go is excellent immigration lawyers like Scott Bell who actually live and practice within the Province of that Provincial Nominee Program.

In this Episode of the Podcast, Scott shares some great insight on the program, its history, and some of the best programs available for foreign workers seeking to immigrate to the Province of Saskatchewan. The information he provides is extremely valuable in helping to demystify some of the more idiosyncratic aspects of the SINP.

By listening to what Scott has to say in this Podcast, you will most definitely avoid some of the significant pitfalls people commonly run into when apply to immigrate to Canada through the SINP. One thing is for certain…although the process seems easy and the government goes out of their way to tell everyone they do not need to hire an immigration lawyer, engaging someone like Scott to help you navigate the SINP is money well spent.

In our interview, Scott and I covered the following topics:

1. background on Scott and how he got into immigration;
2. background information on the SINP;
3. programs ideally suited for companies wishing to retain key TFWs in Saskatchewan;
4. the impact of the Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act in the hiring process;
5. new attractive options for international students seeking immigration through the SINP;
6. Scott’s list of common Do’s and Don’ts when filing a SINP application; and
7. How Scott can be reached.

[Tweet “SPECIAL PNP SERIES – Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Scott Bell: sbell@mlt.com
• Scott’s firm MLT: http://www.mlt.com/
• Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act: http://bit.ly/2gxeNSq
• Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program: http://bit.ly/2haRrm5

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E17: Interview with Scott Bell – Show Notes

Welcome to Scott Bell and background information on his practice.

Q: How did you get into Immigration Law?

With the recent changes to Express Entry, many employers are turning once again to the various Provincial Nominee Programs across the country to assist in their efforts to retain foreign workers that are key employees.

I invited Scott Bell to join me today to talk about the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program.

Before our call I went to the SINP website, but the site is actually down. There must be a lot of people interested in exploring the SINP as an option for immigration.

Q: Can you tell us a little about the program generally and why it might be a good place to start for employers looking for ways to retain key staff in the Province of Saskatchewan?

Q: I understand that the SINP requires all employers to register if they are bringing foreign workers into Saskatchewan.  Can you talk a little bit about this?

Answer: Foreign Worker Recruitment and Immigration Services Act? Outside employer without a base – difficult for new employers. Manitoba Act – LMIA exempt don’t need registration, in SINP there is a double exempt LMIA exempt

Q: What specific programs are available and likely the most beneficial for employers wanting to support their TFWs?

Q: I understand the Province is making a big push to attract international graduates from other Provinces. Can you tell us a little about this?

Q: Can you provide us with your Top 3 Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to seeking nominations through the SINP?

• Employer Registration has to be done first – before recruitment
• Going down the PR when not intend to live the SINP (economic establishment)
• Undertaking to adhere to STS conditions – restricted labour mobility. – compliance.
• Failure in compliance with Provincial Rule can save issues with Federal applications – affect outside of Province Federally as well.

Q: How can people reach you?

[/spoiler]

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If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are getting ready to file a Humanitarian and Compassionate application STOP! ……..DO NOT SUBMIT THE APPLICATION! Before you do … listen to what Immigration Lawyer Jean Munn shared with me in this fantastic episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. I had a ton of respect for Jean before our interview; however, after listening to the amazing insight and strategies Jean so openly shared with me, that respect has skyrocketed into the stratosphere.

If there is one episode you absolutely can not afford to miss, it is this one. Every lawyer, consultant, or foreign national will increase their chance of getting an H&C approved by listening and applying what Jean shared with me in this episode.

This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had interviewing a guest for the podcast. It just blows me away how much helpful information and useful content Jean provided. The information she shared would be easily classified as “trade secret” insights that lawyers just don’t share….yet she did….and so freely and openly. It is easy to see why Jean has been recognized in Alberta for her outstanding service to the profession and her community with the designation of Queen’s Counsel.

Jean Munn practices immigration law with the law firm of Caron and Partners in Calgary, Alberta. She is fluent in Spanish. In fact, 50% of her case load comes from working with Spanish speaking clients. She is truly one of the leaders in our field and a wonderful advocate for disenfranchised foreign nationals who are on the verge of giving up hope that they will ever be able to realize their dream of remaining in Canada permanently.

Jean represents not only individuals, but a number of municipalities, corporations, non-profit agencies, boards, and community organizations. Jean has appeared before all levels of Court in Alberta and before the Federal Court of Canada, Federal court of Appeal, and the Immigration and Refugee Board. She is presently serving as a Member of the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

In this episode, Jean and I covered the following topics related to humanitarian and compassionate applications.

1. Background information on H&C applications.
2. Who is eligible and who is not eligible to apply – the typical scenario.
3. What factors are taken into consideration and what factors cannot be considered.
4. How to apply – including best practices.
5. How to make the strongest application possible.
6. Processing procedure.
7. A ton of other tips and strategies essential for getting an H&C approved.

[Tweet “Humanitarian and Compassionate applications – when all else fails!“]

Additional Resources:

• Jean Munn’s Contact Information: http://www.caronpartners.com/d-jean-munn/
  • e-mail: jmunn@caronpartners.com
• Jean’s List of Highly Recommended Psychologists in Calgary:
  • Dr. Beverley Frizzell: bev.f@telus.net
  • Dr. Hap Davis: hapdavis@gmail.com
  • Gabriela Valenzuela (for Best Interest of the Child): impactps@shaw.ca

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever wondered what happens when Canada wants to remove someone they think is a terrorist or a spy? How do they actually do this? Is there a formal process or do they simply book a flight, toss them on a plane and fly them back to their country of citizenship. Obviously it is not that simple! In my interview with Canadian immigration lawyer, Peter Edelmann, he shares some insight on this very complex area…the intersection of immigration, criminal and national security law in Canada.

S.34 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act sets out the basis upon which the government can find someone inadmissible to Canada on the grounds of security. Peter takes us through each of the various types of activities that can cause a person to be found inadmissible for national security concerns.

Peter is a regular presenter at conferences on various topics related to criminal and immigration law. He regularly appears before Parliamentary committees and before the Supreme Court of Canada on issues related to criminality and national security in the immigration context.

During my interview with Peter Edelmann, we covered the following topics:

• Peter’s background.
• How he got into immigration law.
• Introduction to inadmissibility on security grounds.
• Historical context of s.34 inadmissibility.
• What constitutes:
  • engaging in espionage;
  • subversion by force of any government;
  • engaging in terrorism;
  • being a danger to the security of Canada;
  • engaging in acts of violence that might endanger the lives of Canadians; and
  • being a member of an organization that engages in each of the above.
• How a security investigation is triggered.
• What to expect when your client faces these serious allegations.
• Numerous practical examples of how s.34 has been applied in Canada.
• Relief Provisions
• How to spot potential security issues early on what to do
• How people can reach Peter Edelmann.

[Tweet “How Canada removes terrorist, spies, and other dangerous people.“]

Additional Resources:

• Peter Edelmann’s Contact Information: https://edelmann.ca/ 
  • phone: 604-646-4684
  • e-mail: peter@edelmann.ca
  • twitter: @p_edelmann
• Peter’s Podcast “Borderlines”: https://borderlines.ca/
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (See S.34): http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/I-2.5/FullText.html#h-23

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

When I first considered the topic of Canadian Passports, I thought it would be too boring…I was dead wrong. Canadian immigration lawyer, Les Morley brought life to a topic that most would feel uninteresting at best. He shared some unbelievable insights that you will not want to miss.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I spoke with Les Morley who is an immigration lawyer practicing in the fine metropolis of Kingston, Ontario.  I asked Les to join me on the Canadian Immigration Podcast after reading an amazing paper (Passports in Canada (final)) he wrote on Canadian passports for our National Immigration Law Conference held in Vancouver earlier this year.

Normally people would think that any discussion revolving around Canadian Passport issues would be extremely dry and really not worthy of a full Podcast. If you thought this, you would be wrong.

Les really nailed this one. The interview was awesome. You have to read the paper. It really should be published.

Les  took some time to share with me some unbelievable insight into the entire evolution of passports in Canada as well as the state of things currently and what the future holds as a result of a number of cases coming out of our courts that are transforming the entire area of passport law.

It was great to get to know Les a little more and learn about the fantastic work he is doing in Kingston. Anyone looking for assistance with any immigration related issue in that part of our fine country would be well served by giving Les a call.

During my interview with Les, we discuss the following areas:

• Life as an immigration lawyer in Kingston
• Historical overview of passports in Canada
• Recent passport cases coming out of the courts
• Proposed legislative changes to how passports are used and tracked

[Tweet “Who knew Canadian Passports could be so interesting“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some time stamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

3:33 – Who is Les Morley?

4:32 – What is the Refugee Assistance Program?

19:05 – How did Les get into the practice of Immigration Law?

25:45 – Historical overview and recent trends in the issuance of Canadian Passports.

30:30 – Is it possible to deny somebody a Passport?

36:43 – What does the world look like today with regard to passport denial?

46:08 – How to contact Les Morley.

Additional Resources:

• Les Morley Law Office: http://www.lesmorley.com/
• Les’ LinkedIn Profile:  http://bit.ly/2afgui3
• Les’ Passport Paper (This is awesome): Passports in Canada (final)
• Canada’s amazing passports: http://bit.ly/2adRbOn
• Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s Bill: “An Act to amend the Customs Act”: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ralph-goodale-canada-us-bill-1.3635990

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CIP S1 E27 | Les Morley | Show Notes

Les is an immigration lawyer practicing in Kingston, Ontario. Since 1988, he has helped people from more than 100 countries immigrate to or remain in Canada. He has reunited families, guided students and workers through the process of obtaining papers, and represented everyday people who face admissibility challenges and barriers to citizenship.

Les is a part of a small group of people that applied for and obtained a Refugee Assistance Program facility in Kingston.  He is the only immigration lawyer in his one-horse town, and so he tends to get involved in a lot of the immigration-related projects in town. Similar to Lethbridge where I practice.

Also, this year he has hosted a few episode of a local cable show on COGECOTV (Kingston) called DiverseCity.  Here are links to a few of the episodes, in case there is any value in knowing about them:

• Fresh Start for Refugees

• Frontenac Refugee Support Group

• Kingston Grandmother Connection

Question: How did you get into Immigration?

Introduce topic. Les wrote a great paper on Passports for our past CBA National Conference.

Get e-mails from Federal Court as a list of links to the decisions and Les started seeing a trend related to the evolving area of passport law.

1. Historical evolution of Passports (4:15)
2. Cases that came out regarding Passports:
   1. People not being able to have a passport
   2. Shut down and couldn’t get passport
3. New development using passports going out of the country.
   1. New Bill introduced by Honourable Ralph Goodale

• The best way to reach Les Morley:
• Morley Law Office: http://www.lesmorley.com/
• Skype: http://bit.ly/2afgui3
• Les’ Passport Paper: Passports in Canada (final)
• Canada’s amazing passports: http://bit.ly/2adRbOn
• Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s Bill: “An Act to amend the Customs Act”: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ralph-goodale-canada-us-bill-1.3635990

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

This is the first in a series of episodes focused on the Canadian Provincial Nominee Programs. If you are considering immigrating to the Province of Manitoba, this episode will give you essential tips and strategies on how to improve your chances of securing a Provincial Nomination from the MPNP.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I spoke with Alastair Clarke who is an Immigration lawyer practicing in the Province of Manitoba located in the heart of Canada. While we touch on Alastair’s extensive experience, which encompasses all areas of immigration and refugee law, our main topic of discussion focuses on the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP). The Program is great for individuals who have connections to Manitoba, including family members, work experience, or study experience in the Province. However, without a solid connection, you will likely not have a viable shot at receiving a nomination.

Along with providing extensive insights into how the program works, Alastair touched on how it can be used to transition foreign workers (both low and high skill) into PR status in Canada. Alastair also shared his knowledge on the options available to those who may have a weaker connections to the Province.

During my interview with Alastair, we discuss the following areas:

• The Manitoba PNP
• Options for foreign nationals to immigrate with few connections
• How can the PNP be used to transition foreign workers
• Options for low-skill workers
• Where the MB PNP is headed in the future
• Practical tips for submitting applications to the MB PNP.

[Tweet “What options are available for immigration in your province?“]

Row of Granaries in Manitoba Canada Prairie

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some time stamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

3:57 – Who is Alastair Clarke?

11:28 – How he got into immigration.

16:30 – Overview of the Manitoba PNP.

18:37 – Are there any options available for foreign nationals to immigrate directly to MB without having first worked in the Province?

21:30 – How can the PNP be used to transition foreign workers to PR status in Canada?

26:52 – Are there any options for low-skill workers or is the program just restricted to skilled workers?

28:20 – Where do you see the MB PNP headed for the future? Any upcoming changes or things the listeners should be aware of?

39:06 – Top 3 practical tips for submitting applications OR Top 3 most common errors people make when submitting their applications to the MB PNP.

44:38 – How to contact Alastair Clarke.

Additional Resources:

• Clarke Immigration Law: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/
• Alastair’s e-mail: clarke@apply2manitoba.ca
• Alastair’s Blog: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/blog/
  • “Silly Rules” of Immigration Law: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/repost-silly-rules-immigration-law/
  • MPNP: From Temporary Status to PR Status: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/mpnp-temporary-status-pr-status/
  • MPNP: How to Apply …. and Tips: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/mpnp-how-to-apply/
• Western Canada Line Dance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyanG4BelGg

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CIP S1 E25 – Alastair Clarke | MB PNP | Show Notes

Alastair Clarke

Immigration lawyer practicing in the Province of Manitoba located in the heart of Canada.

Manitoba is clearly the second best province in Canada. I lived there with my wife and two kids while I was attending law school at the University Manitoba.  My whole career got its start at Robson Hall.

Welcome Alastair  thanks for joining us.

Why don’t I start off by telling our listeners a little bit about you?

Alastair was born and raised in Edmonton, Canada. He has worked and lived in more than 20 cities around the world including Winnipeg (current home), Toronto (Canada), Montreal (Canada), Kingston (Canada), Victoria (Canada), Vancouver (Canada), New York City (USA), Washington, DC (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Esmeraldas (Ecuador), Brussels (Belgium), Herstmonceux (UK) and Bordeaux (France). Alastair provides legal services in English, French, Spanish and Japanese.

Alastair Clarke: Legal Experience

Alastair began working with immigration issues as a student leader at the University of Victoria in 1996. For almost 20 years, Alastair has been active with immigrant communities. Alastair’s current legal practice encompasses all areas of immigration and refugee law, including Manitoba Provincial Nominee (MPNP) applications [ which is the topic we will be covering today], family sponsorships, another temporary resident applications.

In addition, Alastair has extensive experience conducting hearings and appeals at all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada and at the Federal Court of Canada including many sponsorship appeals, deportation appeals, misrepresentation appeals, and a whole host of others.

Alastair and I have quite a few things in common. He was also a former Junior High School teacher before becoming a lawyer.

Alastair’s broad work experience helps his clients from every corner of the globe:

Canadian Embassy (Washington, DC; 2002 – 2003);

Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Costa Rica; 2003);

Global Youth Action Network (New York City; 2003 – 2004);

United Nations Millennium Development Goals Project (New York City; 2004);

Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (Kingston, Ontario; 2007);

Society of Professional and Graduate Students (Queen’s University; 2007-2008)

Ontario Bar Association Executive (Toronto, Ontario; 2007 – 2008);

Briefly Speaking/ JUST Editorial Board (Toronto, Ontario; 2005 – 2012);

Unison Health and Community Services Legal Aid clinic (Toronto, Ontario; 2009 – 2013)

Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (Toronto, Ontario; 2012 – present);

Manitoba Bar Association (Winnipeg, Manitoba; 2013 – present)

Alastair’s career in law focuses on social justice issues, professionalism and fighting to make sure people are treated fairly. After graduating from one of Canada’s top law schools, Queen’s University (Faculty of Law) in Kingston, Ontario, he articled at Green and Spiegel LLP, an immigration law boutique on Bay Street in Toronto, Ontario.

From 2007 to the present, Alastair has provided more than 50 presentations, on a volunteer basis, to community groups, lawyers and paralegals. In particular, he trained Legal Clinic staff at their annual training retreats in 2009 and 2010, funded by Legal Aid Ontario. In 2012, Alastair joined the faculty at Seneca College in Toronto and taught Immigration and Refugee Law to post-graduate students. In Winnipeg, Alastair has provided guest lectures to law students at the University of Manitoba (Faculty of Law).

How did you get into immigration?

Topics covered in the Episode:

• What is the Manitoba PNP – General Overview

• Are there any options available for foreign nationals to immigrate directly to MB without having first worked in the Province?

• How can the PNP be used to transition foreign workers to PR status in Canada?

• Are there any options for low-skill workers or is the program just restricted to skilled workers?

• Where do you see the MB PNP headed for the future? Any upcoming changes or things the listeners should be aware of?

• Top 3 – 5 practical tips for submitting applications OR Top 3 – 5 most common errors people make when submitting their applications to the MB PNP.

How can people reach you?

Clarke Immigration Law: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/

Alastair’s e-mail: clarke@apply2manitoba.ca

Alastair’s Blog: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/blog/

• “Silly Rules” of Immigration Law: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/repost-silly-rules-immigration-law/
• MPNP: From Temporary Status to PR Status: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/mpnp-temporary-status-pr-status/
• MPNP: How to Apply …. and Tips: http://www.apply2manitoba.ca/mpnp-how-to-apply/

Western Canada Line Dance Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyanG4BelGg

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever had a problem with a Canadian immigration application and needed to speak with an officer to try to resolve the issue? I’ll bet you spent hours trying to get through to a live call centre agent…only to be told there was no way to speak with the officer actually processing your file. If you are like me, one of the most frustrating aspects of practicing immigration law is trying to have any meaningful communication with Canadian immigration authorities. The government has put up every possible roadblock they can think of to keep people from contacting them regarding their immigration applications.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Liz Wozniak who practices immigration out of her firm, North Star Immigration Law, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Liz and the other lawyers in her firm handle all kinds of complex immigration issues for their clients. However, after my interview with Liz, the one thing that stood out most to me was the fact they cared enough about the practice of immigration law to offer Pro Bono assistance to people in a Province where no legal aide exists for immigration related matters.

Now don’t get me wrong, Liz and her colleagues do charge for the legal services they provide; however, they recognize the importance of helping those most vulnerable by paying forward the gift they have received in practicing Canadian immigration law.

In this spirit of giving, Liz took some time to visit with me about some of the best strategies she has developed over the years to communicate with the various Canadian immigration departments.

In most cases, immigration lawyers tend to hold these strategies pretty close to the vest…..however, Liz was generous enough to pull back the curtain a little bit so  as to help you and I understand what works and what doesn’t in this crazy world of communicating with Canadian Immigration authorities.

In my interview with Liz, we cover some great strategies in communicating with the government in the following circumstances:

• inland applications (IRCC);
• visa office’s abroad (IRCC);
• reporting abuse (ESDC/IRCC);
• labour market impact assessment applications (ESDC/Service Canada); and
• Canadian ports of entry (CBSA).

[Tweet “Trouble contacting #cdnimm- we’ll show you how!“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Elizabeth Wozniak : http://nsimmigration.ca/
• Liz’s Blog – http://nsimmigration.ca/lizs-blog/ 
• Case Specific Enquiry E-mail: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/contacts/web-form.asp
• Government Departments Discussed in the Podcast:
  • Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
  • Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Service Canada/ ESDC): http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/foreign_workers/index.page
  • Canada Border Services Agency: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

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CIP Show Notes – Elizabeth Wozniak, Immigration Lawyer

Liz Wozniak is the owner of North Star Immigration Law Inc., the largest Canadian immigration law firm in the Maritimes. Liz leads a team of four lawyers and one articled clerk in providing legal services and creative solutions in all aspects of Canadian immigration law.

Liz and her team work in a collaborative environment where only lawyers work on client files and they only charge flat rates.

Liz is originally from Edmonton, Alberta and lived overseas for 5 years (in China and Korea), where she taught English after getting a degree in education from the University of Alberta. She graduated from law school in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2001 where she remains as a lawyer and lives with her spouse and two children.

Liz is frequently consulted by journalists, government and non-governmental organizations on matters pertaining to immigration law and policy. She regularly presents at conferences, workshops and panel discussions on immigration, legal ethics and legal innovation.

Question Intro: Tell me a little more about your experience teaching English in China and Korea.  I don’t suppose that had anything to do with you getting into immigration period?

Well… over the past few years it has become increasingly difficult for us as immigration lawyers to be able to speak with anyone within Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) – or other immigration related government departments when we have run into processing delays or other issues with the files we have submitted.

Contacting the government to inquire on an immigration matter has become a real issue.

I’ve brought Liz on to share some insight on this process including some potential tips and strategies in attempting to navigate the painful experience of trying to communicate with all of these lovely government departments.

Question #1:  so if we are an individual who has submitted an application to IRCC and wants to obtain an update on the status of that application, how does one go about doing this? And is there a difference between inquiring on a permanent resident application, versus a temporary resident application? Inside versus Outside Canada?

Question #2: So let’s say that we have an urgent issue that requires us to reach out to an immigration officer on a file that is in process.  Are there other options available to try to deal with the issue as quickly as possible?

Question #3: Bogus IRCC mechanisms for reporting abuse and conditional PR violations.

Question #4:  let’s talk about the CBSA.  Sometimes we have clients that are adjudicating their applications directly at a port of entry.  Is there any way to reach out to these officers at the POEs in advance of someone’s arrival to discuss issues related to an application? Or to speak with an officer who has recently been refused admission to a client?

Question #5:  Okay, let’s now talk about the wonderful world of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and communicating with Service Canada when filing LMIA applications. Do you have any suggestions for navigating this ruthless world?  Are there pitfalls people must be aware of when filing applications?

Question #6:  let’s say you run into issues when the application is being processed.  Is there a way to speak to an officer prior to a refusal?  What options are available to speak with an officer after a refusal has been rendered?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are an employer who is using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Canada you will not want to miss this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. Whether you are a new employer looking to access the TFWP for the first time, or a long term benefactor of temporary foreign workers, you have got to listen to what immigration lawyer Betsy Kane has to say about the Foreign Worker Program and the dangers and pitfalls that exist as a result of the government’s Employer Compliance measures. Although focused on the Canadian employer, this episode can benefit anyone who is dealing with hiring foreign workers and the steps that need to be taken to protect your company in the event ESDC’s Integrity Service Branch Officers come a calling.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast Senior Practitioner, Betsy Kane, joins us for a conversation on Employer Compliance and the Foreign Worker Program. Betsy has over 22 years of experience in immigration law, Betsy’s strengths lie in offering corporate immigration representation to employers and international employees. 

I was in awe of the knowledge and information that Betsy revealed during our conversation on the Foreign Worker Program and the Employer Compliance Review (ECR) process. In this episode she shared some of the struggles her clients have had navigating the painful ECR process. Betsy took us through the inspection process in detail and provided us with amazing insight into the traps employers can fall into without even recognizing that it is happening.

Although I say this in the show notes of virtually every Podcast I release, Betsy really knocked this one out of the park. You are not going to get this level of insight and in depth analysis anywhere else. She completely pulled the curtain back on the crazy world of Employer Compliance in Canada and offered some amazing strategies for dealing with the awful process…when our clients get the dreaded call and followup letter from the Integrity Services Officer.

In my interview with Betsy, we cover the following areas:

• Employer Compliance Review process
• What it is like for an employer to go through an ECR
• Strategies for navigating the process and tips for reducing risk
• Essential documentation to be retained during the process
• The pros and cons of voluntary disclosure of non-compliance
• Amazing war stories that you will not want to miss

[Tweet “Are you being hijacked by the ECR process in Canada?“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some time stamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

4:32 -Who is Betsy Kane

9:52 -How she got into immigration

13:37 -Why lawyers leave the profession

15:15- Background on the Canadian Employer Compliance Process

21:20- A fantastic war story about a Blacklisted Client

26:21- Flow of hiring

31:00- Why you need to maintain proper records

34:11- How does an Employer know when an ECR has been triggered

41:20- How immigration law has become aggressive

43:00- Tips for employers in navigating the process

46:00- Voluntary disclosure

58:30 – How to locate Betsy Kane –contact@capellekane.com

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Betsy Kane: contact@capellekane.com
• Capelle Kane Immigration Lawyers: http://www.capellekane.com/ 
• Call the office: 613-230-7070
• Employer Compliance Review and ESDC Inspection document checklist 

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E22: Podcast Show Notes – Betsy Kane- Employer Compliance Review and Foreign Worker Program

Betsy Kane is a senior practitioner in the field of Canadian immigration law with a reputation for providing practical and strategic advice. With over 22 years of experience, Betsy’s strengths lie in offering corporate immigration representation to employers and international employees

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed the Foreign Worker Program and Employer Compliance Review and some of the struggles with the process. If you are an employer or representative the unique perspective that Betsy offers is extremely useful. Some of the specific areas covered include:

• Employer Compliance Review process
• What is it like for an employer to go through an ECR
• Strategies for navigating the process and tips
• Documentation to be kept during the process
• Voluntary Disclosure

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are an international student seeking to study in Canada you will not want to miss this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. Although getting accepted to a Canadian educational institution is no easy feat, it pales in comparison to the much more challenging process of securing your Canadian study permit. If you are in the process of filing your study permit application or have recently experienced a refusal and don’t know where to turn……you have got to listen to what x-immigration officer Dani Willets has to say about improving your chances of success. Although focused on Canadian study permits, this Episode can benefit anyone filing visitor visa or work permit applications just the same.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast Accredited Immigration Consultant, Dani Willets, joins us to offer a unique perspective on Study Permits.  Dani was with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for 25 years. She was originally hired as an Immigration Officer, but in the 10 years prior to retiring from the department was primarily an immigration supervisor. She has extensive experience in every inland immigration program and several overseas programs.

I was completely blown away by the knowledge and perspective Dani reveals regarding Study Permits. In this Episode she shared with us some tremendously useful information on assessing the bona fides of an application from an immigration officer’s perspective. She clarifies some common red flag areas that you need to avoid at all costs and examines the impact that fraud and other forms of misrepresentation has had on the adjudication process.  Although I say this in pretty much every Episode, the insight Dani shares  is truly “advanced and unique”. You truly can’t find this in any immigration law textbook or government website.

In my interview with Dani, we cover the following areas:

• Common problem areas with study permit applications
• How to demonstrate proof of financial support
• How an officer goes about assessing the bona fides of any temporary resident application (including visitor visas and work permits)
• Common red flag areas that officer’s see all the time

[Tweet “An insiders look at Study Permits with Dani Willets“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some timestamps for some of the significant topics covered in this episode.

2:59  – Who is Dani Willets?

11:29 – Study Permit Statistics

15:40 – Common Problem Areas

20:21 – Proof of Financial Support

22:52 – Assessing Bona Fides

23:31 – Red Flags and Refusals

31:30 – Why questions are asked?

32:45 – Reasons why having a professional helps

39:45 — Credibility and Fraud

45:30 – How to locate Dani Willets –tdwimmigration@gmail.com

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Dani Willets: tdwimmigration@gmail.com

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E21: Podcast Show Notes – Dani Willets- Study Permits

Dani was with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for 25 years. She was originally hired as an Immigration Officer, but in the 10 years prior to retiring from the department was primarily an immigration supervisor. She has extensive experience in every inland immigration program and several overseas programs.

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed Study Permits and some common areas of problem. If you are an individual or representative the unique perspective that Dani offers is extremely useful. Some of the specific areas covered include:

• Common Problem Areas
• Proof of Financial Support
• Assessing Bona Fides
• Red Flag Areas
• Interviews

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

The Express Entry portal for both representatives and individuals has been full of glitches and likely should have remained in beta testing longer than it did. However, the government likes to release quickly and have the representatives and individuals test at their own peril. In this Episode, Immigration Lawyer, Marina Sedai explains how you can overcome common technical glitches in the online portal.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast the Founder of Vancouver based Sedai Law Office, Marina Sedai, joins us to offer some unique strategies and tips for navigating the complexities of the Express Entry Online Portal. Marina has practiced exclusively in the area of immigration and citizenship law for the last 11 years helping a wide variety of clients including small to large businesses hiring foreign workers, individuals, couples and families.

I was completely blown away by the knowledge Marina has in using the Express Entry portal. In this Episode she shared with us some tremendously useful tips on avoiding some of the common technical glitches that can surface when completing applications through the Express Entry portal. The insight Marina shares  is truly “advanced”. You can’t find this in any immigration law textbook or government website. In this episode she reveals some brilliant tips that can benefit any immigration lawyer or consultant struggling with the Express Entry portal.

In my interview with Marina, we cover the following areas:

• Whether or not the CRS points are going to drop.
• The linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives.
• How to update your profile and application.
• Why the portal is now asking for a date specific time frame when completing the travel history section.
• Why items or full applications disappear from the portal?

[Tweet “Tips and Tricks to beat the Express Entry portal glitches.“]

Time Stamped Quick Reference Guide

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some timestamps for some of the significant topic covered in this episode.

4:24  – Who is Marina Sedai?

14:50 – Will the CRS points drop?

18:20 – Linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives

30:21 – How to update your profile and application after you have submitted it.

37:00 – Processing time for FBI results

39:00 – Disappearing entries and information from the portal.

41:30 – Change of Circumstance

• Divorce
• Change of address
• Change of number

42:45 – Reasons why attachments are rejected from the system

47:00 – How to locate Marina Sedai –msedai@immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Marina Sedai: msedai@immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com
• Sedai Law Offices: https://immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com 
• A great resource provided by Marina: Express Entry Tips

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E20: Podcast Show Notes – Marina Sedai- Express Entry

Marina Sedai  has practiced immigration and citizenship law for the last 11 years. She holds a bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Political Science/International Relations and Psychology from Simon Fraser University.

Marina is the founder of Sedai Law Offices, and has been a frequent public speaker and taught immigration law, policy, and procedure at the UBC immigration practitioner’s program  from 2010-2014.

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed the Express Entry Portal and the technical glitches. If you are an individual or representative the tips and tricks that Marina talks about, will help in using the portal without complication and frustration.

Some of the specific areas covered include:

• Whether or not the CRS points are going to drop.
• The linking and de-linking of individuals and representatives.
• How to update your profile and application.
• Why the portal is now asking for a date specific time frame when leaving other countries.
• Why do items or full applications disappear from the portal?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

With the destruction of the immigrant investor and entrepreneur programs in Canada, few options remain to help business immigrants find their way to Canada. In this Episode, Immigration Lawyer, Jeffrey Lowe explains how the Owner Operator LMIA can be the game changer in facilitating permanent residence for not only business immigrants, but one of the groups hit hardest by the creation of Express Entry – the international student.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast the Chief Inspirational Officer of Vancouver based Lowe and Company, Jeffrey Lowe, joins us to offer some unique strategies for using the Owner Operator Labour Market Impact Assessment to facilitate immigration opportunities of not only business people, but international students working in Canada on postgraduate work permits.

I was completely blown away by the creativity Jeffrey uses in securing amazing results for his clients. The insight Jeffrey shares can not be found in any immigration law textbook or government website. In this episode he revealed some brilliant strategies that can benefit any immigration lawyer or consultant struggling to assist clients who are left in the dark because of the exclusionary nature of Express Entry. Jeffrey is without a doubt one of the most entrepreneurial lawyers I know and I was delighted to have him join me.

In my interview with Jeffrey, we cover the following areas:

• What is an LMIA?
• What is the basis for the Owner Operator LMIA?
• Practical tips on applying for an Owner Operator LMIA.
• Specific examples of how Jeffrey has used the Owner Operator LMIA to benefit his clients.
• Unique strategies for leveraging off of LMIA exempt work permits to transition to an Owner Operator LMIA and eventual permanent resident status in Canada.

[Tweet “Shut out by Express Entry – Consider an Owner Operator LMIA?“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Jeffrey Lowe: jlowe@canadavisalaw.com
• Lowe and Company: http://www.canadavisalaw.com
• Free Resources from Jeffrey:
  • Business Imm Options
• Owner Operator LMIAs: http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/foreign_workers/hire/variations.page

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E19: Podcast Show Notes – Jeffrey Lowe – PLMIAs

Jeffrey S. Lowe  has practiced immigration and business law in British Columbia since 1983.  He holds a bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, and is considered an innovator in the convergence of business, technology and law.

Jeffrey is the Chief Inspirational Officer of Lowe and Company, and has taught immigration law, practice management and legal ethics to lawyers across Canada since 1990.

In this episode of the Canadian immigration podcast we discussed the Owner Operator LMIA. If you’ve not yet heard about this LMIA category, don’t worry about it.  Jeffrey does a fantastic job of setting out the ground rules, and explaining to you some unbelievably creative and unique ways to use this LMIA category to help your clients immigrate to Canada.

Some of the specific areas covered include:

• What is an LMIA?
• What is the basis for the Owner Operator LMIA?
• Practical Tips on Applying for an Owner Operator LMIA
• Specific examples of how Jeffrey has used the Owner Operator LMIA to benefit his clients.

In order to help you jump to the areas of most interest to you, I have included below some timestamps for some of the significant topic covered in this episode.

4:54  – Who is Jeffrey Lowe?

14:25 – What is an LMIA?

19:00 – What is the Owner Operator LMIA?

27:23 – 6 Different ways an individual can come to Canada to start a business with a work permit without an LMIA:

• ICT
• NAFTA Investor
• Korea, Chile, Peru, Columbia – Free Trade Agreements with comparable investor programs
• Post Grad Work Permit Holders – can set up a business (1-3 years to get operating) and then apply for O/O LMIA
• Spousal Open work permit – can also set up a business and then apply for an O/O LMIA
• Work Holiday work permit – can also set up a business and then apply for an O/O LMIA

30:37 – Can an investor obtain an O/O LMIA in the context of “passive investment”

32:20 – What percentage of ownership must an application have to qualify for an O/O LMIA

36:00 – How important is job creation to the success of the O/O LMIA?

33:51 – Specific Examples of how the O/O LMIA can be used. Including a great solution for Post Grad students seeking to remain in Canada a permanent residents of Canada

44:00 – Consider the possibility of having co-owner operators who are both eligible for an O/O LMIA

47:37 – How to locate Jeffrey Lowe – jlowe@canadavisalaw.com

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Getting your Canadian immigration visa refused is one of the most frustrating experiences a foreign national can go through. For many temporary visa refusals there is no appeal. You are left with refiling the application or considering a Judicial Review. Canadian Immigration Lawyer Rekha McNutt shares some fantastic insight on the process including when to file and when not to.

One of the calls I get more often than any other is from foreign nationals who have had their visitor visa, study permit, or work permit refused at a consulate abroad and they don’t know what to do next.

I often suggest that the client obtain a copy of the visa office file notes to understand the real reasons for the refusal. However, this can take a month or even longer to be obtained. If an error has been made by an officer and the decision needs to be challenged, a Judicial Review in Federal Court is typically the only option available…..and because of the very short limitation periods for filing a JR, there is no time to delay.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I invited my good friend and Canadian Immigration Lawyer Rekha McNutt to share some insight on the Judicial Review process.

Rekha is my go to person for Judicial Reviews in Calgary, Alberta.

In my interview with Rekha, we cover the following areas:

1. What is a Judical Review?
2. When it should be used and when to consider refiling your application?
3. Rekha shared some examples of circumstances where it worked well and what happened?
4. The Process Flow of a Judial Review – Step by Step!
5. Top Take-aways

During the interview Rekha confessed that she is an avid motorcyclist / rider (I’m not sure what the cool term is). Her profile on her website is actually her riding her motorcycle. I had to include it below just for fun.

[Tweet “Visa Refused – Have you considered a Judicial Review?“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Rekha McNutt: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com
• Caron & Partners LLP: http://www.caronpartners.com/ 
• Free Resources from Rekha:
  • JRs to the FC
  • FC Flowchart
• IRCC Judicial Review Information: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/refugees/inside/appeals-review.asp

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E18 – Rekha McNutt – Show Notes

Welcome Rekha to the Podcast

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.   She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is currently the Chair of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section. She is an avid motor cycling enthusiast: What is a JR?

1. What is a Judicial Review?
2. When can it be used?
   • some examples of circumstances where it did work and what happened?
3. Process Flow of a Judicial Review
4. Top Take-aways:

• Consult a lawyer as soon as you get a refusal to review the possibility of a JR because of the potentially very short timelines

• Hire a lawyer who is also familiar with the type of application that was refused. Such a person is best suited to determine whether there was an error made and your chances on JR

• Court intervention is sometimes the only way to “change” an Officer’s mind.

• Sometimes the consequences of not JR-ing are very serious (eg. 5 year misrep bar; refusal for inadmissibility for A35 (crimes against humanity), etc.)

• A JR is not an ‘appeal’. The court cannot look at new evidence. So if the underlying application is deficient, the better solution may be to re-file rather than JR

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I share with you where the CIP is headed into the future. I honestly believe this Episode is going to be the one that I look back on and recognize as the Episode that changed it all. Look out – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the CIP is going to pull back the curtain!

After attending the CBA’s National Immigration Conference in Vancouver last month, I had an epiphany. No longer am I going to hoard this Podcast all to myself.

Listen in to this Podcast if you want to know what I have in store for the Canadian Immigration landscape! I am unbelievably excited and I know that the future of Canadian Immigration will never be the same again.

Oh, and by the way…..here is a sneak peak into the amazing guests that are joining me in the coming weeks and months:

1. Ravi Jain, Green and Spiegel LLP: http://www.gands.com/canadian-immigration-lawyers/ravi-jain/
2. Rekha McNutt, Caron and Partners: http://www.caronpartners.com/rekha-p-mcnutt/
3. Marina Sedai, Sedai Law Office: https://immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com/our-team/marina-sedai/
4. Jeffrey Lowe, Lowe and Company: http://www.canadavisalaw.com/about-us/
5. Les Morley, Morley Law Office: http://www.lesmorley.com/leslie-h-morley-bio.html

[Tweet “Canadian Immigration World – Look out!“]

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are a permanent resident of Canada considering on applying for Canadian citizenship, you are likely asking yourself….”why is it so dang hard to qualify?” Well… this Podcast is going to make your day just a little brighter! Chris Veeman, a well respected immigration lawyer based out of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, shares some great insight on Bill C-6 and the Liberal Government’s proposed changes to Canada’s Citizenship Act and how these changes are going to make a lot of international students, foreign workers, and permanent residents a whole lot happier about their chances of becoming Canadian citizens.

It was a pleasure to have Chris Veeman on the Podcast as a guest. Having had the opportunity to appear as a witness before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration including recent changes to our Citizenship laws, Chris was the ideal choice to demystify what the Liberals have in store for us with Bill C-6: An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another Act.

If you are even considering applying for Canadian citizenship, you may just want to hold off until you have had a chance to hear what Chris has to say about the future of Canadian citizenship……this is a good news story.

UPDATE: It looks like the Liberals are hoping to get Bill  C-6 passed for a Canada Day celebration of Citizenship on July 1, 2016. However, it has to get through the Conservative dominated Senate first. See the following Hill Times article for more information: http://goo.gl/CW9wKu.

Highlights of what the Liberals are proposing to change with Bill C-6:

1. Repealing provisions in the Citizenship Act that allow for citizenship to be revoked on grounds that only apply to dual nationals.
2. Eliminating the requirement that citizenship applicants must intend to continue to reside in Canada.
3. Facilitating the pathway to citizenship for temporary residents by again allowing the time spent in Canada prior to becoming a permanent resident to count towards the physical presence requirement for citizenship.

[Tweet “Canadian Citizenship – Hear the good news on the horizon!“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Chris Veeman:
  • E-mail: chris@veemanlaw.com
  • Website: veemanlaw.com/wp
• Bill C-6: https://openparliament.ca/bills/42-1/C-6/ 
• Standing Committee Reports:  http://goo.gl/ZSsoGv

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you are a foreign national with a criminal conviction – listen to this Podcast BEFORE travelling to Canada! In this Podcast I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most respected Business Immigration Lawyers in Canada, Barbara Jo Caruso of Corporate Immigration Law Firm based in Toronto, Ontario. BJ shared with me some tremendous insight on the inner workings of the Canadian POEs and some recent changes at the Primary Inspection Line that every foreign national needs to be aware of.

As a prior Customs Officer working at the Canadian POE, BJ walks us through the inspection process and shares some fantastic insight on what people can expect when they are going through the Primary Inspection Line.

Our conversation focuses primarily on what is now happening to foreign nationals with prior criminal convictions or even a criminal charge that was resolved, who are seeking entry to Canada.

If you fit into this category, this Podcast will give you tips and strategies on how to minimize your risk if travelling to Canada.

Most important take-aways from my interview with BJ Caruso:

1. Overview of Canadian Ports of Entry and how the inspection process really works!
2. Insight into the make-up of the modern CBSA Officer.
3. Primary Inspection Line Officers now have access to CPIC.
4. How criminal inadmissibility to Canada is determined.
5. How to overcome criminal inadmissibility
6. Tips for safely navigating the Canadian Ports of Entry
7. Pros and Cons of applying for access to the Trusted Traveller Programs (NEXUS etc.)

[Chief Mountain Port of Entry, Alberta/Montana Border]

[Tweet “Changes at the Canadian POEs that are catching travellers off guard“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach BJ Caruso: caruso@cimmigrationlaw.com
• CBC Investigates | Border security: hundreds detained in 1st month of new screening measures – http://bit.ly/1TuT9Hp
• Annotated Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada: http://bit.ly/1O0jdO0

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You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Canadian Immigration Podcast – Show notes

Season 1: Episode 14

Interview with Barbara Jo Caruso.

Barbara Jo Caruso is a founding partner of Corporate Immigration Law Firm, located in the heart of the Financial District in Toronto, Ontario.

BJ is a co-author of the Annotated Immigration & Refugee Protection Act, published by Carswell (“The Annotated IRPA”).  The Annotated IRPA is a leading immigration textbook in Canada, and is used by Federal Court Judges, Canadian immigration officials at all levels including Canada Border Services Agency Officers, Immigration Officers, Appeal Board Members, Refugee Board members, lawyers and law students alike.

I can attest to the fact the Annotated IRPA was definitely used by government officers. My first copy was given to me by the hearings officers in Calgary when I was working as a Pro Bono Student (Slave) while attending law school.

BJ is Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada as a Specialist in Immigration Law. She is one of the most respected business immigration lawyers in the country and a tireless advocate for her clients and our profession. She is currently serving as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration Section and a mentor to many young aspiring immigration lawyers across the country…..me included.

We could easily spend the whole podcast episode discussing BJs numerous professional accomplishments; however, knowing BJ, she probably just wants me to stop with the introductions and get to the real reason she has come on the Canadian Immigration Podcast –

and that is to discuss some recent changes that have occurred at our Canadian ports of entry that are catching many foreign nationals off guard.

Lead in Question:

1. BJ, can you take a minute to explain these recent changes at Canadian ports of entry and how they are impacting people seeking entry to Canada?

Issues to discuss:

• Overview of Canadian POEs and insight into the make-up of Border Service Officers
• 1800 cases flagged in the first month of operations where travellers were identified as having outstanding warrants against them.

• Can impact any FN who has ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime inside and outside Canada.

• CPIC information is not updated – onus on FN to satisfy officer they are not inadmissible

• Failure to disclose prior criminality could lead to finding of misrep and 5 year bar

• How to overcome inadmissibility – TRPs, Rehab & “deemed rehab”

Additional Questions:

2. So what happens if I am an individual with a DUI who is travelling to Canada for business and I really don’t have time to prepare a TRP or Rehab application?
   1. What can I expect to happen if I decide to travel anyways and test my luck?
3. Let’s say I’m a Global Mobility Manager who needs to send a highly specialized employee to Canada on short notice, but fortunately the employee tells me prior to travel that she had a prior criminal conviction. What should they do?

4. Given what we now know about the increased powers of inspection granted to CBSA officers at the front lines, If there was one piece of advice you could give an individual who needs to travel to Canada, but may be criminally inadmissible, what would it be?
5. If there are individuals or companies out there with employees facing issues with criminal inadmissibility and they want to get in contact with you for further information and assistance, what is the best way to reach you?

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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If you are an international student, temporary foreign worker, immigration lawyer, consultant, HR manager, global mobility specialist, Canadian employer or just plain old Canadian citizen or permanent resident with a curiosity in Immigration … you’ll be regretting the day you didn’t listen to this Podcast.

As promised in Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I am going to share with you in this Episode everything I learned from Immigration Minister John McCallum on April 8, 2016 in his speech to the CBA’s National Immigration Section in Vancouver during our National Immigration Law Conference.

Because I can not resist my Top 10 lists……here is another one for you!

Immigration Minister John McCallum responded to questions from reporters at the Canadian Bar Association’s Immigration Law Conference April 8, 2016. (CBC)

(Thank you CBA News – I wasn’t close enough to get a better picture myself)

My Top 10 Canadian Immigration trends for 2016 – straight from the mouth of our Immigration Minister, The Honourable John McCallum:

1.   The Liberals actually care what us Canadian immigration lawyers think – who knew?

2.   Canadians like refugees after all and it will continue that way for the foreseeable future.

3.   Sayonara to two tiered Canadian Citizenship – “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” 

4.   The Family Feud is over….Family Class processing on its way down!

5.   The Minister hates the term “Economic Immigrant” – all immigrants contribute regardless of program.

6.  Express Entry is having “unintended consequences” that must be addressed.

7.   Complete overhaul to the Live-in Caregiver program on its way!

8.  IRCC versus CBSA – definitely a “good cop” – “bad cop” situation!

9.   What does the future hold for PNPs? Status quo according to Minister McCallum

10.  International Students – the calvary is on its way!

[Tweet “What’s in store for Canadian Immigration Policy in 2016“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Sunny Days ahead for people seeking to immigrate to Canada in 2016

Immigration Forecast for 2016 with Minister John McCallum, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.

There has been considerable coverage of the Liberal government’s sweeping changes to immigration culture in Canada.

As quickly as the Conservative government changed many of the countries old immigration laws and programs, the Liberals have been just as fast to announce their intention to reverse them.

So the big question is……

….where exactly are the Liberals headed?

In Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I shared some brief highlights from a speech given by the Minister of IRCC, John McCallum to the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration Section members who attended our Annual Conference in Vancouver April 7-9, 2016. I also promised that more would be coming…. so here it is!

My Top 10 List of Highlights from Minister McCallum’s Speech to the CBA Immigration Section

As you can tell, I really like the whole Top 10 Concept. Hopefully this list will actually have 10 highlights as opposed to Episode 12 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast where I somehow skipped a number and ended up with only 9 on my Top 10 list.

At any rate, if you have anything to do with Canadian immigration, whether as a lawyer, consultant, HR manager, Global Mobility Specialist, foreign national, or even Canadian employer, you are not going to want to miss this Top 10 List.

I want to start off this Podcast with one caveat. I am a 100% true and blue card carrying Conservative Party member. I hold these values dear and intend to continue my active involvement with the party long into the future. However, with this being said, and despite my best efforts to find fault, there was very little I could complain about with the vision Mr. McCallum has for immigration in Canada.

So here we go….

1. The Liberals are actually willing to listen to Immigration Lawyers and their clients in shaping the immigration landscape of Canada into the future. 

MM Knows that CBA has worked on this day and night – he has read our reports on TFWP and EE – Minister impressed with CBAs contribution – didn’t disagree with anything.

Stark contrast to the previous regime. Basically considered their relations with the CBA to be adversarial.

2. Update on the Refugee situation in Canada and future intentions

Succeeded in bringing 25,000 refugees to Canada by end of February 2016

They went from a situation were the main concerns of Canadians was security especially at the time of the Paris attacks and these concerns evolved to a huge welcome provided by Canada across the country to these refugees.

Quote:

Minister McCallum felt he was the “only immigration minister in the whole world whose main challenge was to provide enough Syrian refugees to satisfy the overwhelming generosity of people who want sponsor them.

Have committed to bringing in another 10, 000 which they will expedite as quickly as possible

The liberal levels planning calls for a 300,000 target – which is an absolute maximum – one more refugee means one less of something else

The Liberals have already quadrupled the number of refugees and have reached the limit.

Restored Refugee Healthcare

3. Canadian Citizenship Act – revoked in part

Bill C6 – introduced by the Liberals to ensure – one class of Canadians in Canada and they believe a “Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian” – “the place for terrorists is in jail not at the airport”

4. Various Changes to Family Class Applications

• – Restoration of age of dependence from 19 back to 22

MM signed documents restoring the age of dependants to 22. However, it will take a 1 ½ years to go through the regulatory process.

Goodness knows why going from 19 to 22 should take a year and a half. Too bad I couldn’t use ministerial instruction on that.

Minister is generally opposed to Ministerial Instructions, but some times they do come in handy. 

• – Ending of 2 year conditional status on Spousal Applications.

• – Committed in the election to bring down substantially the processing times of Family Class members. 

Quote: 

“Just as he is very proud as a CDN for refugees coming in, ashamed that the heavy hand of the CDN state keeps spouses apart for 2 years. This is unacceptable. This is not something that can be fixed like flicking a switch with Bill C6. On this one it takes longer.”

Solution will be to increase the capacity for immigration in this country

– the max is currently at 300,000 – want to increase this to accommodate the possibility of more immigrants and more spouses to get these processing times.

We will do this by: 1) more money and 2) more importantly need to do things more efficiently. Need to learn from experience in Lebanon and Jordon with the Refugees – where they processed applications fast, but equally well, super fast, but concurrently, ABC together, not A then B then C.

Must transfer over the experience with refugees to family class applications – do it just as well, but much more efficiently. – we did it for refugees, so of course we can do it for other – he told his department to “get to work”. This is what the department is doing – we will have positive news on spouses in coming weeks. – which could means months as usual.

5. Changes to Economic Class Applications

On “Economic Immigrants” – MM hates this term because all immigrants are economic. When you say “economic immigrants” it implies that the economic immigrants contribute and the others do not.

In 2016 many family members work – parents and grandparents enable the father and mother to work even when they do not work.

Refugees also work and contribute in the medium run – “let’s not use the word economic immigrants because all immigrants contribute to the country in one degree or another”

6. Possible changes to the Express Entry regime

In election campaign the liberals were neither critical nor praising of EE because it was so brand new. Now in process of seeking ways to reform express entry and MM values CBA input….

Had a meeting with Ontario Business People at an Ontario Chamber of Commerce and they ranked the different streams for PR status in Canada as:

TFWP

PNP,

EE

MM would like to see this reversed.

Express Entry should be the favored process for businesses wanting immigrants, then PNP, then TFW.

Challenge for MM is to make EE more flexible, more fluid, more desirable for businesses wanting to bring immigrants to Canada. Make it the first choice and not the third choice of businesses.

The First proposed change and most for sure is He thinks International Students are the best source of immigrant to Canada– because they know French and English, because they know Canada, because they are educated, because they are young, all good reasons to be great Canadians

“we should encourage them to come here and not slap them in the face by taking away their 50% credit for time in Canada, so I want to make it easier and give more points to facilitate their entry to Canada as PRs, that is pretty well for sure, other things are less for sure…

… looking at possibly less points for people getting LMIA approved Job Offer because right now  it is totally dominant and has certain unintended consequences. Possibly limit ore eliminate the use of the LMIA under Express Entry…. NOT committed to doing this, but certainly committed to looking at doing it very seriously. It is something they will look into very seriously.

7. Proposed Overhaul of the Live-in Caregiver Program 

MM thinks it is a great program both for young people and aging people – processing times will be coming down automatically in the next months. One major thing is that they will honor their campaign promise make significant changes to how the program works. They intend to a have a system of regulated companies who hire caregivers on behalf of families needing them and deploy them to households that need them.

Changes will help Families because they will be spared the hassle of the LMIA AND– will benefit the caregiver because if household is a problem, the company can transfer caregiver from household A to B. thus protecting the interestswill help both sides, the family and caregivers by doing this.

8. How is IRCC dealing with the challenges of two departments (including CBSA) administering immigration?

Sunny Days have arrived with IRCC, but have not yet arrived with CBSA.

– Separation of immigration into CIC and CBSA in the past

Question = has any consideration been given to bringing CBSA and IRCC back together?

He can’t speak for CBSA, but knows there has been a culture of enforcement throughout CBSA that public servants are awarded for catching as many bad people as possible. Understand there is a quota for how many refugees they expose – there is definitely scope for improvement within CBSA – Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety is working on these issues.

9. What does the future hold for Provincial Nominee Programs?

When asked whether Liberals are considering increasing allocation of nominations to the provinces? MM is of two minds on this issue. He is willing to do whatever is best for the country, but being a federal person, it is not to have the federal roll disappear altogether. 50% of economic immigrants come through the PNPs. If that is best for Canada…fine.

But big theme of his speech was to improve EE so it becomes the first choice for employers. So priority right now is to improve EE. Want companies to see the Federal program EE as their first choice of what is most flexible, best, accommodating choice, there would be less demand on PNPs each year – he wants to add more immigration, but first desire is to improve the federal program so that is more attractive for employers.

10. What is in store for International Students?

some people say MM has a habit of moving too fast, but some times it is important to do it fast – there is some urgency in this matter (international students)– thinking of doing the following in stages:

Stage 1 – give more points to students under Express Entry

Stage 2- do other things to improve EE

but hoping for him to do the student thing as quickly as he can – you would agree that Ministerial Instructions for these purposes are for a good cause.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Don’t listen to this Podcast before you read the blog I released yesterday, April 13, 2016 entitled: Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program – How did we get here? What every Temporary Foreign Worker must know before applying? This blog will give you essential background information to prepare you for the insights I’m going to share regarding the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

This past month, I had the opportunity to attend a lunch presentation Brad Trefan gave to our Canadian Bar Association’s local immigration section in Calgary.  I’ll share my Top 10 (rather 9) AINP Highlights from his presentation and share my thoughts on what this means for anyone seeking to apply for PR status in Canada through the AINP.

Top 9 AINP Highlights for 2016 thanks to Brad Trefan, Managing Director:

1.    Current Inventories

2.   Top 10 occupations applying to the AINP

4.   [yes….I missed #3] Why are the AINP refusal rates so high?

5.   What if you lose your job after receiving the nomination?

6.   Certificate wastage – why is it so dang high?

7.   IRCC challenging the AINP nomination.

8.  Standardization of the AINP program.

9.   AINP Participation in Express Entry

10.  Expect the AINP to close again in 2016

[Tweet “What’s up with the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program in 2016“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

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Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

This Episode continue forward on the foundation I laid with a blog I wrote yesterday and posted on the Canadian Immigration Podcast website regarding the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program.

It’s entitled: “Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program – How did we get here?

What every Temporary Foreign Worker must know before applying!

This blog will give you a little bit of a foundation for what I am going to share in the Podcast today.

In the blog I covered a brief history of how the AINP has been somewhat of a love hate relationship for TFWs and their legal counsel. I cover the ups and downs of the program over the past 10 years and really lead up to what I am going to be talking about today.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I am going to be sharing some insight on where the AINP is headed for this year and what every TFW needs to know before risking their future in Canada on a very volatile program.

But before I get to this Episode I’d like to share a few experiences I had attending the CBA’s National Immigration Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia this past weekend.

1. Asked to speak on Express Entry. Had the privilege of doing so with some very good friends:

• Marina Sedai – Immigration Lawyer in B.C.
  • immigrationcitizenshiplaw.com
  • Secretary of our National Immigration Executive
  • works with Joshua Sohn past Chair of our National Section
• Kevin Zemp – Immigration Lawyer practicing in Calgary
  • zemplaw.com
  • Past Chair of our National Immigration Law Section
• John Acheson – Assistant Director, Permanent Resident Program Delivery, IRCC
  • Operations side of things – the nuts and bolts (portal issues)
• Philip Somogyvari – Director – Express Entry Policy – IRCC
  • 10,000 foot level policy
    • discussions of changes to EE (crossing my fingers):
      • CRS points for candidates with family in Canada
      • CRS points of international students (CDN studies)

2. IRCC Minsiter John McCallum spoke to us and shared a lot of insight into where the program is going. As a staunch conservative, I must admit that I have felt quite conflicted with because I actually like Minister McCallum. In an upcoming blog or podcast, I am going to share some of the highlights from that speech.

However, if you want to go back in time and catch a snapshot of what the Minister shared and other insights from the various panels I attended, connect with me on Twitter because I tweeted continuously sharing significant insights as I listened to the Minister in real time and as I attended other sessions presented by my fellow CBA Immigration section colleagues. My Twitter handle is simply @MarkHolthe.

Eventually I am going to get that blog or podcast out. If you have a preference, just send me comment on the CIP website, or connect with me on any of the various social media platforms I frequent (facebook, LinkedIn etc.). You can also track me down on my firm website: ht-llp.com.

Insights on the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program for 2016 – Brad Trefan, Managing Director

This past month, I had the opportunity to attend a lunch presentation Brad Trefan gave to our Canadian Bar Association’s local immigration section in Calgary.  I’ll share a few highlights from his presentation and then at the end of this blog share my thoughts on what this means for anyone seeking to apply for PR status in Canada through the AINP.

1. Inventories – The AINP had ballooned to 9000 applications in August 2015 when the program was suspended. This number was reduced to 4700 by the time the program was reopened on January 27, 2016. As of March 23, 2016, the current application quota is sitting at 6000 applications. The AINP receives approximately 40 new applications daily.

[INSIGHT: Get your application filed as quickly as possible because the program will most certainly be suspended as applications continue to flood into the program. If 9000 was the trigger for suspending the program last year, you can be almost certain this number will be the tipping point this year. You can track the processing of applications on the AINP website: http://www.albertacanada.com/opportunity/immigrating/ainp-processing-inventory.aspx#2016maximums

Application Processing and Inventory– the AINP does not follow a first in first out processing policy across all streams. Instead of lumping all candidates into the same pool and processing on this basis, instead 20 processing officers spread out among the industry streams, which results in drastically different processing times depending upon the number of applicants in the queue.. If one has no applications, then an officer will shift to another streams.

Here is a breakdown of the volume of applications and corresponding processing times by industry stream:

Employer Driven Streams

Food and Beverage Processing Industry        Over 90           Feb 9 – 10, 2016

Foodservices Industry (Pilot Project)              Over 110         February 1 – 10, 2016

Hotel & Lodging Industry                                Over 80           February 9 – 10, 2016

International Graduate Category                   Over 2,550      June 2, 2014, and February 10, 2016

Manufacturing Industry                                  Over 40           February 4 – 10, 2016

Skilled Worker Category                                 Over 2,000      June 24, 2014, and Feb 10, 2016

Trucking Industry                                            Over 80           February 9 – 10, 2016

Strategic Recruitment Stream (SRS)

Compulsory & Optional Trades Category       Over 110         February 2 – 10, 2016

Engineering Occupations Category                Over 90           February 2 – 10, 2016

Post-Graduate Worker Category                    Over 750         January 28, 2016, and Feb 10, 2016

2. Top 10 Occupations:

• 6311 – Food Service Supervisors
• 6211 – Retail Sales Supervisors
• 6315 – Cleaning Supervisors
• 7511 – Transport Truck Drivers
• 6421 – Retail Salespersons
• 0621 – Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers
• 7284 – Plasterers, Drywall Installers and Finishers and Lathers
• 0631 – Restaurant and Food Services Managers
• 1311 – Accounting Technicians and Bookkeepers
• 1241 – Administrative Assistants

What we have learned from these statistics is that the worst possible candidate for the AINP is an international student working as a food service supervisor

4. High AINP Application Decline Rate – over 50% of AINP applications are rejected. The main reasons are that:

• Candidate no longer has a work permit (can’t rely on nomination to get WP)
• Down turn in economy, so employee has lost their job (may still hold a valid work permit)

5. Losing a Job after the AINP nomination has been issued

– could be a problem

– must be able to demonstrate the ability to economically establish in Alberta

So what does an AINP officer do when you lose your job while APR is in process – if lose job officers have 2 weeks to work with applicant to defend the nomination with IRCC.

AINP Looking to see if the applicant is making an effort to maintain employment AND officers will also look at occupational outlooks from an economic perspective.

If an occupation has week prospects, then likely chances are not great that the AINP will allow the APR to go forward. However, if job is in an area of high demand, than much more likely AINP will continue to support the nomination.

However, if applicant is changing employers and going from a skilled , to a semi-skilled position, this could be a problem. However, if the demotion is within the same industry, there may be some leniency.

• IRCC is turning applications down for people that don’t have worry

-slight increase in fraud, but just reflects people really want to stay – despite economic downturn

6. High Degree of certificate wastage

Why?

Applicants are also applying under EE

– EE get’s approved and then AINP nomination is wasted.

-Federal Gov’t doesn’t let the AINP re-use the certificates

-having discussions to get around this with Gov’t

7. IRCC challenging the nominations

– must demonstrate ability to economically  establish in the Province of Alberta

So if person is unemployed, how can AINP defend this situation if nomination issued 7 months and the person does not have a job

8. Standardization of the AINP program in process

Modernization of data base

Proposals before minister on how they can better streamline the application process

Looking at online application forms – shooting for this to happen by the end of the year (2016) or 2017

9. AINP Participation in Express Entry

–still looking at this and maybe 2017 enter EE pool.

-however, no enhanced allocation to the 5500, so this will impact in participation in EE

-if participate in EE without an increase to the 5500 allocation total, semi-skilled categories would lose access to PR. AINP is only pathway to PR for low skill workers. If a new EE category was created, then the semi-skill categories would have to give up some of their quota to create the new, skilled worker only, EE AINP stream.

Brad stated that Ideally – the AINP would like to get enhanced allocation from Feds before participating in EE.

10. Expect the AINP to close again in 2016

Yes, gaining 40 applications per day, so is very likely we will have a pause.

So why a General pause versus only closing select industry streams?

Brad Trefan stated it’s the most fair solution because everyone is affected equally.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

One of the most common questions I get from foreign nationals seeking to immigrate to Canada is how to obtain a Job Offer from a Canadian company to support their Express Entry application. In this podcast I interview a good friend and colleague Emma Goerzen from Hire Standard who shares some essential tips and strategies on how foreign nationals can improve their chances of landing that elusive Job Offer.

With Invitations to Apply through Express Entry continuing to require above 450 CRS points, many foreign nationals are realizing that if they want any chance of getting drawn out of the Express Entry pool, they are going to need an LMIA based Job Offer from a Canadian company to support their Express Entry application.

The problem lies in exactly how a foreign national is going to be able to do this.

As a Canadian immigration lawyer one of the most common requests I get is for assistance in helping a foreign national find a Canadian company to offer them a job. There are some immigration law firms that do provide assistance with the recruitment process. However, my firm does not. We focus exclusively on the practice of immigration law and do not try to wear two hats at the same time.

There are many recruitment companies who have surfaced over the past decade in Alberta that made a lot of money connecting local companies with foreign sourced labour. However, with the downturn in the Canadian economy those days are gone until the economy picks back up again. So “for now,” foreign nationals are going to have to do much of the leg work themselves.

So how do you connect with a Canadian employer? And if you are able to connect, how do you convince them to hire you?

….I guess that’s the million dollar question.

Although Emma and I do not pretend to have all of the answers when it comes to landing a Job Offer (remember…this Job Offer must be supported by an LMIA) in Canada, we have put together our Top 5 List of Things Foreign Nationals Can Do to Increase their Chances of Landing a Job Offer.

As promised in the Podcast, Emma has also provided us with a sample resume template that will help to increase your chances of getting noticed by a Canadian employer. Click this link to download the document: Hire Standard Resume Form.

Thanks Emma!

[Tweet “Tips for securing a Job Offer for Express Entry“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

CIP S1 E11 – Interview with Emma Goerzen of Hire Standard

In this episode we will discuss one of the most common questions I get from people who are looking to immigrate to Canada.

How can I obtain a job offer from a Canadian company?

Why is this important?

When applying to immigrate to Canada as a skilled worker, the most common process is Express Entry.

[Explain how Express Entry works]

1. History of EE
2. Process for Candidates
3. Ranking System
4. Importance of an LMIA supported Job Offer
5. Job Matching (eHarmony for employers/employees) terribly ineffective

In my practice, I do not do any recruiting for companies, nor assist foreign nationals in finding jobs with companies.

My law practice is focused exclusively on Canadian Immigration

Because I spend a lot of time explaining to people that I can not help them with finding a job, I figured that the best thing I could do would be to bring in an expert in this field.

In todays Podcast  I have the pleasure of interviewing a good friend, Emma Goerzen. Emma is the co-owner of Hire Standard –

Southern Alberta’s Premier Executive Staffing & Background Screening Firm, specializing in criminal record checks, reference checks, employment, education & credit/ID verification, along with temporary staffing & special project placement

Emma and her Team at Hire Standard are extremely knowledgeable regarding all aspects of the hiring process. In fact, I recently used them to fill an important position within our firm and we were absolutely delighted with the result.

I have worked with Emma in the past on obtaining LMIAs for companies here in Alberta that have had to source TFWs to fill labour shortages.

Our firm has handled the LMIA process and Emma was retained by the company to source the foreign worker and manage the nightmarish recruitment campaign which includes the strict advertising requirements of Service Canada that are mandatory to obtain an LMIA.

In this episode of the Podcast, Emma is going to share some insight into the hiring process in Canada. She is going to offer some tips and strategies for foreign nationals who are looking to land that coveted LMIA based Job Offer with a Canadian company and a golden ticket to receiving an ITA within the Express Entry System.

So let’s jump into the interview with Emma Right now.

INTERVIEW

I’m here in my office today with a good friend and colleague Emma Goerzen. Emma is the Co-Owner of Hire Standard, Sothern Alberta’s premier executive staffing and background screening firm.

Welcome Emma. Thanks for joining me today.

Tell us a little bit about Hire Standard. What do you do ?

Hire Standard – Permanent Staffing & Background Screening: http://www.hire-standard.com

Whether you’re looking for an Executive Member of your team or a Temporary employee to make sure your business doesn’t stop, our commitment to fit and quality never waivers. Benefits of working with us include:

1. Process: We hold fast to our stringent prescreening process – it serves as a series of checkpoints from which applicants either pass through or fall off.

2. Insight: Our staff have the insight to weed out resumes that an untrained eye may be overwhelmed or deceived by.

3. Dedication: We will leave no stone unturned. We want to find the best employee for your company and we work diligently until we do

4. Tempo: We pride ourselves on our ‘dog on a bone’ work style. We recognize that most quality employees, a.) don’t stay unemployed for long and b.) don’t want to work for an employer that drags their heels.

5. Experience: We are familiar with the local market and types of applicants you are likely to receive. Based on our experience we can narrow down the candidates in a short time so you only see the best.

6. Back Up: We offer a 3 Month Replacement Guarantee to ensure that everyone is comfortable and confident.

Top 5 List of Things a Foreign National can do to improve their chances of getting a Job Offer.

1. Look for Jobs in the right places
   • Friends and Family – best source
   • Online Websites:
     • Job Bank
       • Job Match Registration (eHarmony)
     • Monster
     • Workopolis
     • Kijiji.ca
     • Indeed
     • Industry Associations – appropriate to credentials

2. Ability to Communicate in English
   • Excellent communication skills, written, spoken etc.
   • Same Standard applies to Canadians as well
     • Talk about HT recruitment and excluded candidates due to poor English – written etc.
   • Safety Issue
3. Good Resume – this is what grabs the attention of the company
   • Not too long – no more than 2 pages
   • Outlining Education and Experience that is relevant to the position
   • Stable work history
   • Grammatically Correct (demonstrate good English on your resume)
   • SHOW NOTES: include sample of a great Canadian resume
4. Honesty and Integrity
   • – much fraud in order to get the job, so lack of trust can be fatal
   • be up front about any potential issues – if have necessary skills and experience, Canadian companies will work with that, but if you are dishonest, you will be rejected.
   • Talk about guy from Costa Rica
     • Prior refused visa, but not disclosed to us
     • Resulted in his rejection as a candidate – after we obtained LIA

5. Must present well in an Interview Setting (Skype Interviews)
   • Must have good internet connectivity to support Skype interviews (reflection on person)
   • Communication Skills (speak English)
   • Know about the Canadian Company – do your research
   • Dress Appropriately
     • Don’t wear a t-shirt saying “I love cannabis”
     • For women – don’t show cleavage

Thanks so much Emma. If people want to reach out to you for more information how do the listeners find you?

www.hiringforyou.com

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

If any of you immigration lawyers or consultants out there listening to this Podcast are going to be attending the Canadian Bar Association’s Annual Immigration Law Conference in Vancouver next month, please attend the session I will be presenting with my good friends and colleagues Kevin Zemp and Marina Sedai. If you have not yet registered, you are unfortunately out of luck as the conference has been sold out. Info on the session is set out below:

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever wondered what goes through a Canadian Immigration Officer’s mind when they are assessing a spousal sponsorship application? In this episode I am joined by my good friend and colleague Billie Young as we walk you through a somewhat outlandish case study in order to illustrate the essential do’s and don’ts of spousal sponsorship.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I play the role of Immigration Lawyer (Good Cop) and Billie Young plays the role of….. well, herself I guess (x-immigration officer / Bad Cop) as we go through a somewhat over-the-top case scenario of a Canadian man who is sponsoring his true love from the United Kingdom.

Billie and I had a lot of fun doing this Podcast as we debated the genuineness of this fictitious fact pattern. I attempted to use every ounce of my advocacy skills to convince Officer Young to approve the application. However, as the facts of their story slowly unveiled, it became increasingly difficult for me to win her over and convince her that this application was legit.

After a review of the immediate facts from their application, Officer Young decides she needs more information, so she sends a CBSA officer (in-land immigration enforcement) to the happy couple’s home to do a “bed check“. What the officer found was shocking! What you’ll learn about inland investigations will also be enlightening.

[NOTE: please remember this is all just a concoction of our imaginations. This is NOT the Border Security reality show on the National Geographic Channel.]

I did my best to draw out the positives of their relationship while minimizing the negatives; however, when Officer Young decided to call the couple in for an immigration interview, I really had my work cut out for me.

If you want to find out Officer Young’s final decision, you are just going to have to listen! 

In order to make it worth your while, we include at the end of the podcast, our Top 5 Tips for Strengthening Your Spousal Sponsorship Application.

[Tweet “Canadian Spousal Sponsorship from an x-immigration officer perspective“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

PODCAST SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP CASE SCENARIO

Background Information

Sponsor Robert is a Canadian citizen male age 55

Applicant Debra is a citizen of the UK female age 30

Met online through dating website May 2015

First time they met in person November 2015 and were married same month in the UK.

Debra was unemployed in the UK and minimal savings.

Robert – President of XYZ Fabrication

Debra has been refused entry into Canada as a non genuine visitor on a previous occasion.

Are now interested in submitting an application from within Canada under the SCLPC

Supporting Factors. 

joint bank account opened at TD Canada Trust bank. Statement provided is from December 2015 to present and lists both Robert and Debra’s name.

Utility bills are in the name of both Robert and Debra

The residential home is owned by Robert.

Statement of coverage from Alberta Health Care is addressed to Robert and provides coverage to Debra as a dependent.

Robert’s adult  children from previous marriage are aware of his new relationship.

Both Robert and Debra share same religious beliefs (Christian)

Both are fluent in English.

Factors weighing negatively not supporting bona fide marriage: 

do not share a bed together. Debra stays upstairs in her own room while sponsor has his own room on the main floor.

during the interview, there were no displays of affection toward each other, and this was also noted by lack of photos.

they do not have any children together and no plans for future family given the age of sponsor.

Over 20 years age difference

only two photos’ provided at interview and they were not of Debra and Robert together.

No formal engagement ceremony, family and friends of neither the Debra nor Robert attending the wedding.

the relationship and recent marriage has been kept a secret from the majority of their family and friends. Is has not been publicly declared and has been kept from friends and family only children of sponsor know.

there are no wills or beneficiary statements for either Debra or Robert for each other.

Factors concerning couples credibility that would need to be explained at interview possibly: 

both Robert and Debra said that they decided to get married so it would be easier to get across the border since Debra was refused entry previously. They were married less than a month later.

-was not truthful in answering border officers questions when entering Canada.

also Debra stated in the interview that as far as the family knows she is Robert’s caregiver [except her children, they know the truth about their relationship].

Debra has been reported for working without authorization by CBSA, and was advised by CBSA prior to entering Canada the requirements needed to be allowed to work in Canada.

The application for permanent residence supported Debra’s credentials as a personal care attendant but limited documentation was provided supporting her relationship to the sponsor.

also the Debra’s APR submissions went into great detail providing additional information about her educational credentials and experience as a personal care attendant and again very little information describing her relationship to Robert, her spouse.

during the interview, Debra was more upset about not being able to work in Canada at the present time, and possibly not being able to go home and visit because she would not have the money. When asked what would happen if application was refused calmly replied would move back home with her parents. When Robert was asked what he would do if the application was refused, he too replied that he was not sure

Applicants’ Opportunity to respond to concerns about relationship (after interview)

Explain lack of photos’: was because more recent photos’ of the two of them together are all boxed up but can provide them. Note: be prepared to provide photos and considerably more information to support relationship not within the application.

Is the age difference a problem: No Robert encourages Debra to go out on her own and exercise, play sports with her friends, because he is not able to keep up. Both do not believe that age is a factor.

Explain why did not answer officers’ questions truthfully when entering Canada: they were both tired, and just wanted to get home.

Explain why their relationship is a secret: they have not wanted to make their relationship public because Debra’s parents would not understand. Robert does not have a lot of close friends and his children were the only individuals he felt important to let know about his new relationship.

Why do you stay in separate rooms: Debra has always slept alone but they are still intimate.

Top 5 Things to Strengthen your spousal sponsorship application:

1. Include lots of supporting documents
   • Joint bank account
   • Beneficiary of employment benefits
   • Beneficiary on life insurance policy
   • Joint lease
   • Joint ownership in a home
2. Include lots of photos
   • IRCC may say photos can be altered; however, hard to fake different hair styles and a series of photos over a large period of time
   • Trips taken together
   • Make sure photos are of both people
3. Get to know each other’s family and friends
   • Have them provide reference letters confirming they know both of you and that you are a genuine and loving couple
4. Explain away any problem areas and how they are not a problem in your relationship
   • Age
   • Religious/ Cultural Background
   • Different language
   • Immigration incentive to getting married
5. Don’t rush off and file your application until you have a track record within your relationship
   • If met online and got married shortly after first in person meeting, ensure multiple in-person meetings before rush off to file application
   • Don’t blindly collect all of your supporting documents all within the week prior to submitting your application (i.e., wills, beneficiary on life insurance etc.)

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

If you come from a visa exempt country, need to travel abroad in the near future, and your Canadian PR Card is expiring soon, you are in deep trouble. However, you are in luck…this Podcast can help.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I provide some great insight on how Canadian permanent resident’s from visa exempt countries will be negatively affected by the Canadian Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) process that will become law on March 15, 2016.

As a Canadian permanent resident, you may think it does not affect you. However, if you come from a visa exempt country and are accustomed to simply travelling on your passport as you always have when your PR Card expires, you are facing a very unpleasant reality – you will no longer be able to do so!

If you are planning to travel in the next 6 months and your PR Card will expire in this time, the airlines will not allow you to board without a valid PR Card, or an eTA. As a PR of Canada, you can’t get an eTA.

In this episode, I’m going to give you some strategies to deal with this potentially disastrous situation.

The general topics discussed include:

• Why I have not released a Podcast in 2 months – and how I have figured out a way to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
• Job Opportunities within Holthe Tilleman LLP – If you are an immigration lawyer or certified immigration consultant looking for a more flexible and balanced professional opportunity, I share the opportunity that exists with our team.
• Canadian Immigration DIY Guide Dilemma – Should I or shouldn’t I actually create these?
• What is New with Citizenship and Immigration Canada – Name changes and the ugly Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) world.
• Answers to Listener Questions– What to do when you need to travel before your PR Card is ready. How to deal with an uncooperative immigration representative.

[Tweet “Canadian Visa Exempt PRs, beware of the New eTA Process“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Electronic Travel Authorizations: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp
• IRCC Processing Times: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/
• Urgent Processing of PR Cards: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-urgent-processing.asp
• Holthe Tilleman LLP Contact Info: http://www.ht-llp.com/contact/
• Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council : http://iccrc-crcic.ca/FileaComplaint.cfm

Questions for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Show Notes – Canadian Immigration Podcast – Season 1 Episode 9

http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com

http://www.ht-llp.com

LAST EPISODE – S1 E8

-indicated that Billie and I would use or prior experience as Canadian immigration officers to debate whether or not a spousal sponsorship application should be approved based upon a fictitious fact pattern we developed.

-Billie and I will be doing this in Episode 10 instead of this episode, so stay tuned, because it should be a lot of fun.

WHY I HAVE NOT RELEASED A PODCAST IN 2 MONTHS

-Canadian Immigration Institute Created

-Why I decided to create a course on Express Entry

• Lots of misinformation on the internet
• Many people coming to me when it was too late
• CIC’s “one touch” policy very ruthless
• Just wanted to help people who had no other place to turn for information they could trust
• Running a firm to financially support my family, so could not provide one-on-one free advice like I had in the past
• Decided to create a Course on Express Entry where I could teach a large group of people at the same time how to prepare and submit their EE applications.

-produced webinars on express entry to provide free information and introduce people to the concept of an EE course.

-created and ran my first pilot program on how to submit an Express Entry profile.

-however, the interest in the course was not sufficient to justify going through with it.

-surprising result was that many more people would rather hire our firm directly than take the course.

-this was unexpected and resulted in considerably more work for the firm than I anticipated.

-my time had to be focused on helping all the new clients and I did not have time to continue with the Podcast and producing new content for the Canadian Immigration Podcast website.

-because IRCC has made the process so complicated and difficult, many dabbling lawyers and light weight consultants have now dropped out of the picture because they could not keep up with the changes and were not able to competently help people with immigration.

– this has resulted in many more people coming to our office for help

-because I love podcasting so much and producing content for my site, I knew I would have to make some changes within our law firm.

-I have now made adjustments by hiring new staff and restructuring my firm so that I can once again turn my attention to what I love to do most, which is creating the Canadian Immigration Podcast and providing free resources and information to people that can not typically afford to hire an immigration lawyer.

PROFESSION OPPORTUNITY – COME WORK FOR US

-I also want to extend an invitation to any currently practicing Canadian immigration lawyers or certified immigration consultants, no matter where you live in Canada or abroad, who are looking for an opportunity to work within an awesome growing law firm, but do not want the stress of having to meet certain targets, or work on a full time basis.

-Because of the virtual nature of our law firm, we are in a position to offer a platform in which you can work as much or as little as you want under the Holthe Tilleman LLP umbrella in whatever geographic location you may be in. You would be able to work on a contract basis or in a part-time capacity while being compensated directly for the work you want to do.

-This is how I intend to continue meeting the needs of our clients and create opportunities for professionals who have seen their practices shrink with the toughening immigration market and the significant restrictions on TFWs and people no longer qualifying for PR.

-Just reach out to me directly through our firm website at ht-llp.com or contact me through my LinkedIn profile, Facebook, or any other method that works. You can also call our law firm directly on our toll free number at 1-844-485-8204 and ask to speak with me.

DIY GUIDE DILEMMA

–So I have decided to not continue forward with the course.

-Dilemma I now face is whether or not it makes sense for me to create DIY guides for those who simply want to do it themselves, but would like a little professional help to avoid some of the common pitfalls that easily beset people who try to do it themselves.

-So I want to hear from you.

-If you think it would be a good idea for me to create a series of DIY Guides to Canadian Immigration I would love to get your feedback.

-These guides would be video tutorials on how to complete the various types of Canadian immigration applications.

-You can respond in the comment section of this Podcast, or send us your thoughts via our Canadian Immigration Podcast Facebook Page. I’d love to hear from you.

-The responses we receive will largely dictate whether or not I proceed forward with the DIY Guides at this time. So please take the time to let me know if you think it would be something useful for people who could not otherwise afford to hire an immigration representative.

WHAT IS NEW WITH CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION CANADA

Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s New Name

CIC now Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

-transition is slowly taking over and now we are seeing virtually all communication coming back as IRCC versus CIC.

-CIC website has not yet changed. I considered registering the domain name for IRCC as soon as the change was announced, but I’m not really in the business of being a domain squatter.

-IRCC website has been really slow lately…..possibly due to rollover to new domain

New Electronic Travel Authorization Coming into Effect

Starting March 15, 2016, visa-exempt foreign nationals who fly to or transit through Canada will need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).

Exceptions include U.S. citizens and travellers with a valid visa.

Entry requirements for other methods of travel (land, sea) have not changed.

See: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta.asp

– Apply electronically through MyCIC portal: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/eta-start.asp

• $7 fee

-huge problem brewing

– You cannot apply for an eTA if you are:

• a Canadian citizen or a dual Canadian citizen,
• a Canadian permanent resident, or
• a U.S. citizen. (However, lawful permanent residents of the U.S. need an eTA if travelling by air.)

– What if your PR Card is expiring and you need to travel.

-Current PR Card Processing times are at 171 days: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/

-what if you need to travel and need your PR Card extension processed on an Urgent Basis?

To qualify for urgent processing, you must be:

• travelling in the next three months, and
• returning to Canada on a commercial vehicle, like an airplane, train, boat or bus.

Even if these conditions apply to you, we may not be able to process your request urgently or get your card to you before you need to travel.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/pr-card/apply-urgent-processing.asp

– Can you imagine the nightmare that is going to happen for visa exempt nationals such as UK, Australian, or other Canadian PR holders who come from visa exempt countries and have to travel without a valid PR card?

– in the past, they could often just travel on their Passports and airlines or CBSA would rarely have an issue when they returned because they didn’t need a visa.

-however, now if they are PRs, the airlines will not let them board unless they have a valid PR card, or hold an eTA.

-well, PRs of Canada can not apply for an eTA, so what are these people to do?

-if you are a PR abroad and you have lost your PR Card, or you have applied to extend it and it has not yet been processed and you want to return to Canada, IRCC requires that you apply for a Travel Document as a Canadian consulate or visa office abroad.

-what a colossal waste of time and drain on everyone’s resources.

-let me share with you what I am advising my clients.

-remember, eTAs only apply to “air travel”. So if you are entering Canada via a land crossing from the US, then the old rules apply.

-although there is never a guarantee that a CBSA officer will not give you some hassle, I am advising my visa exempt clients who have PR Card extensions in process and need to travel after their current PR cards have expired to travel to the US by land and then fly domestically within the US or internationally from a US airport and then return to Canada via the land crossing.

-obviously, visa exempt nationals with PR status in Canada must still meet the requirements of the US visa waiver program, or hold a valid US visa; however, in this manner, business trips, important personal trips can still be accommodated for without the hassle of applying for a Travel Document.

If you have any specific questions regarding this process, just leave me a comment and if it is something that all our listeners could benefit from, I will share it with everyone.

ANSWERS TO LISTENER QUESTIONS

Listener #1

From: kumar

Subject: [your-subject]

Message Body:

hello, I applied for express entry in September 2015 and my file was choose from the pool in oct 2015. After submitting my document in last of oct, they asked me to submit my passport. I submit it last week, I will get my passport in few business days. After receiving my passport, I want to travel to my own country, India for some kind of work. Is that possible, or should I wait for my pr card? If I want to travel to my own country before receiving pr card, then what will be the procedure? can I enter the Canada after my visit to India

Answer: If you must leave before your PR Card is processed,

You must apply for a Travel Document at one of the Canadian consulate’s in India before you can return: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/travel.asp

Current processing times to receive your initial PR Card are at 42 days.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/times/

There is a process to request Urgent Processing of your PR card, however, there are no guarantees and I can tell you from my experience that nothing is urgent for them these days

-when you factor in all of the people with PR Card extensions pending who need to travel and are going to be caught by the eTA rule, it will be unlikely that any request for urgent processing will be accepted unless there is truly an emergency (and even then it is doubtful)

Listener #2

From: Krishna

Subject: [your-subject]

Message Body:

Good day,

Just to give you a background I had applied under the Express Entry program last year through a consultant. However as the consultants were really ineffective I decided to opt out of their services. Now I am trying to apply on my own this year and had a question regarding the application process.

While applying I am asked if I had applied to CIC before and there is another question asking if I had applied for EE before.

I belive I should say yes, as my ex-immigration consultants had applied on my behalf right?

They are yet to share the Express Entry file number and the Unique Client Identifier (UCI). In your opinion they should be sharing these identification numbers with me right?

As when I was with them, they never shared these details.

regards

Krishna

Answer: Absolutely. Any representative, whether immigration consultant or lawyer has an obligation to cooperate with you when you wish to discontinue their representation.

If you owe them money, they may be able to keep the work product that they created and not return it to you. However, when it comes material that you have paid for, you are entitled to receive copies of your file materials which includes your EE file number and UCI number.

If they refuse, then I recommend that you report them to their regulatory body. If a consultant, it would be the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC): https://www.iccrc-crcic.ca/home.cfm

If a lawyer, then you can search the Provincial Law Society governing body where the lawyer practices and follow the links providing instructions on how to report misconduct.

IDEAS FOR OUR NEXT PODCAST

If you have a question or topic you would like covered in our next podcast, please let me know by leaving me a voice message by clicking on the “Ask an immigration Question” widget on the right side bar of the Canadian Immigration Podcast website.

You can also leave me a message by going to the “Contact”  section of the CIP website and leaving a message on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. You can also fill in the comment section provided on the contact page.

In the coming episodes, I am going to be interviewing various Canadian immigration industry leaders who will be sharing their experience and insight into some of the current challenges people are facing with Express Entry as well as other issues we as immigration lawyers and consultants face when representing our clients before Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

So stay tuned.

DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES

Don’t forget to subscribe to the CIP on iTunes and take the time to rate the Canadian Immigration Podcast. The more responses we get, the more exposure the Podcast will receive by those who can benefit from what we share and the tips and guidance we provide in navigating the complex world of Canadian Immigration.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

What does the future hold for Post Grad Work Permit holders looking to apply through Express Entry? Do I need to include all of my work history when completing my Express Entry profile? Is it really worth it to have my spouse complete their English Language testing for Express Entry? These are just some of the Express Entry questions I will be answering in this special edition of the Canadian Immigration Podcast.

In this episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I provide some great insight on the Express Entry process thanks to some fantastic questions from our listeners. I finally figured out how to get my voice messaging system working, so you will be able to listen to these questions direct from our listeners.

The general topics discussed include:

• Express Entry – Can a Post Grad Work Permit holder qualify for Express Entry without an LMIA supported Job Offer?
• Express Entry – What is a Job Offer with the Express Entry System? Does it have to include an LMIA to get the 600 points?
• Work Permit Renewal – Is it legal to work while in restoration status?
• Express Entry – Do I need to upload all of my work experience, or just relevant work experience?
• Express Entry – Should I have my accompanying spouse take the English Language Test to get points under Express Entry?

As the founder of the Canadian Immigration Institute, I am really excited to announce that the full Express Entry Pilot Course is just about ready to be released.

Go to our Canadian Immigration Podcast website and sign up for our mailing list to have the opportunity to receive our exclusive offer to participate in the full Express Entry course.

We will be sending out invitations first to all of the people on our mailing list to participate in a free webinar on Express Entry that will lead up to the release of the new Express Entry course. Space will be limited, so those on our mailing list will get the first opportunity to sign up for the webinar.

In the webinar I will share some awesome tips on submitting your Express Entry permanent resident application and explain in detail what the Express Entry course will look like and why I think it is going to be a real game change for people looking to file their own Express Entry application to Canada.

[Tweet “Check this out! Great insight on Express Entry thanks to some awesome listener questions“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Express Entry: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/Immigrate/skilled/index.asp
• Express Entry CRS Calculator: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp
• Restoration of Status: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/visa/validity/restoration.asp
• Work Experience (PR Programs): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-express.asp

Canadian Immigration Institute

We just completed our very first Pilot Course on how to submit your Express Entry profile (Phase 1). It was a resounding success. We will be releasing within the next two weeks,  Phase 2 of our Express Entry Pilot Course which will cover the entire process from submitting your profile to how to file your permanent resident application after receiving an ITA.

If you would like to register for the course, please subscribe to my mailing list in the top right corner of this site and you will be the first to receive notification when the new pilot course is released.

Questions for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Have you ever wondered what exactly happens with your immigration application after it is submitted? Are there certain things you can do to improve your chances of success? Are there things you can do to hurt your chances of success? In this episode, we are going to pull the curtain back on CIC and share insight on the application process from an X-Immigration officer’s perspective.  

In this podcast I had the rare opportunity to interview Billie Young who worked within Citizenship and Immigration Canada for over 11 years before joining our office as an Immigration Technical Adviser. Billie has now completed her Immigration Consultant Certification and is expanding her practice within our law firm, Holthe Tilleman LLP.

Billie shared some phenomenal insight on what it was like working within the department in a variety of capacities. She also pulled the curtain back on the mindset of an officer when adjudicating applications at a number of different locations including the border, at the airport and at the inland offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

In this podcast, we covered a number of areas including:

1. A day in the life of an immigration officer.
2. How entries are treated differently at the border versus the airport.
3. An inside look at the inland immigration enforcement process.
4. An immigration officer’s mindset when adjudicating applications.
5. Tips on what an officer likes to see in an immigration application.
6. Advice on what an officer does not like to see in an application.

[Tweet “Learn do’s and don’ts when filing CIC applications from an x-immigration officer’s perspective!“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Canada Border Services Agency: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html 
• Immigration Enforcement: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/enforcement/index.asp
• Coutts Port of Entry (CBSA):  http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/time-temp/646-eng.html
• Edmonton Airport (CBSA): http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/offices-bureaux/637-eng.html

Canadian Immigration Institute

We just completed our very first Pilot Course on how to submit your Express Entry profile (Phase 1). It was a resounding success. We will be releasing within the next two weeks,  Phase 2 of our Express Entry Pilot Course which will cover how to file your permanent resident application after receiving an ITA.

If you would like to register for the course, please subscribe to my mailing list in the top right corner of this site and you will be the first to receive notification when the new pilot course is released.

Questions for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Mark’s Questions:

What got you into immigration in the first place?

Tell us a little bit about some of the different jobs you have had working within Canadian Immigration.

So what made you decide to leave your position with immigration to enter private practice within a Canadian law firm?

Tell me a little bit about the day in the life of an immigration officer processing applications?

I’d like to give some real value to our listeners today, so let’s dive into the actual adjudication process of assessing applications.

What were some of most common mistakes people made when submitting immigration applications?

Processing times tend to be quite lengthy when matters are referred to a local office, you must have had a lot of inquiries from people regarding their applications. People have a tendency to think the more you call and inquire, the more attention an officer will give to your application? How did you deal with people who made repeated inquiries into their applications?

Obviously, immigration applications are approved provided the foreign national meets the requirements of the visa category. However, can you give the audience some helpful tips on preparing their applications in a way immigration officers like?

Billie’s Show Notes:

I have worked for over 11 years within Citizenship and Immigration Canada in a variety of capacities. My career within CIC started as a summer student (1998) at the port of entry in Coutts, Alberta. I continued on as a senior immigration examining officer at the Edmonton International airport, then moved on to take up an enforcement officer role in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and continue providing services at the airport in Saskatoon as well. I recently completed my career with CIC as the admissions officer in the Lethbridge, Alberta office prior to its closing in 2012.

Now in the private sector I have acted as a strategic resource to the business immigration team in assisting clients in navigating the complexities that exist within the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. I continue to utilize my past experience as an adjudicating officer to enhance the quality of immigration applications submitted by our clients and provide direct support to our staff in communicating with CIC when difficult and challenging situations arise. On October 22, 2015 I became a regulated Canadian immigration consultant.

Officer’s Thought process: 

Discretionary-An officer can look at the same case with the same evidence and come to different conclusions, with both decisions being right. As long as an officer can justify there decision, and there decision is based on fact not opinion they are good to go.

Threshold-With each officer they eventually determine their own threshold, usually applied to H&C’s and TRP so the very discretionary LOB. In most cases an officer knows what they will let go and approve in these cases, and what they will refuse. Again nothing you can do to change their mind in most cases and by arguing with them only makes them fight back harder as well since they often do not like to be wrong.

Policy based-Even though are decisions are based on IRPA, officers look at the policy manuals for direction and how IRPA should be applied in each LOB. I highly recommend when submitting applications and preparing your submission letter you reference the policy manuals to support your application because that is what an officer will do when making a decision on your clients file.

Dealing with lawyers and or Immigration Consultants-For the most part officers in the larger centers do not want to be bothered directly by the client or the lawyer in our case, unless again processing times have passed, or lines of communication have been opened by CIC, so they are requesting further submissions or interview. It is my understanding that within CIC Calgary for example (or at least it used to be) that all use of representative inquiries are mostly dealt with by the supervisors unless as stated previously the officer has reached out to the lawyer or super

For example in Lethbridge when I was admissions officer I dealt with all the lines of business (LOB) within CIC, from temporary residents VR,WP,SP,TRP, to PR applications, spousals, H&C, PR card investigations, criminality reviews,  and inland refugee claimants. However that was not the case in the Calgary office. Again it comes down to resources, they did not have enough. As well officers were assigned to specific LOB, which is good they become experts in certain areas, e.g. the former TFWU, but the problem is when you deal retirements, transfers, layoffs, and office closures, you now have officers that only are used to doing one LOB trying to learn multiple LOB with limited resources, and a backlog of files. I am telling you this so again you can see what an officer is dealing with, take a minute to see it from there perspective, and now use may be able to you this to your advantage when submitting your application.

Internal working

CIC/CBSA-The communication and partnership is not as close since CBSA came to be. CIC and CBSA are to separate departments even though they are intertwined.

O/S offices-It is difficult to be able to speak with an office within the visa offices even as an officer working for CIC in Canada it can be difficult to get a timely response from the visa office. The reality is they do not have the resources to keep up with the volume. Therefore it is not a priority to answer inquiries that are within the processing times. At the POE you will want to consider that with  new officers are not heavily trained in IRPA. As well at the POE they are not as familiar and often don’t  know the inland procedures regarding most LOB. They focus on clients that are coming into Canada for the fist time as visitors, or finalizing landings, or pre-approved applications from the visa office. I say this just to keep in mind if you are thinking about going to  the border  to have your application adjudicated unless it is very straight forward LMO based WP ect, you are taking a risk. You also want to make sure that you even are eligible to travel to the border and request your application be adjudicated upon re-entry.

Challenge-Challenge the cases you feel warrant it. This will govern the way CIC approaches cases in the future if cases are won in the federal court. Again make sure it is worth it because we all know it is time consuming and in the end if we lose will only hurt the client.

Likes and Dislikes when I was an officer:

• • Keep the submissions short and sweet. For me I did not need to see a condensed version of the information already provided in the application. Submission should be brief, and used to provide clarification that the application may not allow, or that is required to help build a more sold case for your client when needed. Spousal’s for example-two step approach:

• o First look at the sponsor, and sections of IRPA that apply. Does the sponsor qualify;
• o Then look at the relationship between sponsor an PA-legal marriage, as to whether or not it meets common law;
• o Now is it genuine this is all first stage review for an officer. Once the officer is satisfied the sponsor and PA meet the requirements they approve it at stage 1 and move on to the basic screening of inadmissibilities such as criminality, medical, security;

Again this is how I believe we should approach putting together an application for a client in these stages, they way an officer would review them. However, a safe way to put the application together is by following the document checklist.

• • Inquiries, keep them to a minimum, make sure when calling in a favor it is warranted, urgent, and not simply just to fast track the processing times because the client is impatient .
• • Do not approach an officer as if you are entitled, and you are a lawyer therefore you get special treatment. As it is splattered all over the provincial websites, and CIC’s a representative is not necessary.
• • Exhaust all possible options, like contacting the call centre, before inquiring to the CIC/CPC office directly.
• • Tell the truth.
• • Do not abuse the CIC system, try to comply with the officers instructions, CBSA/CIC as it will only help to facilitate in the future, even if the desired outcome takes a little longer to get it is more likely to happen if the client cooperates.
• • It is sometimes just best to comply with the officers request and accept the decision that was made if of course their was no error in law.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

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If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 6 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. In this episode I will be discussing how the New Liberal Government’s Canadian Immigration Reforms impact the lives of temporary foreign workers and future immigrants in Canada.  

As many of you are aware, we now have a new government in Ottawa. This government has released an ambitious “New Plan for Canadian Immigration“. In this podcast I am going to be explaining how these proposed changes will impact the lives of Canadians, future immigrants and temporary foreign workers in Canada.

In this podcast, I will discuss each of the proposed changes in more detail.  These changes affect the following general areas of immigration:

1. Refugees
2. Foreign Visa Requirements
3. Reunification of Families
4. Citizenship
5. Express Entry program
6. Temporary Foreign Worker Program

[Tweet “Do you know how the Liberal government’s proposed changes to Canadian immigration may impact you?“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• What changes the Liberal government intends to make to immigration policy in Canada.
• How these changes impact the various groups accessing the immigration system.
• Links to the relevant government websites and helpful resources.
• Projections as to what these changes could mean for the future of immigration.
• Answers to listener questions in the following areas:
  • How families can immigrate to Canada.
  • Whether or not an LMIA can support a work permit and Express Entry
  • How to determine if your foreign work experience is skilled

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Real Change: A New Plan for Canadian Immigration and Economic Opportunity: https://www.liberal.ca/files/2015/09/A-new-plan-for-Canadian-immigration-and-economic-opportunity.pdf
• Liberal Party Platform: What does Real Change Mean to you?: https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/
• Express Entry – The secret to finding your correct NOC!:  http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/express-entry-the-secret-to-finding-your-correct-noc/

Canadian Immigration Institute

We just completed our very first Pilot Course on how to submit your Express Entry profile (Phase 1). It was a resounding success. We will be releasing within the next two weeks,  Phase 2 of our Express Entry Pilot Course which will cover how to file your permanent resident application after receiving an ITA.

If you would like to register for the course, please subscribe to my mailing list in the top right corner of this site and you will be the first to receive notification when the new pilot course is released.

Questions for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]

Canadian Immigration Podcast – Season 1 Episode 6

The New Liberal Government’s Immigration Reforms

How changes impact foreign workers and prospective immigrants?

”We will make it easier for immigrants to build successful lives in Canada, and contribute to the economic success of all Canadians.”

“Immigration has always been an important part of Canada’s economic growth, but over the past decade, Stephen Harper has turned his back on welcoming those who want to contribute to our country’s success.”

1. Refugees: “We will renew and expand our commitment to helping resettle more refugees, and deliver a refugee program that is safe, secure, and humane.”
   1. Settle 25,000 Syrian refugees by Jan 1
      1. Well underway
   2. Invest $250 million ($100 million this year) to increase refugee processing, sponsorship and settlement
   3. Restoration of Interim Federal Health Program
      1. Provided limited and temporary health benefits to refugee claimants
   4. Appoint individuals with appropriate subject-matter expertise to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board.
   5. Establish an expert human rights panel to determine designated countries of origin, and provide a right to appeal refugee decisions for citizens from these countries
2. Removed Visa Requirements from Mexican Citizens
   1. Phasing out visa requirements for other countries
3. Emphasis on Family Reunification: “We will take immediate steps to reopen Canada’s doors, and will make reuniting families a top priority. “
   1. We will also nearly double the budget for processing family class sponsorship.
      1. Reducing wait times for spousal sponsorship and Parental sponsorship
   2. Double parent and grandparent entry applications to 10,000 a year
      1. Currently taking 8-10 years to process
      2. Remove conditional PR (currently 2 years live together)
   3. Increase age of dependency from 19 to 22
      1. Many children between 19 -22 are in school and still depend upon parents
   4. Citizenship:
      1. Repeal Controversial provisions in the Citizenship Act to strip citizenship from dual nationals
      2. Bill C-24 – created second class citizens and more difficult to become citizens
      3. Crediting individuals for residency time prior to PR as it did before
   5. Express Entry:
      1. will provide more opportunities for applicants who have Canadian siblings by giving additional points under the Express Entry system
      2. We will make changes to the Canadian Experience Class to reduce the barriers to immigration that have been imposed on international students.
   6. Temporary Foreign Worker Program:
      1. Removal of $1000 LMIA fee for caregivers of physically or mentally disabled family members
      2. Better regulate caregiver agencies
         1. “We will also work with the provinces and territories to develop a system of regulated companies to hire caregivers on behalf of families. This will make it simpler for families to hire caregivers, and protect caregivers by allowing them to change employers in the case of bad relations or abuse.”

Listener Questions:

Question 1

From: Hasanova

Subject: Immigration to Canada

Message Body:

I live in Azerbaijan with my family and I am expressing a deep interest in migrating to Canada for a better life for my family.

Question 2

From: sagun

Subject: express entry and work permit

Message Body:

Hi,

I would like to inquiry that if I have Job offer letter supported by LMIA by a company in supervisor post. Can I apply for Work Permit as well as FSW Express entry program together? Please reply me.

Sincerely yours

sagun

Question 3

From: aruna

Subject: canada immigration

Message Body:

Is experience in banking consider as skilled work experience?

See Blog: “Express Entry – The secret to finding your correct NOC!” wrote on September 28. Found on www.CanadianImmigrationPodcast.com  website.

Report on Express Entry Pilot Course – Canadian Immigration Institute

• Express Entry Pilot Course on submitting your profile was completed yesterday November 21^st.

• Fantastic group of people involved. It was a lot of fun.

• Gained great insight into the areas that give people the most trouble.

• I will use this wonderful insight in creating the full Express Entry course

• Now that Phase 1 is done, I will be sending out an invitation to participate in Phase 2 of my pilot which will cover all aspects of filing your PR application after you receive an ITA.

• Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

Questions for our Next Podcast

If you have an immigration question you would like to leva with me, there is a number of ways to do it.

• You can leave it in the comments section under this podcast,
• connect with me on Facebook at the Canadian Immigration Podcast facebook page.
• I can also be reached through LinkedIn and Twitter,
• and even on my law firm website: Holthe Tilleman LLP.

Because of the high number of questions I get, I am not always able to answer each person individually. I am really sorry for this. However, I will try to select the best questions that I get most frequently and podcast the answer as I have done in this episode. So please don’t hesitate to send your immigration related questions my way.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review.

That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my mailing list as well.

Links to Resources:

Real Change: A New Plan for Canadian Immigration and Economic Opportunity: https://www.liberal.ca/files/2015/09/A-new-plan-for-Canadian-immigration-and-economic-opportunity.pdf

Liberal Party Platform: What does Real Change Mean to you? https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/

Express Entry – The secret to finding your correct NOC!: http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/express-entry-the-secret-to-finding-your-correct-noc/

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 5 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. In this episode I will be discussing my Top 5 reasons you are deemed ineligible when using the “Come to Canada” assessment tool for Express Entry.  


This podcast is dedicated to all of you who have tried to complete the CIC “Come to Canada” tool that is a prerequisite to applying for Express Entry in Canada, but have been found ineligible. Sometimes, your background is not quite what it needs to be in order to qualify. However, in other circumstances, your ineligibility arises because of an error on your part in how you answered the questions within the Come to Canada tool.

In no specific order, these are the mistakes I see most often in my practice:

1. Your language test is invalid.
2. You don’t have enough skilled work experience.
3. You don’t have sufficient funds.
4. You do not meet the minimum qualifications under one of the 3 Economic Programs.
5. You have problems with your personal reference code (this is really post eligibility; however, you can consider it a bonus tip).

[Tweet “Do you know why most people are found ineligible for Express Entry?“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The 5 most common reasons people are found ineligible for Express Entry.
• How to navigate CIC’s “Come to Canada” tool.
• Great links to essential CIC resources for determining your eligibility under Express Entry.
• Helpful tips on navigating the complex Express Entry process.
• What to do if you don’t have your settlement funds and need help from family.

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• EE Come to Canada Wizard: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp
• EE – CRS  Tool:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp
• FSWP Eligibility: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-factors.asp
• Express Entry – Completeness Check Policy: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/express/intake-complete.asp
• CIC LICO Chart: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/funds.asp

Speaking Engagements

I will be speaking at the follow upcoming event. If you would like to register, please follow the links below for further information. Let me know if you will be attending as I would love to meet you in person.

• Canadian Institute’s Immigration and International Worker’s Forum (Oct 27-28, 2015)

Question for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read a additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian immigration podcast season 1, episode 5.

Express Entry – Top 5 Reasons you are deemed ineligible by the “Come to Canada” assessment tool

1. Don’t have a valid language test
   • test is more than 2 years old
   • test score is too low
     • CLB 5 for CEC NOC B
     • CLB 7 for FSWP

TIP: remember you enter your actual scores from your test, NOT the CLB conversion totals.

TIP: it asks for your Skilled Work Experience IN CANADA – you need to understand which skill level applies to you.

2. You don’t have enough skilled work experience
   1. Skilled – B,A, or 0
   2. 1 year, continuous, paid, F/T or equal amount in part time – in only one occupation
3. You don’t have enough funds
   1. If no job offer, must meet LICO [ will provide LICO Tables
   2. Depends on size of family – larger fam = more settlement funds
4. Don’t meet minimum qualifications under one of the Economic Programs:
   1. CEC = need minimum 1 year skilled work experience in Canada + English CLB 5 for NOC B and CLB 7 for NOC A and 0
   2. FSWP = 67 points
      • English and/or French Skills (28)
      • Education (25)
      • Work Experience (15)
      • Age (12)
      • Arranged employment in Canada (10)
      • Adaptability (10)
   3. FST =
      1. Language (speak/listen = CLB 5) (read/write = CLB 4)
      2. Skilled Trade Experience 2 years within 5 years previous
      3. Have F/T Offer of Employment for 1 year OR certificate of qualification from a Province or Territory.

5. Problems with your Personal Reference Code:
   1. Entered the wrong personal reference code:IN0157416692 when started EE profile
   2. Waiting too long to start EE profile and personal reference code has expired – valid for only 2 months
      1. If need to redo profile, this comes up frequently

Listener Questions
Proof of Funds:

I have been granted an ITA through Express Entry and the portal is asking me to provide proof of funds. I know I don’t have enough to cover myself, my wife, and my 2 children. Can I borrow money from my father to provide the “show money”?

Answer: If you are receiving money, it must be an irrevocable gift and not a loan. If you have a large deposit within the previous 6 months, you simply need to explain where the money came from, this will be critical. Maybe you sold a house or other possessions to obtain the settlement funds.

Key Suggestion: try to save money in advance and have it in your account over a period of 6 months. If money is obtained from family, it has to be an irrevocable gift to you. May sure that you provide an affidavit or other document confirming that your family provided you with the money and does not expect it to be paid back.

This should include details related to the transaction such as:

• Date and amount of the transfer of funds
• Account numbers and who owns the accounts
• Even reference numbers for the wires or other transfers

Always include a letter explaining where the funds came from.

Don’t forget the bank letter confirming the following:

• Your name and date of the statement
• Account number
• Current balance
• Average balance in the past 6 months
• Date the account was opened

TIPS: you can show funds from multiple accounts  and use them collectively

TiP: if you have sufficient funds in one account, you don’t need to submit letters for all of your accounts.

Tip: You can NOT use property valuations as proof of funds. The property would need to be sold and the funds available in your account.

Tip: You can also NOT show borrowed funds, so loans are out.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Welcome to Season 1, Episode 3 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. In this episode I will be discussing my Top 5 reasons Express Entry applications get rejected.  

By listening carefully to this podcast, you just might be able to save yourself from the 5 most common mistakes that can result in the refusal of your permanent resident application under the Express Entry system.

Although there are any number of ways you can be found ineligible to actually participate in Express Entry, this podcast will be focused on the ways you can unknowingly mess up your application after you have been granted an Invitation to Apply for permanent resident status in Canada.

In no specific order, these are the mistakes I see most often in my practice:

1. Your reference letters are deficient.
2. You forgot to include all your police clearances.
3. You failed to include a copy of your degree with your ECA.
4. You let your language test results expire.
5. You didn’t provide proof of funds.

[Tweet “Failing to include your degree with your ECA can result in refusal of your Express Entry application.”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why the Express Entry program can be so unforgiving to applicants.
• How to avoid the 5 most common mistakes people make when filing their applications.
• Great links to essential CIC resources for determining your eligibility under Express Entry.
• Helpful tips on navigating the complex Express Entry process.

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• EE Come to Canada Wizard: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp
• EE – CRS  Tool:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp
• EE – Draw #17: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/mi/index.asp?expand=mi-pr-express#mi-pr-express
• Blog Post:How to Draft an Employer Letter that Works: http://www.canadianimmigrationpodcast.com/express-entry-how-to-draft-an-employer-reference-letter-that-works/
• How to get a police clearance: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/infORmation/security/police-cert/index.asp

Speaking Engagements

I will be speaking at the follow upcoming events. If you would like to register, please follow the links below for further information. Let me know if you will be attending as I would love to meet you in person.

• Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Canadian Immigration Law Event (Sept 23, 2015)
• Canadian Institute’s Immigration and International Worker’s Forum (Oct 27-28, 2015)

Question for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read a additional notes for this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian immigration podcast season 1, episode 3

In this episode I will be discussion the Top 5 reasons your Express Entry application can get rejected?

Since Jan 1 – EE is pretty much the only option for PR for SW in Canada except for PNPs

• We’ve gone from certainty with the old system to tremendous uncertainty with EE
• Prior to Jan 1, 2015 could apply directly to various Economic PR Class categories:
  • FST
  • FSW
  • CEC

• After Jan 1, anyone seeking to transition from a WP to PR or seeking to immigrate as a skilled worker to Canada must now go through EE – unless qualify under one of the PNPs
  • However, PNPs in some Provinces are suspended until the new year, such as Alberta and BC which are suspended to early 2006 because the 5500 quotas for 2015 have been reached.

• Thus, there is a lot riding on successfully navigating the EE program.
• If you are one of the many TFWs in Canada with work  permits that are reaching the four your cap, you have very little margin of error. If you don’t get it right, you could be finding yourself heading home.
•  When I speak with my colleagues across the country, we are seeing all lot of Applications getting returned for seemingly inconsequential reasons.
•  This is what we will be discussing to some extent in the podcast today.

•  Largely this is occurred because of the shift within immigration and how they are processing applications.
  • If there are any errors or deficiencies within the application and it is not perfect, they will simply return it. We call this a one touch policy.
  • In other words they want to get an application that is complete and they don’t want to have to sit on the application and then waste time by sending you a deficiency letter.
  • They have quotas to meet. They have to get these applications processed in six months. There are only so many officers to go around.

•  Have you noticed how the work permit processing times and spousal sponsorship processing times have skyrocketed? The reason for this is that many of the officers are being reassigned to express entry so that the government can continue to meet their service level standards of six-month processing for express entry.

• So the situation we’re now dealing with is that you have to get your application right and you cannot afford to make innocent errors or mistakes or omissions on your applications otherwise they’re going to get bounced back.

• It’s one thing to get your application rejected because you do not meet the requirements of the Express Entry program. It’s an entirely other thing to have your application in the cue having been granted an ITA only to have it rejected when you file the present application because of something you should’ve anticipated long before you ever submitted it.

•  When submitting your profile  to the express entry pool , there are lots of checks and balances within the system to allow you to know right away whether not you qualify. If your English isn’t sufficient you do not even get to the door.  If you do not have at least one year of skilled work experience in Canada or abroad, you’re also shut out.

• Citizenship and immigration Canada has a CRS calculator that you can punch in your information and it will let you know  what your potential rank maybe. I’ll put a link to that within the show notes.

• Once you’re in the pool, you’re also be notified as to the actual CRS score that you get when you’re sitting in the pool. You can then compare CRS score to the rounds of invitations and determine exactly where you sit. Our most recent draw which is the lowest of all, occurred just this weekend on September 18 with a CRS point threshold of  450 points.

•  Each time a trial curse we hope that it will continue to drop lower and lower. However I know for a fact that there are thousands of people who are currently sitting at somewhere below 450 points that limbo for months hoping to be drawn. The Internet is full of people discussing the frustration they’re experiencing.

• Can you imagine what it would be like if you had 450 CRS points and were finally granted an ITA to the Federal Skilled Worker Program after waiting since early January of this year  to be drawn.

•  I personally would be overjoyed.

•  Now let’s imagine you faithfully submit your permanent resident documentation and upload all of the information necessary to ensure that the lovely portal accepts your application.

•  Now let’s  fast forward five months. You get home after a long days work to find you have a new email from citizenship and immigration Canada. You notice that it has the file number starting with the letter E which is significant because it relates to your express entry application.

• You quickly log into your computer and open your MyCIC  Account

•  What you find devastate you. After waiting in limbo almost 8 months, CIC has refused your application. Why did they refuse it?
  • Because you forgot to include a copy of your degree when you uploaded your educational credential assessment.
  • Or maybe you forgot to include a birth certificate for one of your dependent children; Or even worse,
  • You accidentally uploaded a copy of your child’s passport data page in the spot reserved for birth certificates –  which is super easy to do given the fact you cannot look at the documents once you’ve uploaded them into the system to ensure you’ve got the right one in the right spot.

• Now you realize that you are going to have to go back into the pool and hope again that the draw total drops down to at least 450 and 50 points again.

•  This is what we’re seeing happening. I’m seeing individuals all across the country who are facing the same issues. In the past these simple oversights resulted in nothing more then a 1 to 2 month delay in processing has CIC waited for you to upload the requested documentation that you had missed in the original filing. However as can be seen from above anyone who does this now can most assuredly expect to see their application returned.

Alright, I think I’ve be labored that point long enough. This podcast is designed to give you my my top five reasons that I’ve seen applications getting refused over the past seven months. It’s my hope that by sharing these simple tips with you, you will be able to ensure that you don’t make those same innocent mistakes that have such drastic consequences when applying under the express entry system.

So before we start with my list, I want to qualify that these reasons relate to the permanent resident process of the application.  There are likely a number of different reasons why individuals cannot even get into the pool.  There’re also things that candidates can do to increase their CRS score and increase their chances of getting drawn from the express entry pool. However, I’m not going to be discussing those in this podcast but instead am going to be focusing exclusively on the reasons that IC permanent resident applications being bounced.

So let’s jump into my top five reasons permanent resident applications are being refused under the express entry system.  I do you want to point out that these are no specific order.  However they are some of the top five most common reasons I see these applications getting returned.

1. Reference letters are Deficient – do not meet the minimum requirements:
   • See: How to Draft an employer reference letter that works: posted on Friday September 18th on my website canadianimmigrationpodcast.com
   • One of the most common areas omitted from those letters are the detailed list of duties  and the number of hours worked per week.
     • These are missing, you will not get credit for your skilled work experience in your application will most assuredly be returned.
     • If there is one person out there that has been given a second chance from CIC and asked to replace a deficient reference letter I’d love to hear it.  They show no mercy.
2. Police clearance missing– some countries require a federal and state clearance.  The only way you will know is by going to the CIC website and reading very carefully exactly what they need.  I’ll provide a link to the  how to get a police certificate webpage within the show notes as well.
   • One example of this is Australian where you are required to provide:
     • a National Police Certificate – Standard Disclosure – name check only (issued by the Australian Federal Police) AND
     • Traffic History (for residents of Queensland only) OR
     • Full Licence History Search (for residents of Victoria only)
   •  Guess what happens if you fail to include even one of those. You guessed it refusal!
3. Educational Degree not included with ECA assessment –  this one happens more than you think.  When uploading the educational credential assessment, some people forget to also upload the underlying degree that was evaluated.
   • now one would assume That it’s not a big deal because the ECA assessment is the most important thing within this process.  Further, there is no way you could get TCA without the underlying degree.  However we have seen refusals for failing to included.
   • a simple oversight, which can cause an individual to have to start all over again from the beginning.
4. Language Test Results have expired –  you would think with the language test results remaining valid for two years this would not be a problem. However, the longer someone sits within the express entry pool, the more likely it is that an IELTS or CELPIP  test results will expire.
   • Let’s take our  original candidate who hypothetically submitted  her application in January of this year. If they were not drawn until June of next year, it is entirely possible that that language test could have expired long before the permanent resident application is finally adjudicated.
   • I have seen this happen. With  the fairly significant cost of language testing, it makes perfect sense that people will try to use an old test as long as they possibly can without having to incur the greater cost to sit the exam again.
   • However, if one is not vigilant it is easy to see how people can be tripped up by this requirement.
5. Proof of Funds lacking – finally, the last area in which I see applications getting bounced back at the last stages is due to a failure to have proof of funds to support settlement in Canada following the approval of PR

Unless you are currently authorized to work in Canada and have a valid job offer from an employer in Canada, or you have been invited to apply under the Canadian Experience Class, you must show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family after you get to Canada.

Bring as much money as you can to make moving and finding a home in Canada easier. Note, however, that Canadian customs regulations require you to declare if you are bringing more than C$10,000 into Canada. If you do not tell them, you may be fined or put in prison. These funds could be in the form of:

• cash
• documents that show property or capital payable to you (such as stocks, bonds, debentures, treasury bills, etc.) or
• documents that guarantee payment of a set amount of money, which are payable to you (such as bankers’ drafts, cheques, travellers’ cheques or money orders).

So with all of this being said you better make darn sure that you disclose any amounts over $10,000 Canadian when you are arriving in Canada.  I can only imagine a circumstance where an individual is caught by customs for feeling to disclose the amount, before they have had a chance to go to immigration to confirm they have settlement funds in order to land as a private resident Canada.

So with all of these reasons I’ve given above for why your permanent resident application can be refused under express century, I want to give you just a few quick tips that if followed, can pretty much eliminate the risk of this happening to you.

1. Collect all of your documentation long before you receive your invitation to apply. In this fashion you’re not going to be scrambling at the last minute try try to get all of the necessary documentation and miss something by accident because you’re trying to go to fast.
   • Remember that once you have been granted your ITA, you have only two months to submit your permanent resident application. If you have not yet obtained the police clearance, your medicals, or your reference letters etc., you may be very hard pressed to get these things before your time runs out.
   • So make sure that you have all your documentation ready to go at a moments notice.
2. Consider declining your ITA if your application is not  100% complete a the time in which you are required to file the PR portion–  you need to ensure that you have everything that you’ve been asked to provide  and that the documentation and information has been properly uploaded into the portal before you submit your application.
   • It is a far better practice to hold off on filing until you have everything. It may be that some pieces of documentation are difficult to obtain. After all, if you qualify for more than one permanent resident program your document checklist can look slightly different depending upon the program.
   • However, the days of telling CIC to hold the application pending receipt of a document that has not yet been received – such as a police clearance from Africa (which can take many months), or the results of a medical test, will often fall on deaf ears and result in you getting your PR application refused with instructions to resubmit your profile into the EE pool.
   • So  don’t take the chance.
   • In many cases, if you are not faced with a work permit that is expiring. It may be a better practice to decline the invitation to apply until you have the documentation that you need.  If your CRS points are high, you will get drawn again within the next three weeks or so.

So that about covers it for my top five list of reasons people get their PR applications refused under Express Entry and I finished off with a couple of hints to ensure you can protect yourself from falling into this trap.

So let’s go to some listener questions.

This one is probably one of the most common questions I get. Unfortunately, it is not a question that I would classify as general in nature; however, I do want to address it right off the bat so that hopefully I can help others with similar questions to find the answers they are looking for. Just to clarify, this would be an example of a specific question that better suited for a one on one consultation. However, here it is and then we can talk about what you can do if you have a similar question.

LISTENER QUESTION #1

Question via Canadian Immigration Podcast Website:

Name: amarjit

Comment: dear sir,

I have a 3 year diploma in mechanical engineering and I have 15 years of work experience. I have IELTS scores of:

Listening-5.5,

Reading-4.5,

Writing-5.5,

Speaking-5.5.

OVERALL- 5.5 Can I qualify for Express Entry?

The quick answer to this question is that no you will not be able to apply through express century.  I assume from this question that he is not currently working in Canada. If that is the case he would not qualify under the candidate experience class. In this program you can qualify with language scores at CLB level 5.  However, anyone else outside of the country that has to go through express entry and ultimately apply to the federal skilled worker program, the minimum language score is set at CLB 7.

Now with this being said, I want to provide everyone with three important links to help them along their way.

1. The CIC skilled immigration eligibility wizard which can tell you if you are eligible to submit your profile into the EE pool:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/ctc-vac/ee-start.asp
2. The second is CICs webpage that outlines the Six selection factors – Federal skilled workers are assessed against when determining if they meet the initial 67 point threshold for the FSWP. If this is not met, then you can’t even get into the EE pool unless you are living and working in Canada. I presume that Amarjit is not. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-factors.asp
3. The third is the CRS tool: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp  that will assess how many points you are expected to receive IF CIC accepts the information you have provided as being provable.  In other words, you may feel you have a Masters level degree and thus eligible to obtain the corresponding points for education. However, a language assessment could equate your Masters degree to a 4 year undergraduate degree in Canada. So take this CRS tool as a general guide. I’ll place this link in the show notes too.

So it is not possible for me to assess each individuals eligibility for express interest. I sincerely wish I could, however it’s not possible. If anyone wants to have their eligibility formally assessed and receive a legal opinion, they can reach out to my law firm www.HT-LLP.com and book a paid consult. For the rest of you, these links should give you exactly what you need to get a very good idea where you stand with express entry. So I hope they’re helpful.

LISTENER QUESTION #2

From: Nila

Subject: [your-subject]

Message Body:

I’m a spouse of an international student who holds an open work permit in BC. I have gained experience to qualify through CEC.

Can my employer apply for an LMIA only to support my PR application as I don’t need a work permit?

My spouse is a still student and we already have a valid study and open work permit for another year. I’ve have no Canadian education.  I have skilled work experience working as a seamstress (NOC 6342) and i’m paid the prevailing wage. I’ve created an express entry profile but didn’t get enough points as my spouse is still working on his degree and I don’t have Canadian education as I mentioned earlier.

So, my only hope is now to get 600 points through an LMIA. Thanks for all your help and will look forward to the answer in your weekly podcast.

From: Labib

Subject: LMIA

Message Body:

I’m preparing my file for FSW program..I have revived job offer from a Canadian employer.my question is ..

1-Is it mandatory to have LMIA in order to get additional points for the job offer OR not??

2-can I submit EOI  before obtaining LMIA or during processing the LMIA ??

Yes, absolutely you can have your employer apply for what we call a PLMIA or a permanent LMIA that is used to support an EE application. There are some benefits to this process as there is no $1000 application fee for the employer and processing times tend to me a little quicker than a traditional LMIA. The only thing to remember is that your employer will still have to demonstrate that there are no qualified Canadian citizens available to take your position as a seamstress.

If your employer is successful, you will indeed obtain an extra 600 points for your job offer and will be virtually guaranteed that you will receive an ITA. I wish you all the best.

LISTENER QUESTION #3

From: Labib

Subject: LMIA

Message Body:

I’m preparing my file for the FSW program.. I have revived job offer from a Canadian employer.my question is ..

1-Is it mandatory to have LMIA in order to get additional points for the job offer OR not??

YES, only job offers supported by and LMIA will get the additional 600 points under the CRS.

2-can I submit EOI  before obtaining LMIA or during processing the LMIA ??

Yes, if you meet the 67 point threshold under the FSW program, and other program requirements there is nothing from preventing you from submitting your profile into the EE pool and waiting until your employer is able to obtain an LMIA to support your job offer. 
[/spoiler]

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Welcome to Season 1, Episode 2 of the Canadian Immigration Podcast. In this episode I will be discussing the Top 5 things you need to do to prepare yourself before even thinking about submitting your Express Entry profile.

Opening Tip: Do not take an English Test first as indicated on the CIC Website! 

1. Assess your admissibility to Canada.
2. Determine if you have at least 1 year of Skilled Work Experience.
3. Take the Language Test.
4. Get an Educational Credential Assessment done.
5. Determine if you qualify for one of the Economic Immigration Programs (FST, FSW or CEC).

[Tweet “When determining eligibility for Express Entry, taking an English Test is not the first step.”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• How to conduct an initial Express Entry screening to determine if you qualify.
• How to obtain a language test and the minimum scores for Express Entry.
• How to obtain an Educational Credential Assessment.
• How to determine if you meet the specific requirements of the individual PR programs (FST, FSW, and CEC).

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• CIC’s instructions for Express Entry: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/profile.asp
• How to determine if you are inadmissible: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/infORmation/inadmissibility/index.asp
• NOC 2011: http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/Welcome.aspx
• Federal Skilled Worker Points System: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-factors.asp 
• ECA Designated Organizations: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assessment.asp?expand=designated#designated
• CRS Tables: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/express-entry/grid-crs.asp
• Program Criteria for each PR category (FST, FSW, CEC): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-express.asp

I will be speaking at the follow upcoming events. If you would like to register, please follow the links below for further information. Let me know if you will be attending as I would love to meet you in person.

• Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Canadian Immigration Law Event (Sept 23, 2015)
• Canadian Institute’s Immigration and International Worker’s Forum (Oct 27-28, 2015)

Question for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian immigration podcast season 1, episode 2. With citizenship and immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void, by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. Please welcome ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer Mark Holthe, as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions, and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

In today’s episode I’m going to be discussing the top five things you need to do to prepare yourself before even thinking about submitting your profile into the express entry pool. CIC’s instructions for submitting your profile into the express entry pool are pretty clear. If you go to the website, they will tell you step one, take your language test, step two get your foreign education assessed. And finally confirm your skill work experience abroad. So three steps, language test, get your education, then confirm your skilled foreign worker experience.

Well I can tell you that if you follow these steps right off the bar, without doing anything else, you’ll be wasting your money. I really don’t want you to do that, so let me help you save $500 before you even get started. First thing I want to indicate is that to take the language test it’s going to cost you between 265 to 300 Canadian dollars to do that. To get your education assessed, it’s going to cost you between 200 and about 226 dollars to get your foreign credentials assessed.

Now I don’t want you to waste that money if you are not yet at a position in which you can even submit your profile into the portal. And the reality is if it’s going to take you a couple of years to qualify by that time your language test could have expired, generally English language test lasts for two years. And the educational credentials assessments are good for about five. So we are not so concerned about them lapsing, and then you not being able to use them later, but the reality is if you want that $500 in your pocket now, if you are not even going to come close to qualifying, then you need to follow my tips that I’m going to give you right now.

My opening tip to save money is one don’t take the language test first. So despite CICs instructions to rush off and spend that money, hold off for now and here are the five most important steps that you need to do first. So number one, assess your admissibility. Let’s face it not everybody is going to be admissible to Canada, sometimes you make stupid decisions when we are young, and we end up with criminal records for relatively small things, but even small things can result in inadmissibility to Canada.

When it comes to assessing admissibility, the government looks at a number of different things, and I’m not going to give you a comprehensive list here because that’s — we don’t really have time for that. But you could be found inadmissible for health grounds, if you’ve had an illness, financial reasons and ultimately the financial will result at the end of the process when they ask you to provide the necessary settlement funds to be able to establish yourself in Canada. And if you can’t prove you have sufficient funds to do so, then that can also scuttle the whole process. So it’s better to assess now whether you think you will be able to achieve a sufficient financial support if needed.

The third possible reason for getting — receiving a finding of inadmissibility is misrepresentation on a prior application, or in an interview with CIC. So if you’ve had that in the past that can also prevent you from being able to qualify. And then obviously there are the more serious things like I indicated, there’s human or international rights violations, an individual can be convicted of a crime abroad like I indicated. But there are ways to overcome the criminal and inadmissibility, which I’ll put some information in the show notes that can help you if you found yourself to be in a situation where you’ve got a criminal conviction, but you are just not sure whether it will make you inadmissible to Canada.

So I’ll put in my show notes a link to the CIC website where that website will give you information on what does and does not constitute inadmissibility. And then from that site or that web page you can then click on the sentence that reads, if you have committed or been convicted of a crime you have a few options. And so when you click on that it will then take you to information related to criminal rehabilitation. And that criminal rehabilitation is available to individuals who have had prior criminal convictions, and it’s a way of permanently removing that inadmissibility.

And like I said let’s face it, nobody is perfect, we make mistakes but if you’ve had a prior conviction for anything from theft or assault, driving under the influence, or possession of — or even more serious things trafficking in drugs, or dangerous driving or manslaughter, or any of these different possible crimes. If you’ve been convicted of those, you could be barred from even getting through the program. And the problem is you will waste all of your time, all of your money applying to be drawn and given an ITA through the pool, ultimately to provide your permanent resident documentation and submit that application, and then at the very end be told that you are criminally inadmissible to Canada. So I don’t want you to do that, so make sure step one determine if you are admissible.

Now let’s move on to step two, obviously to qualify through many of the economic permanent resident streams, you need to have foreign skilled work experience. And this is skilled work experience, and in the case of permanent resident programs in Canada, you actually need to have at least one year of skilled work experience. Now that skilled work experience can be inside or outside Canada, so it doesn’t matter where you’ve acquired it. But ultimately that determination as to whether the work you did is actually considered to be skilled is critical. If you are not careful in how you assess it when you submit your application, CIC could determine that it’s actually not skilled and something less than skilled and leave you right back at the beginning.

So understand, I’m telling you these tips so that you don’t waste any money yet, until you’ve assessed these two most important factors. In order to determine whether your job actually equates to skilled work within Canada, you have to go to the national occupational classification system. Now beware there are two different ones, there is one for 2006, which is used exclusively by the temporary foreign worker program. I won’t get into all the details why they are still using that other than saying they probably don’t have enough resources to switch over to 2011 version, because all of the temporary foreign worker program resources are all tied and linked to the NOC 2006.

So you don’t use the 2006, you actually use the NOC that’s been developed — that’s the NOC 2011, that is what you use to determine whether your position is skilled for the purposes of applying for express entry. Now in order to help you so that you don’t get confused I’m actually going to put a link to the NOC 2011 within the show notes, so you can click on that, know that the positions that you are researching are actually coming from the right occupational classification system. Now a few extra little tips to help you, the title is important to kind of get you pointed in the right direction.

So whatever your title was working abroad, you can search for that title within the NOC, but do not rely on that title being the actual position that you are working in. You must take a very close look at the job duties that you actually performed, and then equate those job duties whether you completed the position like I said in Canada or abroad. Equate your job duties and the employment requirements for that position with what is specifically set out in the NOC. And I could take a whole podcast and go through all of the steps that we go through to determine this equating of your foreign skilled experience with the particular position profile that’s allocated on the NOC to determine if it really dos match. That’s a podcast in and of itself, so I can’t get into that today, but maybe I’ll save it for a later date.

But just know that you need to really look at matching up those job duties and making sure that the requirements the NOC list for that position are exactly what you needed to fulfill the position you were doing, that you want to include for the purposes of express entry. Okay, I think you’ve got that. All right step three, now finally you are going to folk over some cash and take the language test. You can’t even get into the profile, [speeding] your profile into express entry unless you have taken an official English test. The two sources that are accepted by immigration are the IELTS, the international English language testing system. And this one is good for individuals who have learned their English through the UK, Australia, New Zealand, because that’s how the languages, the accents, the terminology that they use.

So sometimes I have had clients indicate that if they receive their English training abroad, outside of Canada that the IELTS test actually was pretty good, so they use that one. Then there’s the CELPIP which is the Canadian English language proficiency index program. This was developed in Canada, so it’s our in-house little program that is used to assess English, and you are dealing with English speakers here. So one of the things if you’ve learned English in Canada, this test sometimes I’ve clients express that’s it’s a little bit easier for them.

So you choose either one that’s acceptable, you write that test, and that’s not it. You must take a look at what your score is. So if you are an individual who’s been working in Canada, there’s two different levels of English that you need to meet depending upon the classification that your position falls under. So if you have been working for one year in Canada at least one year, in a NOC B, so that’s the national occupational classification skill level B, trade level specialized technologist, technician that kind of level. Then you’ll need a CLB of five and that’s for every category, not average, every category, if you are going to be qualifying under the Canada experience class.

If you have that one year work experience, but in Canada, but it’s under NOC A professionals, or O senior managerial or management positions, then you must have a CLB of seven, so understand that distinction. If you are applying from outside of Canada, and you have non Canadian work experience, then it’s pretty easy. The only program you can qualify under is the federal skilled worker program, except for the federal skilled trade program, which is also out there, but not typically — there’s much fewer people that would qualify into the federal skilled trade, it’s out there, but we are just focusing on the skilled worker program right now. So in order to qualify for that one you must have a minimum CLB of level seven under the — in order to qualify into the federal skilled worker program.

So if you don’t have at least a minimum level seven for your English, then you know what, don’t even bother getting your education credentials assessed, which happens to be the forth step along the way. So just to recap, step number one, determine if you are actually admissible to Canada, whether you don’t have anything that’s going to trip you up. Number two determine if your skilled work experience abroad actually equates, and would be considered skilled for the purposes of express entry. The third step is to take your language test and pay that money. And if you meet the minimum requirement once you have written that English test, then step four is to get your educational credential assessment done.

Immigration has set forth a number of designated organizations that can do this for you. But it’s important for you to understand that if you have Canadian post secondary education you don’t even need to do this. But if you are relying upon foreign educational credentials, then you must submit an ECA in order to get credit for those educational credentials. If you try to just include it without the ECA, and you just tried to include your background educational experience, you will get no points for it.

So if you are wondering why you are not getting any points for — under the comprehensive ranking system for education, it will be because you don’t have that ECA. So you will always have to support it, always-always with an ECA. I have a link in the show notes once again to the locations where you can obtain your ECAs, ultimately there are — there’s probably about five different organizations that you can use for just general assessments. And then for doctors and for pharmacists they have their own organizations, their own entity.

So there’s the Comparative Education Services that UFT [ph] continuing studies, the University of Toronto department of continuing studies offers, there’s the International Credential Assessments Service of Canada. The World Education Service, or the WES, which is very common, a lot of people use that. The International Qualifications Assessment Service, and the International Credential Evaluation Service, and obviously you’ve got a lot of choices.

So here is where I’m going to ask you to participate in this. And I want your participation, I want people involved. I want us to share our knowledge, because after all if we are going through this process and we are trying to guess what CIC wants, which really is what we are facing these days, the best way we can figure out what the heck we supposed to do is to share our experiences. So here is the question, I’ll post this in my show notes; this is what I want all of you who are listening to this to respond to.

If you’ve already gone through the process of obtaining one of these educational credential assessments, I want you; in fact I’d love to hear from you how it went. I would like you to post your response in the common section of this particular podcast, on the canadianimmigrationpodcast.com website. And I’ll compile the results, and I’ll release them to everyone as to which test the organization is the fastest, which one grades the best in terms of recognizing your credential, and the more information I get back from all of you, the better I can get the data that we’ll then be able to use — we will be able to use going forward. So lots of reports, lots of comments, that’s what I’m looking for, do all you can do to encourage your friends and other people that you know who’ve already gone through the process to share their thoughts, and it would be wonderful, I’m really excited about it.

Now as I indicated previously, these ECAs are valid for about five years, and ultimately when you file your permanent resident application, you’ll need to provide your reference number for the ECA report, and this is super important because if you don’t provide that, then when the time comes to submit your PR almost invariably they’ll ask for a copy of the whole electronic documents. So sometimes they ask for it, sometimes they don’t, but you’ll need to have it and keep it handy. So I always ask that you go ahead and you do this so you know right off the bat how many points you are going to get exactly, what that your foreign credentials will equate to in Canada, so then you can know where you stand with this — with the comprehensive ranking system, and your ultimate score.

If the report that you have shows that your foreign credential is equal to a Canadian one, then you’ll get those points, those serious points. If the report shows that there is no equation to a Canadian credential, then it’s pretty simple, it’s very unlikely you are not going to be able to qualify for the federal skilled worker program, at least you won’t get any of those serious points. However if you are currently working in Canada, then it’s possible that you could qualify under the CEC, or as I haven’t discussed a lot the federal skilled trade program.

If anybody wants more information about the federal skilled trade program they can email me directly, and then if I get enough interest then I’ll really delve into it. But it’s kind of the red head and step child, that program is not many people use it. And ironically because of that, if you do qualify into the federal skilled trade, in terms of the ranking of importance, Citizenship and Immigration Canada in Ottawa has told us, as immigration lawyers that they intend to rank in terms of priority for them. The federal skilled trade program is number one, because it’s the hardest to fill, and they’ve got so many numbers of people that they want to pump through that program.

And so number one is federal skilled trade. Number two is the federal skilled worker, and last but not least is the Canada experience class. So sometimes when they do these draws, and pull people out of the pool, they will pull from a specific program, and sometimes because obviously those who are often applying into the federal skilled trade program do not rank as high with the comprehensive ranking system. So if they decide to only draw a federal skilled trade, it’s possible that although you maybe — don’t rank high enough to get drawn under the traditional route, that they may exclude only to federal skilled trade, and you could see yourself getting drawn. So if there’s enough interest I’ll cover that later, but at this stage I’m going to move on forward.

So while you’ve gone through this process, you’ve got your ECA done, you’ve got your language test done, you know that you have level one year skilled work experience, and you are not inadmissible to Canada. The last step that I’ll share with you is that you need assess whether you meet the minimum requirements of each of these three economic programs to start with. So you can have all these other stuff, but if you do not meet the minimum requirements of one of these programs, then you can’t even get through the gate to start with. And I indicate one year skilled worker experience abroad is a baseline, because generally speaking if you do not have that, you are not going to qualify for anything.

So let’s go through these programs just so that you are aware from the government’s priority program, federal skilled trade, not that they are not all a priority, but if there’s ever a tie between these, the tie will go to the federal skilled trade program, then federal skilled worker, then CEC. Because the government always wants to meet their quotas for these programs, and clearly for individuals working and living in Canada, the CEC is probably the easiest one to qualify under, regardless — absolutely regardless of whether you are skilled trade, or you are the CEO of a company, CEC is the easiest.

But let’s go through the federal skilled trade program. So to start with this is something that I didn’t indicate when I was talking about language test, but you have to have a minimum CLB of level five in speaking and listening, and the CLB of four in reading and writing. And that’s the only distinction. The other programs CEC, federal skilled worker, you can’t average the scores. So you have to have that minimum of level five for CEC or seven, and for the federal skilled worker you have to have that minimum CLB seven. But with the federal skilled trades, they recognize that reading and writing is not super critical for trade level excellence, but speaking and listening is. And so they have it set at CLB five for speaking and listening, and CLB four for reading and writing.

You also need two years of work experience in the trade within the past five years, and you also need to make sure that that work experience meets one of the positions, the trade level positions that are set out under the NOC. And when we start to assess these a little bit more closely, you’ll see that there are major groups of occupations under the trade level positions that are set out on the CIC website, and once again I’ll provide another link to that within the show notes. All right, and then you have to have an offer of full time employment for one year, or you need a certificate of qualification for that trade issued by one of the Canadian provinces or territories, so that’s the federal skilled trade.

Now let’s move on to the federal skilled worker, the basic requirements, one year of paid skilled work experience, so that’s a minimum of full time skilled work experience over one year, or the equivalent in part time. So 30 hours per week is considered to be skilled, and so if you do the math that’s about 1560 hours in a year. So if you are working full time, that’s the minimum expectation to qualify, at least to meet the minimum standard. Also you need to make sure that your position is classified in NOC 0A or B, like we indicated before within the 2011 NOC, the one year must have been obtained within the last 10 years, and CLB level 7.

You also need at least a high school education, and finally last but not least and this is where I see many people trip up, so pay close attention to this. If you are looking to qualify from abroad, you do not have a job offer supported by a labor market impact assessment and you are applying likely through the federal skilled worker program. Even though you have lots of points maybe with the CRS point system, you need to make sure that you have at least 67 points within the six selection factors of the federal skilled worker program. So this is an assessment that happens before you even go through the comprehensive ranking system assessment.

And the six selection factors they look at are obviously there’s duplication here, one English or French. Two English — sorry, one English or French, two education, three work experience, four age, five job offer, and six adaptability. And so these six factors are based on a different ranking scheme than the CRS, so pay attention to that, go to the CIC website; take a look at whether you meet that 67 point threshold to qualify for the federal skilled worker program. And then finally make sure that you have for federal skilled worker, that you have proof of funds, so that you’ve got sufficient funds to meet the minimum income levels required to settle in Canada.

Now the final one, and this is the easiest one if you are currently working in Canada is to show that you have at least 12 months of full time or equivalent in part time skilled work experience in Canada within the past three years, so couple of points to note. If you’re on an open work permit, and you’re working– performing– you know you’re self employed, or if you gained your work experience under a co-op program while you were studying in school, both of these do not count.

So self employment and work under a co-op you can’t count it towards your 12 months, towards the three years or 12 months of skilled working experience within the three years before applying. And who does that affect? Well, it affects our post grad work permit students, the ones who go to school, who are often at least on the co-op side have had experience working in jobs, so you have to wait until you’ve worked for a full year outside of school before you can qualify, all right. It goes without saying that while in Canada that works needs to be legal, and to a large extent it has the potential of disqualifying refugees.

So if you’re here as a refugee claimant and you get that open work permit to allow you to work while your claim is being assessed, you can’t use that work experience towards qualifying under the CEC. So disappointing at this stage, but I will you keep you posted if I learn anything else about transitioning from refugee status to permanent residence through express entry. And then finally with CEC the language requirements are pretty simple if you have a work experience and NOC Zero or A, then you need a CLB which is the Canadian Language Benchmark level 7, and that’s across all of those different factors.

If you have work experience under NOC B, then the skill– the comprehensive– oh sorry, the Canadian Language Benchmark has to be at level five. So just to recap, for the CEC program the Canada experience class if you have work experience in NOC zero or A, then the Canadian Language Benchmark must be 7. If it’s NOC B, then the CLB has to be five. All right great, so those are my tips. So obviously there are a lot of different ways of preparing for express entry, and there’s probably people that have different strategies, and different ways of collecting their documents, but from my experience if you follow these five short little steps, one you can save money without throwing it away, because you did not qualify under express entry.

You can save some money first to make sure that you really do qualify before you start spending it. So I hope these five tips have been helpful for you, there may be other suggestions that people have. I welcome your comments, and I’ll say this time and time again, I welcome people to provide input, to provide their experience, to share their stories, I love to hear those things. And hey if you’ve got anything that’s really, really applicable to what we’re talking about here, what we’re discussing, I’ll bring it on and we’ll talk about it in the next podcast. And with the world of CIC these days, it’s really challenging, because there’s no real clear policy on how you’re to cover off a lot of these different aspects of express entry, that are just not written anywhere.

So like I said the only way you can learn is by sharing your story, so please-please share your experiences, comment on this podcast, and ultimately share it with your friends and other co-workers if you think might be interested in hearing this. All right, now we’re going to shift to some questions from our listeners. The question that I have selected for this podcast comes from Desire; I’m going to call here Desire although her name is spelt Desire, D-E-S-I-R-E.

And once again this is another plug for you to go to the Canadianimmigrationpodcast.com website, or you can alternatively leave a message on my firm website ht-llp.com, and there is a widget on the side of the web page that indicates, “Ask an immigration question.” Go there, click on that thing; leave a voice message for me. If someone is having problems doing that, let me know, but that is wonderful way when I can have you ask your question, and I can put you right on to this podcast. I’m sure everybody would love to hear people’s real questions, rather than me trying to decipher their written emails.

But anyways this email is from Desire, and that she sent Friday September the 11th and its entitled “Spouses.” So she indicates, “Hello sir, I wish to ask if I can remove my spouses’ name from my application to express entry to have more points? The CIC already have his information on their website when I was applying for my work documents. I provided his name on my application when I was applying for my work permit. Can I give any excuse why I don’t want him to be in? I intend to enter, and then invite him when I have the permanent residence, thanks.”

Okay Desire, this is a great question, and I want to identify just one thing to clarify for those who are listening. So she indicated that she wanted to remove her spouse’s name from her express entry application, so that she can have more points. Well, when you’re assessing individual’s points through the comprehensive ranking system, single individuals get full points for some of the human capital factors, and the those who have family members they get– individuals get slightly less points in their personal capacity, and then their spouses are assessed to then make up the balance of those remaining points that a single individual would get completely right at the beginning.

So if you go to the CRS; Comprehensive Ranking System website, which I’ll post a link there as well, you’ll see how those points are broken down. So essentially for Desire she’s probably is saying that her husband is maybe going to have a little bit more trouble getting those points, and getting everything assessed, and it’s just easier if she goes through on her own first, and so she hopes that’s he can remove her husband now even though he’s fully on the radar of CIC, he’s been included with her application for a work permit, so they know he’s there, and she says, “Can I Give an excuse why I don’t want him to be in?”

Well Desire here’s the issue, if you do not want to include him within your express entry application and be assed, then there’s a way of doing that. So essentially what you do is when you’re in the express entry profile section, at the very top in grey boxes right in the middle you will a box that says, “Modify family information.” Click that box, then when you get to that site, go down to the bottom and click update information, and then it will take you to a questions that reads, “What’s your marital status?” Make sure that you keep married selected. You cannot and must not indicate that you’re not married when you really are. So make sure that that section is clicked, that it’s selected as married, then you click next.

Then it will take you to another question that says, “Is your spouse/common law partner included in this application?” And it’s at that stage that you select no. This will then take you back to your express entry profile, and you should see that your spouse should be removed from your profile, and they will not count towards your comprehensive ranking system points. So, but I want to reiterate, and it’s very important that everyone listens to this, this is– if there was anything that I could tell you about including a spouse or excluding them, this the single most important thing that you must consider.

You cannot indicate that you do not have spouse on a permanent residence application, go through the process, become landed as a permanent residence in Canada, and then go back and try to sponsor them. You must not, and you cannot do that because you will be forever barred from sponsoring them as a result of an operation of law, and the legal provision is section 117, subsection 9, subsection D of the Immigration and Refugees Protection Regulations. I will post a link to this in my show notes, but you must never ever fail to disclose, and have that spouse examined.

Now ultimately those things will take place at the end of your application, and it will delay your permanent residence a little bit, but as of 2002 when they instituted the new immigration and refugee protection act, and they changed the legislation for immigration in Canada, they instituted this section to catch people who are actually doing that. So Desire I think your worry is more about getting more points right off the bat, and not having to worry about things.

So you disclose your husband, you indicate that he’s not coming, and then you go through the process, and you can land and then sponsor him later, but you must make sure at all stages that CIC is fully aware that you do have a spouse, it’s just that they’re non accompanying now. That will leave you the option of sponsoring them one day in the future when maybe timing is better for you, but under no circumstance if you have a spouse do you indicate that you do not, because it will come back to bite you.

So this is a pretty– a little bit more fulsome answer than I usually give, so I’m only going to answer that one question in this podcast, and then we’ll save questions for next week for the other podcast that I’ll be releasing on Monday. I’d like to take this time to just provide a few other little announcements. Some of the upcoming speaking engagements I’ll be entertaining if you’re in Lethbrigde, September the 23rd at Lethbridge, Alberta. I will be speaking at the Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Canadian Immigration Law event, so you can go the show notes, and there’s a link to register for that if you’re interested, members and non members are both eligible to attend.

I’ll be covering a number of different areas including express entry, foreign work permits, and just a great overview of the current state of the land when it comes to foreign workers, and immigration programs in Canada. Also in October from the 27th to the 28,th I will be running a workshop at the Canadian Institute Immigration and International Workers forum that’s located in Calgary, and I’ll also be speaking directly to HR managers and other companies, employers in particular regarding the new and ever increasing compliance factors and compliance measures that immigration is instituting within the foreign worker program. I’ll be trying to demystify some of those, and provide additional information so that companies can make sure that they are compliant.

All right, next podcast I have a question that I really-really want people to answer, and our next episode of the Canadian immigration podcast I’ll be discussing something that I think everybody is going to be very interested in, either because they’ve had experience with this, or are going to try to avoid it at all cost. And I’m going to be discussing the most common reasons people have their express entry applications refused. So if you recently had your express entry application refused, I’d love to hear what happened to you.

Leave a comment on the website; you can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, all that social media connections. Leave a message wherever it’s most convenient, ideally the commons section of this podcast would be ideal, but tell me why your express entry application was refused. I’ll select the most egregious refusals, and share my suggestion on how to fix the things that caused you grief. Now understand that express entry has been a real-real headache for many people, and sometimes we get bounce backs in applications when we have done nothing wrong, it’s just a computer glitch.

So I’d love to hear your reasons for refusal, what happened, share with us, let’s all learn together, and I’ll select some of the more egregious refusals, some of the worst ones, and see if we can offer any advice or strategies on how to improve that. I also want to reiterate that if you would like to ask me an immigration question, you can always leave that question on the website. There’s a number of different means which I’ve talked about, you can go to the little widget on the side panel of the immigration– The Canadian Immigration Podcast website, and click that and leave and audio message for me, a question.

You can also leave one through our– the form field on the website, or you could even go to the ht-llp.com website which is my law firm website, and leave a question there. I want to reiterate, yes I’m getting a few people who are asking me to assess their chances of obtaining express entry and their– of qualifying through– to being admitted in the portal and ultimately receiving an ITA. So people are wanting me to do comprehensive assessments of their unique background and circumstances, and unfortunately that goes beyond the general kind of applicability of what we’re trying to do here with this free resource.

If you would like me to go through and specifically assess your likelihood of qualifying, that is more on the side of legal advice, and so if you need that specific legal advice go to the ht-llp.com website, my law firm website Holthe Tilleman LLP, and you can go there and set up a paid consultation, and we can go through everything that you need. We can talk about the strategies that you’re looking at employing, we can develop long term plans, we can do all those things that you need, but this site and this resource is purely for general information purposes, just to help people just stay informed of what happening with immigration and what they need to do to give themselves the best chance of success when they do it themselves, so that’s the purpose of this site.

So if you can recognize that, please don’t get offended if I ask you to set up a paid consultation if I feel that your question is just too specific. But this is really designed to get questions from people that are generally applicable so that I can have the most benefit and help the most who are also experiencing those same types of problems. So that’s why we’re doing this. So yeah if you have a general question please-please leave it in the comment section of this podcast, or at any of the other various social media avenues that I’ve indicated.

Also I want to encourage you to subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on the website, and if you leave me your email address then I’ll forward you notifications whenever we have any changes that are occurring to the site, you’ll get instant notifications, you won’t have to keep coming back to the site to look for them. And also go to iTunes and subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast on iTunes.

I would also love it if you would please just leave a review, good, bad I don’t care, leave those reviews, it helps me to rank higher within iTunes, and then make this more visible to other people who are experiencing the same challenges you are. So I’d love any comments or suggestions you also may have to make this podcast better, and so if you can share the love that would be awesome. Now finally I just want to remind everyone, I announced it in the last podcast that I did, but it is my intention to create a series of Canadian Immigration do it yourself guides.

These are going to be screen casted tutorials on all aspects of Canadian Immigration. The first one that I’m going to release November the 1st, so stay tuned is express entry, no surprises there right, the one that is causing most people the most amount of grief. So if you or anyone else you know is interested in learning more about this, and would like to be notified the moment this is ready, please go to the Canadianimmigrationpodcast.com website, register you email, and then I will notify you immediately when this comes– when this starts to come for release.

So we’re going to have a fantastic launch that will be prepared here shortly in the next few weeks here that will lead up to the actual release of the this express entry do it yourself guide, I’m super excited about it, I think it’s’ going to be awesome. I‘ve poured in all of the knowledge that I have, all of my tips, all of my strategies, that of my staff members as we’ve worked on these applications over the past year, and we’re really excited, super excited because this is going to be a way for us to reach far more people than we’ve ever been able to do before.

I’d encourage you to go back and listen to season one episode one, that I just recorded which explains my rationale for doing this, and I can’t tell you how much I love sharing this information, knowing that it has the potential to bless the lives of people out there. And ultimately it’s all about service; it’s all about trying to help you navigate the complexities of immigration, so that you don’t fall into the same traps that many clients I’ve seen fall into, because they came to me too late.

So this is a way that we can give back, like I said I keep saying I’m excited about it, but it’s fantastic, and I’m– I just can’t wait to read your comments and to hear how your experiences, and to hopefully provide you with some value and something that you can use and be happy with. So this is the end of this podcast, it’s Mark Holthe here sighing off, and until next time when I offer more practical tips and information on Canadian Immigration law, policy, and practice to help you along your way.
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Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

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Well after a considerable delay, I am now re-launching my new and improved Canadian Immigration Podcast. It is likely that I will continue to maintain my second Canadian Immigration “Answers” podcast for a little while longer; but will eventually merge that one with this Podcast.

Now before I get into more details regarding my Canadian Immigration Podcast and what I hope to accomplish with it, I felt it was pretty important that I share a little bit of information about me first.

[Tweet “Canadian Immigration Podcast Season 1 – Episode 1”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Who I really am!
• Why I created the Canadian Immigration Podcast.
• Why I am in the process of releasing  a series of Canadian Immigration DIY guides.
• Explain how I intend to use this site to offer a ton of free practical resources related to the Canadian immigration process.

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• My law firm website: www.ht-llp.com
• Where I will be speaking next: Seminars and Events

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

I will be speaking at the follow upcoming events. If you would like to register, please follow the links below for further information. Let me know if you will be attending as I would love to meet you in person.

• Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Canadian Immigration Law Event (Sept 23, 2015)
• Canadian Institute’s Immigration and International Worker’s Forum (Oct 27-28, 2015)

Question for our Next Podcast

Read the Transcript

You can read a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]Well after a considerable delay, I am now re-launching my new and improved Canadian Immigration Podcast. It is likely that I will continue to maintain my second Canadian Immigration “Answers” podcast for a little while longer; but will eventually merge that one with this Podcast. In conjunction with this Podcast and to better establish a Platform that I can build on, I have also released a brand new interactive website to host all of the content I will be producing through the Canadian Immigration Podcast, and consistent blogs designed to share my knowledge about Canadian immigration with you.

Now before I get into more details regarding my Canadian Immigration Podcast and what I hope to accomplish with it, I felt it was pretty important that I share a little bit of information about me first.

Who I really am!

One promise I made to myself is that I wanted the listeners to my podcast, to know who I really am. There is nothing more irritating to me than these nameless, faceless, websites offering Canadian immigration services without disclosing who will actually be preparing the applications. It is pretty hard to build a relationship of trust with a company. People build relationships of trust and confidence with people. In our world of hyper privacy, it has become almost a sin to share anything personal about yourself on a “professional website.. Well, I do not subscribe to this philosophy. As such, I want to share a little bit about myself. Possibly a little bit more than my wife would want me to share; however, that’s just how I’m wired.

I’m a farm boy. I grew up riding horses, chasing cows, and moving irrigation pipe across our alfalfa fields in beautiful southern Alberta. I had three brothers and no sisters. We were the wild Holthe Boys to all who knew us. We lived a completely carefree life swimming and fishing in the river that flowed by our house, riding horses and basically doing what farm boys do. I loved playing sports as a kid. In fact, I wanted to be a high school Physical Education teacher more than anything because of my love for sports. I played just about every sport I could. The only time I had to choose was when the seasons conflicted. I loved Track and Field and Volleyball the most.

I played collegiate volleyball on the Men’s team at the College in Lethbridge, Alberta in 1991 and then again in 1994-1996, when I served as Captain of the team in my final year.

I had the privilege of competing in the 1992 Canadian Olympic Trials for High Jump in Montreal just prior to the Barcelona, Spain Olympic games. I was completely out of my league at those trials; however, Athletics Canada gave me a B Carding as a result of my performances the previous year (I jumped 2.05m which was the Olympic Standard that year). That carding paid for my flight and gave that farm boy his first taste of flight and travelling outside of our little community. Coming from an entirely English speaking rural farming community, Montreal was like being in a different country. It was one of the most prized experiences from my youth.

That summer following the Olympic Trials, I made one of the best decisions of my life. I decided to serve a full time mission for my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). On October 14, 1992 I left my home and had the amazing experience of serving in Portugal for two years. Much of who I am today is as a result of that wonderful experience. I grew to really love the people and in return they gave me a wonderful second language that has helped me to appreciate the challenges people experience as they attempt to learn English as a second language when immigrating to Canada.

Following my mission I returned home where I married my beautiful wife Dianna. We have four children, two girls and two boys. Making a better life for them was one of the main reasons I decided to become a lawyer. However, law was not my first career. I spent my undergraduate degree preparing to be a high school physical education teacher. I worked for one year as a teacher in a small rural high school near the Alberta/Montana border before deciding to completely shift gears and go to law school. It was during that time working as a teacher that I was introduced to the Immigration Manager of the Alberta ports of entry who suggested I apply to work as an officer on the border in the summer while attending law school. Its amazing how things work out.

After having completed the first year of law school and having worked during the summer on the Canada/US border as an immigration officer, I made the decision to restrict my law practice exclusively to Canadian immigration. I did this because it gave me an opportunity to work with people in a way that made a real difference in their lives. There is no greater feeling than that.

Although I started my legal career in a large national firm and have spent time working as an associate and partner in mid-sized regional firms, I have found Holthe Tilleman LLP to be the best configuration for allowing me the freedom to do what I love without the artificial constraints of billable hour targets and the demands of big firm practice.

I now get the opportunity to utilize my teaching background as a lawyer through my speaking engagements, work shops, and recent venture into Podcasting. I count myself blessed every day for the opportunities I have been given.

If you want to see my full professional biography, it can be found on my firm website: ht-llp.com. Just click on “who we are” and follow the links down to my name.

Why I created the Canadian Immigration Podcast

So let’s get back to why I have created the Canadian Immigration Podcast..

My intention is to make the podcast extremely practical as has been my practice to this point. I will be creating a series of “how to” blogs for a number of different tasks we often ask our clients to do; such as how to obtain Access To Information requests when your immigration application gets refused. Instructions on obtaining police clearances from certain countries, as well as completing immigration medicals will also be coming out shortly. However, because of the background myself and other staff members have had working as officers within Citizenship and Immigration Canada, we intend to share a number of blogs geared towards turning the curtain back a little on CIC and what goes through an officers mind when they are processing applications or admitting people into the country through the various Canadian ports of entry. So make sure that you subscribe to our mailing list so that you can be advised of new content when it comes out.

Finally, over the past few years I have become somewhat frustrated with the limited capacity I have to help people. As an immigration lawyer, my ability to offer service to people has been limited by the fact I only have so many hours in the day. At any given time, I can only assist one person at a time through formal legal consultations or even work on only one person’s application materials at a time. Further, I have spent the last 9 years serving within the Canadian Bar Associations immigration section at both the local and national level. I truly had an amazing time working beside some of the most dedicated, intelligent, and caring Immigration lawyers across the country. Those who truly wanted to give back to our profession and to advocate on behalf of those must vulnerable in our society. I had the wonderful opportunity of serving as the Chapter chair for our local section in Calgary for 2 years and then most recently on our National Immigration Law section as an Executive Member for an additional 2 years. I had the opportunity to participate in the drafting of numerous submissions to the government advocating on behalf of both individuals affected by the flury of immigration program changes that have rocked the entire Canadian Immigration Landscape.

I loved this experience working within the National leadership of the CBA and the associations I made with these wonderful lawyers, but felt that although those efforts were making a difference at a federal policy level, my calling has and will always be at the ground level helping people from all walks of live navigate the complexities of the Canadian immigration system. I officially dropped off the national executive on September 1st so that I can devote all my time to this new venture.

So what does my law practice look like now? Well, I have an office in Calgary, Alberta which I visit weekly to meet with clients, but for family reasons I live in Lethbridge, Alberta located about 2 hours south, where I make my home, raise my family, and spend the majority of my time. Because of practicing in a small town, I do not have the ability to reach the same numbers of people compared with my colleagues living in the large metropolitan cities across Canada.

Fortunately, as our world has become more virtual I have continued to see my law firm grow as word of mouth referrals have consistently kept me busy practicing immigration law exclusively. But I am not satisfied with serving so few people. I want to be able to help many more people than I am currently able to assist.

So after much consideration I have decided to create a series of Canadian Immigration Do-It-Yourself Guides that will provide tremendous practical guidance and step by step instructions on how to complete the various Canadian Immigration applications. I intend to start with Express Entry because that one seems to be giving everyone the most grief lately whether lawyer, consultant, or individual seeking to do-it-themselves. The guides will essentially contain every tip, strategy and ounce of knowledge I and my staff have gleaned working within CIC and in the past 11 years of Canadian Immigration practice.

So why choose to create these DIY guides in addition to the free resources we will be sharing through the Canadian Immigration Podcast? The answer is pretty simple.

As an immigration lawyer, my legal fees are not cheap. I act for many large multinational companies and high net worth individuals who value the service I offer and are willing and able to pay these rates. However not everyone seeking entry to Canada can afford to hire an immigration lawyer. It is for these people that I have been most concerned. In the past year, there has been a significant shift in how CIC processes immigration applications. For many years, CIC was more than willing to accept immigration applications that were mostly complete, but with some technical deficiencies. In these circumstances, people who submitted deficient applications received a letter from CIC explaining what was missing. These people were often given 30, 60 or 90 days to providing the missing information before the application was refused.

Unfortunately there has now occurred a significant shift within CIC in how immigration applications are being processed. In an effort to streamline the adjudication process, and to save money, CIC has now shifted substantially to a “one touch” policy. Essentially what this means is that if there’s any deficiency within the application; regardless of how insignificant, they will choose to return the entire application versus holding it in the queue and asking you for the missing information. They are quick to return the processing fee; however, for individuals who are relying desperately for an application to be processed in a set period of time, having this occur can be devastating.

Because the stakes are so high, there have been many people that have had applications refused with the consequence of losing the opportunity to come to Canada temporarily or in the worst case scenario see their dream of living in Canada permanently shattered. This may seem overdramatic; however after having hundreds of people contact my office for assistance this year alone only to be told it was too late and that they would likely have to return back to their home county, I know first hand how volatile this entire process is and the real effect it can have on individuals and families that are simply trying to make a better life for themselves.

So this now sets the stage for the circumstances leading up to my decision to create the Canadian Immigration Podcast and my Do-It-Yourself Guides. As I just explained, in the previous CIC world of “deficiency letters”, a small oversight or omission within an application was not fatal. CIC would simply send out the deficiency letter after having done the completeness check.

In fact, many immigration representatives, whether dabbling lawyer or immigration consultant were able to benefit tremendously from this policy. They would never have to spend too much time becoming an expert in the area because CIC would just tell them what was missing from the application after it was filed anyways. This standard practice made many lawyers and consultants quite a bit of money without adding any value to the clients that paid them. In fact, most of these “light weight” representatives would simply have the client fill in the application form themselves anyways offering no greater value than being the one to mail the application off to CIC. No wonders they are able to charge $250 for an application that I would charge $2,000.

However, in today’s Canadian Immigration world, a great levelling effect has occurred amongst representatives. Dabbling lawyers and incompetent consultants can no longer hide their ineptness behind CIC’s old policy of requesting deficient information. If something is missing, or incomplete with the application package, an applicant receives the whole package back requiring them to have to resubmit everything once again. Often the refused application can take months to come back. In the case of some foreign workers reaching the 4 year cap on their work permits, this leaves them in an absolutely fatal position because there is often no further options available to them to remain in Canada longer because they were relying upon the permanent resident application to grant the authority to extend their work permits through the bridging work permit program. Without the valid work permit, they are no longer eligible to apply for PR. CIC offers very little sympathy to these individuals and after spending years establishing themselves in Canada, their dreams are dashed because of a simple oversight that could have easily been avoided.

Nearing the end of April 2015, when the first group of foreign workers were capping out, I realized that continuing to operate my law firm in the fashion that I was doing, would significantly limit my ability to actually help individuals who desperately needed assistance. I had already written a series of blogs at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 to provide general advice and direction on some of the options that could be available to foreign workers facing the 4 year cap on their work permits. I knew that many of these individuals would have no where to turn for advice, so tried to make the blogs as practical as possible. I also wrote a number of blogs on the new express entry system to try to help these individuals who had nowhere else to go. These blogs continue to receive high traffic today even after 8 months. I also lowered my consultation fee in an effort to make my legal services more affordable. ; However, I could never provide sufficient value to these individuals in a 30 minute consultation to give them a solid starting point for completing their applications on their own. I could point them in the right direction to go; however, there were so many mine fields and pit falls along the way that even when I gave them specific instructions on which applications to make in order to stay in Canada, inevitably a tiny mistake within the application package would get it rejected and there was nothing I could do.

Despite the fact I lowered my consultation fee, individuals were still unable to afford the flat fees I charged for the various immigration applications. Often these individuals would turn to representatives that claimed to offer the same service but for much less than I charged. However, in many cases, the old adage “you get what you pay for” became a reality more often then not. These same clients would come back willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to pay my fee for assistance; however, it was often too late.

Because of this, the only solution I could think of was to start the Canadian Immigration Podcast, attempt to answer questions of general importance to people accessing the Canadian immigration system, and create a series of DIY Guides that could be offered at a fraction of the price of what I charge in legal fees. As I stated previously, my hope is to offer answers to immigration questions that could be broadcast to a much greater audience than just those people that could afford my legal fees. I tend to get many of the same questions all the time, so what better way to amplify my knowledge and experience than to host a weekly podcast show where I shared my knowledge freely with anyone who cared to listen.

Obviously there is only so much you can do through a weekly podcast. However, if the information I provide can give people a even a little help in completing their applications on their own, then my purpose would be accomplished.

Clearly these guides are not meant to replace the value of seeking personal legal advice from a qualified representative; however, the tips, strategies and suggestions included in the guide will give people solid information on how to avoid common mistakes and practical tips that they could never get without actually hiring a representative. Let’s face it, many individuals who may benefit from this DIY guide would likely never hire me in any event because my legal fees are too high. However, they may be more willing to purchase a guide from someone they can trust to help them along their way. In this fashion, I feel like I am actually giving back to many people who may have nowhere else to turn for help. I won’t get into the dangers of hiring the cheapest lawyer or consultant as your representative; however it goes without saying that if the professional fee you are paying seems like a “real deal”, there is likely a very good reason why the fee has been set at the rate it is.

With all of this being said, by charging a small fee for this DIY guide, I can then afford to improve on the quality of the DIY guides and put more resources into enhancing the Platform of free services offered through the Canadian Immigration Podcast website. Which can be found at the canadianimmigrationpodcast.com.

I will continue practicing immigration law in the traditional way I always have, but through the money I am able to earn from these initial guides, I will be able to create others and continually improve upon them year upon year. My goal is to create a wonderful library of DIY guides to provide assistance to anyone that just needs a little assistance to help them along their way.

I hope you find the resources on the canadianimmigrationpodcast useful. However, one of the most important reasons I set up the website was to get feedback from you. Not everything I do will be perfect. I am sure I will make mistakes and that is where you come in. On every blog, podcast and guide there will be a comment section for you to share what you think of this resource. I will rely heavily upon the members of my Canadian Immigration Podcast community to offer feedback on what I am doing well and where I need to improve. I will never pretend to have all the answers. Clearly there are many wonderful immigration lawyers out there that are smarter than I am. I know because I worked side by side with them in the trenches of the Canadian Bar Association fighting for principles that the average person would likely never have been aware of.

However, it will be your comments, suggestions, and personal experiences dealing with CIC that will really bring life to the Canadian Immigration Podcast. If you notice a mistake, or have any suggestions for improving the DIY guides or any content on the site or within my Podcast, or have other suggestions that have worked well for you, I would be happy to give you credit if the suggestion lands in the next version of the DIY guide. After all, in the new world of CIC which is lacking of clear and transparent policy and guidelines, sometimes the only way you can really know what to do is to learn from the recent successes and failures of colleagues and friends. With this being said, I want to emphasize that these DIY guides are meant to be used in conjunction with CIC’s existing application guides, policy and instructions. I do not intend to simply recreate or repackage the good resources that CIC has made available to the public. These resources are created as a supplement to what CIC has produced in an attempt to fill in the numerous gaps that exist within the current publicly available materials. You will note that I intend to frequently refer back to the CIC website and provide links to other useful information in a way that makes it easier for you to find.

Finally, if you find this information helpful, the best thanks I could receive is for you to recommend it to a friend. There are numerous places to share this Podcast as well as the blogs and other guides through your various social media channels. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn tend to be the ones I frequent most. However, I would also ask you to leave a review on iTunes which will help the Podcast to rank higher in the rankings and hopefully become more visible to others who could benefit from this information. I always feel a sense of urgency with immigration because it changes so frequently. As such, the content I provide is going to have a fairly short shelf life. So share this resource with anyone you know and stay tuned to the release of my very first DIY guide on Express Entry which will be coming out on November 1, 2015.

You can go to my website: canadianimmigrationpodcast.com for further information and to subscribe now to be notified when it is ready for distribution. You can also stay tuned to future Podcasts where I will be discussing the content of the DIY guide in a little further detail leading up to its launch.

In my next Podcast, I will provide my list of the first 5 essential steps you must take before attempting to submit your Express Entry profile. Because I want this to be an interactive process where we can all learn together, I would like you to submit your thought on what you think are the most important steps to take before filing your Express Entry profile and you can compare your answers with mine during the Podcast.

I also intend to take a few listeners questions at the end of the Podcast, so please go to my website, at canadianimmigrationpodcast.com and leave your question. You can do so by clicking on my contact page and leaving a written question through the fillable form. You can also connect with me on facebook, twitter, or LinkedIn and leave your message there. Finally, my preference is that you click on the “Ask an Immigration Question” widget on the right side panel of the website and leave a voice message. In this manner, I can include your question directly within the Podcast itself.

I will try to focus on questions related to the Express Entry program; however, if I get some really good questions that deal with other areas of immigration, I may just include them as well.

In future Podcasts, I will be addressing some of the common mistakes people make when submitting their Express Entry Profile. Sometimes we are seeing Express Entry applications getting returned by mistake when the applicant did nothing wrong. It is in these infuriating circumstances where I really want to hear from you. If you, or someone you know had their Express Entry application returned or outright refused unfairly, I want to hear about it. Share your worst horror stories with me and I will share some of mine with you at the end of the Podcast.

If any of you HR Managers out there who are responsible for managing the foreign worker program within your company, or anyone interested in learning more about the recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, are going to be in Lethbridge on September 23, 2015, please come here me speak at the Human Resource Institute of Alberta’s Canadian Immigration Law Event. I will be giving a 2 hour presentation at the Lethbridge Lodge. You do not have to be a member of the HRIA to attend. You can go to my law firm website: www.ht-llp.com and click on Seminars & Events to find information on how to register.

I will also be speaking at the Canadian Institute’s Immigration and International Workers Forum West at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta on October 27-29th . I will be conducting a pre-conference hands on workshop on Oct 27th entitled “Working through Labour Market Impact Assessments and then presenting a special session on Ensuring Employer Compliance the very next day on the 28th. You can find information on how to register on my firm website ht-llp.com as well.

Well that is all for this inaugural episode of the canadianimmigrationpodcast. As a final sign off, I will leave you with a wonderful little song (at least I really like it) that pretty much sums up why I created the Canadian Immigration Podcast and how I feel about this dear country of Canada, my home and native land. Until next time when I offer more practical tips and information on Canadian Immigration law, policy, and practice, to help you along your way!
[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

Thank you for posting such useful information on your website. I wanted to ask whether the jobs advertised on the Job Bank were those that already have a valid LMIA, or whether an LMIA must be sought for once a potential job offer is extended by an employer.

I have received a CRS score of 393 after submitting my profile into the Express Entry pool. Given the fact the lowest CRS score awarded so far is only 451, can you offer some tips on how to increase my score so that I can get drawn?

[Tweet “Tips for increasing the chances of getting an ITA for Express Entry”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• how the Job Bank works with Express Entry
• how employers connect with potential candidates on the Job Bank
• tips for increasing your Comprehensive Ranking System score
• a case study of who has qualified to receive an ITA so far
• what you need to get drawn without a job offer

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Job Bank: www.jobbank.gc.ca
• National Occupational Classification System (2011): http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/Welcome.aspx
• Express Entry System: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp
• Express Entry – Rounds of Invitations: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/express-entry/rounds.asp

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]With Citizenship and Immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian Immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice.

Please welcome, ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome back to the Canadian Immigration Podcast. This is one of our immigration answers segments. And today our question comes from Han and it came from via the “ask an immigration question form” on our website ht-llp.com. I’m still waiting for someone to leave a voice message on the “ask an immigration question” widget that’s on the right side panel of the website. I’d love to actually include an audio question versus me reading the questions that are sent via the fillable form. However, that’s just fine. We’ll move forward.

Han indicates the following; hi Mark, thank you for posting such useful information on your website; wasn’t that wonderful. I’m glad someone is getting some benefit from this, because in all honesty, I’m never quite sure. He goes on to say, I wanted to ask whether the jobs advertised on the job bank were those that already had a valid LMIA, or with the hunt for LMIAs only apply once a potential job offer is given? Han, that’s a great question. So when CIC set up express entry, they created a matching process, an employee matching process through the job bank where employers post their jobs, and the employees themselves then go forward and once they’ve submitted their express entry profile they have to register on the job bank with their profile there.

So when employers post their advertisements, they will get a report of potential candidates who have close to or the skill sets and education that they need to fill the position they are seeking. So Han has asked whether those jobs that are advertised on the job bank already have LMIA supporting them. In most cases Han, I would have to assume that a lot of the positions are linked in some respect with the LMIA process. It’s really difficult to tell if that position that’s being offered is one that is being posted, because they already have a foreign national that they have identified and are now going through the motions that Service Canada requires them to do in order to get an LMIA.

I would have to say that in most cases the ads that have been posted are probably not people with open LMIAs waiting to fill them with potential candidates in the pool. In most cases what happens, and I keep saying in most cases a lot, I apologize for that. Usually what happens is the employer, if they do have a job that they are offering will wait to identify you before they start the actual LMIA process. And so although you submitted your profile into express entry and have posted that profile on the job bank, if there’s a match with the employer, often that employer if they haven’t already identified someone would then select you and then at that stage start the process for obtaining an LMIA.

Now this whole process is quite new as we assist employers who have already identified foreign nationals that they wish to extend a job offer to. As we assist them, we can see that the job bank does provide a list of potential candidates who meet the requirements of their job, which obviously an employer needs to reach out and speak to. But if you are a foreign national, they have no obligation to talk to you at all unless you are the one that they ultimately are trying to obtain the LMIA for in the first place.

So it’s a little bit of a situation of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t, but in these circumstances, by getting your profile into the express entry queue, if an employer is not in a big hurry to have someone come, then they will potentially at least this is the theory of it, go to the job bank and say, “Here’s some people that are already ready and willing to immigrate permanently to Canada and fill a position for me. And so if I select them and then obtain an LMIA for them they would be guaranteed permanent residence, and they’ll come over and I can hire them in any capacity including the one that I’ve advertised once they become a permanent resident,” versus going through the old temporary foreign worker program.

But in all honesty, at this stage, we are not really seeing a lot of employers utilizing this wonderful e-harmony matching process to find potential candidates. Maybe that’s attributed to some extent because of the down turn in the economy, and they are just not as many companies looking to fill labor shortages because they are not as many. We are not sure if that’s the factor or really if just the system is just doomed to languish in mediocrity and not really be of any use to companies because it’s not practical. It’s hard to tell for sure. One thing is for sure when it comes to foreign nationals who are posting their profiles on the job bank, you have to do it regardless, so it would be wonderful if someone actually contacted you, but at this stage we are kind of in a wait-and-see position.

Han then goes on to indicate that the online tools gives me a score of 393, but I need to bump this up. And then he asks if there are any strategies for doing that, for increasing the score. Well let’s take a look at what we’ve seen historically to date. So as of all the draws that have occurred over the last little while since the program express entry was created in January the 1st or was rolled out, the lowest score that has been released by the government is 451 on July the 18th.

So what I did was I went through and I looked at all of the various human capital factors and skill transferability to see what a potential candidate, or a typical candidate would like who would have been able to succeed on that lowest draw of 451, to see what they would have required in order to have been given an invitation to apply, notwithstanding the fact they did not have a job offer and did not have any Canadian work experience. So basically someone who’s outside the country looking to immigrate to Canada through express entry.

So let’s pretend that this individual is single. Well, a typical example or the one that I can give you would be, say a 32 year old individual who had a Masters degree, at least a Canadian language benchmark score of 9 across all disciplines for English: listening, reading, writing, speaking, and at least three years of work experience in their field at a skilled level. So that type of an individual who is in the right age bracket, 32 is actually just a little bit higher than the 29 maximum, but you would still get 94 points for that. So you’ve got someone who is in the range of 32 years old, has a Masters degree, really good strong English, over a 9 on the Canadian language benchmark, and has at least three years of skilled work experience. Those individuals would likely get around 453 points or so, give or take.

So that’s kind of the individual that you are looking for, at least the government at this stage is looking for when they set the point threshold at the lowest point total which was 451. So if you think about that, what are the ways that you can increase your chances? Well obviously the things that you can control. If your language skills and your English is not as strong, well that’s an absolutely wonderful way of doing it. There’s not much that you can do about your age. So the longer you wait, depending on what your age is, the more those points are going to drop. And they do drop pretty quickly.

From an educational stand point, you do get more points if you move from a Masters degree to a PhD. And then ultimately that skilled work experience is really important. So make sure that you getting work experience that is classified on the National Occupation Classification system which is the one that the government uses, the 2011 version, that your position is considered skilled. In other words, that is skill level B, A or 0. But for all intents and purposes, it’s just not terribly easy right now to be able to qualify for permanent residence through express entry if you are not currently working in Canada, or have a company in Canada who is willing to extend that magical job offer.

And what I mean by that is that job offer is one that is supported by a Labor Market Impact Assessment. And if you go to the website, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada has set at cic.gc.ca and you review the requirements for express entry, you’ll see that under the comprehensive ranking system and their scoring system, you get 600 points right off the butt for obtaining a job offer from a company that is supported by an LMIA, a Labor Market Impact Assessment. And really anyone that has that LMIA will be guaranteed to be drawn.

So those, it doesn’t matter what you are as long as you’ve got that minimum one year of skilled work experience to get into the whole queue, then if you’ve got an LMIA supported job offer, you are set. So I wish that there was an easier pathway for Han here, because I suspect he’s outside of the country, and is looking to try and find a way to connect with a Canadian employer so that he can get those magical 600 points. And especially today with the downturn in the economy that’s just not a real easy thing to do. So increase your English, just to summarize and see if you can increase either your education, or any of the other human capital factors such as your language ability and that will get you a few more points and maybe just maybe, enough to receive one of those magical invitations to apply for permanent residence.

All right, if you have a question that you would like to leave for me and have the answer podcasted back, please go to our website www.ht-llp.com and leave a message there, a written one or you can leave it on that little widget, the “ask an immigration question” widget that’s on the– located on the right side panel of our website. I also wanted to take a moment now to announce very shortly and possibly even by the time you are listening to this, the release of a new website, the Canadian Immigration Podcast website, hosted by myself, Mark Holthe where we will be answering a lot of different questions. We’ll also be having a more comprehensive podcast that covers Canadian law, policy, and practice.

And we’ll be giving some hands-on, well not hands-on, but some pretty specific guides and directions on doing a lot of different things when it comes to applying for Canadian immigration and everything from– you’ll find resources on how to request access to information when your application is refused, those [inaudible] [0:12:27] we are going to have instructions on how to obtain police clearances and tips for medicals and all these kinds of things that are just little practical things people take for granted, but some of you were hoping will find this information useful. The whole goal is to try and create a location that people can go to for simple answers to their basic immigration questions.

It’s probably a good time now also to identify that if you have a specific question that’s related to your unique circumstances and you send me an email, and sometimes people ask me do I qualify for express entry and they’ll give me all their human capital factors. That is not something that I would be able to respond to through a generic podcast answer. So individuals in those circumstances, I’ll apologize in advance, but I won’t be able to answer those questions. You would need to set up a paid consult, where we can go through and provide a legal opinion as to whether or not you would qualify for express entry, and also canvas all the options that might be available to you.

So you can go to our website ht-llp.com to book a paid consult with myself and we can do a little one on one coaching and a legal consultation. But if you have your general immigration question, leave it with us and we’ll be happy to try and answer it when it comes in. Thanks so much, and we’ll talk again soon.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian Immigration Podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.

[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

Hi Mark,   I am in the process of applying for PR to Canada. I am finishing my MBA in December and I am currently working in the IT sector as a Business Analyst  (California, US).

My questions are:

1. Does it matter what my grades were when I completed my Masters?
2. Is a Business Analyst considered as a skilled job in Canada ?
3. I have 5+ years of experience in Banking and IT , would that help my case?

[Tweet “Express Entry – Are grades important for ECAs”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• the role grades play in Educational Credential Assessments
• whether a business analyst is considered a skilled job for Express Entry
• how to determine if your position is skilled for Express Entry
• our new Canadian Immigration Podcast song

Explore Additional Resources

In this episode we mentioned the following resources:

• Express Entry: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/index.asp
• Educational Credential Assessments: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assessment.asp
• National Occupational Classification System (2011): http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/Welcome.aspx

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]With Citizenship and Immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian Immigration Podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice.

Please welcome ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions, and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Well hello there, welcome. Today is Friday September the 4th and this is the Canadian Immigration Podcast, the Canadian Immigration Answers edition. I have a question that I’ve received from Grove [ph]. And once again I’m going to encourage everyone to test out that “ask an immigration question” widget on the side of our website ht-llp.com, and you can leave a voice message for me and then I can transcribe it or cut and paste it right into the audio file here for my podcast, so that you don’t have to listen to me mispronounce your name. Grove’s question is as follows.

I am in the process of applying for PR to Canada. I’m finishing an MBA in December and I am currently working in the IT sector as a business analyst in California. However, he says, my questions are as follows. One, does it matter what grades I have obtained in my previous Masters, and he indicates he completed his Masters of Science and Finance from Scotland. He actually has two other questions, but I’ll start with that question.

Fortunately and I haven’t actually been asked this question in the past, Citizenship and Immigration Canada doesn’t concern themselves too much about the grades as long as the credential was received. So if you are to go forward which I would encourage, and obtain an Education Credential Assessment from one of the designated entities that are designated to do that by CIC, they will be able to confirm exactly what that would equate to for the purposes of applying for permanent residence in Canada. But with respect to that question and what grades you received those are irrelevant for the purposes of immigrating.

The second question is, as a business analyst, is this considered a skilled job in Canada. With many positions, it’s pretty straight forward to determine how they would classify in terms of the skilled or low skilled distinction that the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada uses when determining who they want to apply for permanent residence and who they don’t. In the case of a business analyst, you can go to the National Occupational Classification system, and make sure that you are looking at the 2011 edition, because that is what’s used for the purposes of permanent residence right now with CIC. And you will see that business analysts are classified under the National Occupational Classification system as not code 1122 under the professional occupations in business management consulting.

If you go to the matrix on the NOC 2011 website, and you open that up, and you search for the unit group associated with this position, you will see that it falls under skill level A, which is the occupations usually requiring a university education. So for the purposes of business analysts, yes indeed they would qualify for express entry as being skilled work.

And then the third question is, I have five plus years of experience in banking and IT. Will that help my case? Well in all circumstances, what Citizenship and Immigration Canada is looking at is whether or not you have skilled work experience. So the experience that you’ve acquired here Grove in banking and IT would have to be at the skilled level. And once again you take the job that you performed; you look at the duties that you performed, and find the corresponding position profile that is listed within the government of Canada’s National Occupation Classification system version 2011.

All right, I hope this answered those initial questions for you and anyone else who had similar related questions. Now I want to encourage you to go to my website www.ht-llp.com, and leave a question of your own if you would like me to answer it. If your questions are fairly general in nature, I do try to turn them around in the version of a podcast. However if they are really specific, then often I’ll have to tell you that we would actually need to set up a paid consult, because the type of information I would be giving is related mostly to your specific case and wouldn’t be of general use to necessarily to everyone that’s listening to this podcast.

So I hope you can understand that when you do get that email back, but if you do have general questions regarding anything related to permanent residence or work permits or really anything related to Canadian Immigration. If I don’t have the answer, I can probably figure out who’s best to answer that for you. I also wanted to let everyone know that very shortly we will be releasing a new website called the Canadian Immigration Podcast hosted by myself Mark Holthe. I’m really excited about that. It should be released in the next couple of days. And yes, thank you for that question Grove and I look forward to answering further questions in the future. Take care.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian Immigration Podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.
[SONG]
Oh Canada, greatest country in the world,
We want to share, the richness of your soil,
This place I love my home and native land,
We welcome all and with you we’ll stand,
We’ll set you straight with love, policy, and practice,
Here on the Canadian Immigration podcast.

I am your guy, for info that’s up to date,
Help with your forms, or whatever you might need.
This place I love my home and native land,
We welcome all and with you we’ll stand,
We’ll set you straight with love, policy, and practice,
Here on the Canadian Immigration podcast.

To visit work or learn and grow,
If you need help we’ll meet your goals,
We’ll hold your hand; we’ll make it so,
Here on the Canadian Immigration podcast,
Here on the Canadian Immigration podcast.
Here on the Canadian Immigration podcast.
[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

I would like to inform you that I received an average score of  5.5 on the IELTS general exam. (Speaking: 6, Listening: 5.5 , Reading: 5.0 and Writing 5.0 = 5.5).

[Tweet “What are the minimum language scores needed to submit an Express Entry profile?”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

If you would like to assess whether your IELTS score is sufficient to qualify for Express Entry you can go to the following links:

• CLB Tables: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language-testing.asp
• Language Requirements – Skilled Immigrants – Express Entry: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language.asp

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode Here OR [spoiler] With Citizenship and Immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian Immigration podcast was created to fill this part by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. Please welcome ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe, as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast this beautiful summer afternoon of August the 19th 2015. Today our question comes from Sayad and it is a question that I get quite frequently. It relates to the language testing requirements that the government has imposed for those people who are looking to apply to immigrate to Canada under the wonderful new express entry regime that was imposed earlier this year on January the first. This question as I indicated, relates to the score that Sayad has received and whether or not he would be eligible to enter into the express entry pool. So I’ll do my best to read Sayad’s email that was sent to me through the contact form on our website found at ht-llp.com.

If you have a question that you would like to leave with us, please go to our website and you can leave a message through our contact us form, or alternatively you could click on the widget that is attached on the right side bar and leave a voice message for me. If you choose to do that and the voice quality is good enough, then rather than me trying to read Sayad’s email here, we can just cut and paste his audio file directly into this podcast, and then you can hear yourself. So if you would like to do that please go ahead and do that. Well, let’s proceed forward with Sayad’s question. He indicates here, I would like to inform you that I have got a score of 5.5 in the IELTS general exam.

So what Sayad has done here is he is gone forward and he has written one of the designated tests for English, one is through the IELTS and the other is the CELPIP. And those two different testing organizations have been authorized by the government to assess the language ability of English speaking applicants, who wish to apply for immigration to Canada, and really any other immigration program that Canada has that use these two types of language tests. It would probably be a good idea for me to indicate that if you are a candidate that is currently working in Canada, and you’ve really gained a lot of your English ability through your work experience and your time spent in Canada, I often recommend to my clients that they apply to take the CELPIP.

Register I should say the CELPIP exam versus the IELTS, because sometimes the IELTS is more of an international English, UK, Australia type accent and I find sometimes even the vocabulary is a little bit different. And when you are under the gun and the test really does involve a very fast paced question and answer process, sometimes it’s hard to understand what’s being asked with the IELTS if you’ve learned your English here in Canada. Not that there’s a significant difference, but I have heard some candidates, some clients I should say, that have found the CELPIP test a little bit easier if they are living here in Canada. Now with Sayad he is not in Canada, he is actually outside of Canada and because of that the IELTS is the option that is available when you are applying from outside Canada.

So back to Sayad’s score, he said he received a score of 5.5, and that’s his average score. He indicated that he scored a level 6 for speaking, 5.5 for listening, 5.0 for reading, and 5.0 for writing. On the Canadian citizenship and immigration Canada website, they have a place where you can take your score, and they have a chart that tells you what your scores would be if it was translated to the Canadian language bench mark which is the standard that Canada uses.

In the case Sayad here, his scores that he’s achieved here would not meet the requirements of express entry, and I’ll go back now and I’ll tell you why. Canada has instituted a minimum standard of CLB 7 for federal skilled worker applicants. So anyone seeking to apply through the express entry regime from outside of Canada will have to go through the federal skilled worker program, or the federal skilled trade if they are in a trade level position.

We’ll later see here that Sayad is actually a mechanical engineer, but in the case of Sayad he must meet a CLB level 7, and unfortunately his score that he has here would not allow him to meet that level. In fact he would need to have at least a score of six on each of the speaking, listening, reading, and writing. So really any other questions that Sayad has regarding his qualifications and eligibility to submit his application through the express entry regime, will have to be left for another day, and he is going to have to go back to the drawing board and improve his English just a little bit more in order to meet that initial threshold. So Sayad I’m sorry to give you the bad news, but your language scores would not be sufficient to qualify under express entry.

This concludes the question and answer portion of our podcast for today. I have a few other questions that I’ll be answering as well in other podcasts, but I find it’s just a little bit easier to compartmentalize them. In the coming weeks, I’m going to be transitioning my Canadian Immigration Answers podcast into my Canadian Immigration podcast, and that is going to be the platform that I’m going to be building from going forward. At the end of the Canadian immigration podcast, I will have a series of questions that I’ll be answering, probably four or five from listeners and from other individuals who are seeking direction with their immigration questions. And so that will be the changing format, but at this stage I’m going to continue to do these short little podcasts that answer these one off questions, and hopefully you find them useful.

If you do like what you hear, please share it with anyone that you feel could benefit from it, and as I indicated earlier on the podcast, do not hesitate to send me a question. Now I’ll give the caveat, I can’t always answer every question that’s asked. And the volume of questions that I get I try to pick out ones that are going to be of general use to the most people who are listening to this podcast. And if you have a specific immigration question that relates in a more complex way to your unique circumstances, and you really need more specific advice in fact legal advice, then I recommend you reach out to me through our firm website Holthe Tilleman LLP, and the website address is ht-llp.com, and we can set up a paid consult and I can help you directly one on one.

However if you have just general questions, don’t hesitate to leave them through our contact form on our website, or through that little ask an immigration question widget on the right side panel of the website, and I’ll be sure to — I try to include it in our next podcast. Thanks so much, and look forward to doing this again soon.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark please visit www.ht-llp.com.
[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

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Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]

I am an international graduate on a three year Post Graduate Work Permit.  My work permit is going to expire in April of 2016. I submitted my application through the AINP in February of 2014 as a food service supervisor, which is still in process.

1. Should I try to submit my application through Express Entry without a Labour Market Impact Assessment or continue to wait for my AINP application to be approved?
2. My company wants to promote me to a new position as a sous chef but I do not want it because it could affect my AINP application as a food service supervisor. Should I take that position or not?

[Tweet “Should I apply under Express Entry or wait for my AINP application to be processed?”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here  OR [spoiler] Welcome to the Canadian immigration podcast. Today is August the 5th 2015. Today’s question comes from Ripu, and I hope I’m pronouncing Ripu’s name correctly. With that being said, those of you who would like to leave a question for this podcast, another alternative is to leave a voice mail message for me on the website, and there’s a widget that is on the right side of the website. And if you would like to leave me a question, you can also leave a voice message for me with your question in that fashion, and if the quality of the voice is sufficiently clear, I will input your question into the podcast directly so that I don’t have to read it and mispronounce your name. Anyway, so Ripu sent me an email on August the 2nd and its entitled AINP. So we know that this is going to be related to the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program. So I suspect Ripu is here living in Alberta and practicing.

He indicates here in his message, “Hi mark. I’m an international graduate on three years’ post grad work permit. My work permit is going to expire April 2016. I have applied for my AINP in February of 2014 as a food service supervisor which is still under process. So my question is what should I do before my work permit expires? Should I try express entry without an LMIA, or wait more for the AINP. And my second question is my company wants me to be promoted to a Sous Chef, but I do not want to take it, because my AINP is entitled as a food service supervisor.” And his question is obviously, “can I take that position or not?”

So as can be seen from Ripu’s situation here, he is on a three year post grad work permit that cannot be extended without an LMIA. And his first question basically revolves around what should he do? So as time is running out, we know that the processing times with the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program are lasting a long time, upwards of 25 months. This is not a first day and first out process.

So just because you submitted your application before another candidate doesn’t necessarily mean that your application will be processed first. The AINP has the ability to determine which industry they are going to allocate the nominations that they’ve been given. And each year currently they have a quarter of 5,500 nominations. And over the few years, the food service industry has dominated the number of nominations that have been granted.

So because of that, the program manager, Bratcher Fan has had a very difficult job in determining which industries would receive the nominations. And he has done his very best to allocate them evenly amongst the industries that are in demand, and to not over favor any one industry over another. So unfortunately for Ripu, the likelihood of the nomination coming through any time soon is probably a little bit more remote.

Now there’s no guarantee, and I’m sure if I asked everyone to comment on this particular podcast what their experience is, we would find many people that have had their AINP nominations extended, who have actually submitted their applications after Ripu, and others that maybe in the exact same situation who have not received their nominations from the province. Obviously as an immigration lawyer, it has been extremely difficult for me to properly advice people on what to expect, because there’s often no rhyme or reason as to what happens.

So on the case of Ripu here, he asks “Should I try to file through express entry without the LMIA or should I wait?” Well, one piece of advice that I’m giving all of my clients and all individuals who ask is to apply under every possible category that you qualify under, because of the uncertainty that citizenship and immigration Canada has created. In other words, because no one is guaranteed a nomination through the province, or even guaranteed an invitation to apply through express entry. As a result of this uncertainty, every single person should apply under every category that they have the option of applying under. You can have multiple permanent resident applications. You just can’t have multiple sponsorships if you are sponsoring a family member.

So if you want to file under one of the Provincial Nominee Programs or submit another application through express entry, then by all means submit them because with no guarantee, it’s best to cast that net wide and give yourself the absolute best opportunity of success in the end. Let’s face it, if you have an express entry application that is nearing completion and you have a PNP application that is still in the queue, once the express entry goes through, then you can simply withdraw the Provincial Nominee Program application.

Now some people may say, “I have to pay $550 as a processing fee to submit that application,” and that is true. So there’s some cost to this multiple application strategy. However, if the difference is being able to remain in Canada as a permanent resident and not, then I can tell you I know very well which option that I’m going to choose for $550 which is a lot of money. If it’s difference between being able to stay in Canada and having to return home wherever that home may be, I know what I’m choosing. So I recommend for Ripu that you actually do proceed forward with express entry even though you do not currently have an LMIA.

Ripu’s second question relates to whether or not he should allow his employer to promote him to a position of a Sous Chef from his current position of a food service supervisor. And the reason that’s an issue is because his AINP application appears to be tied to that position. So there are a number of different categories that Ripu could have applied under. Ultimately the post grad work permit, I don’t know where that was obtained. But there’s international graduate category, there’s also within the strategic recruitment stream, there’s a post graduate category, or there’s the employer driven stream. And so depending on the type of application that Ripu applied for, it may be critical that he remain in that position.

Now over the last few years, the AINP has not been as willing to allow an employer to move an individual to a different position when an application has been in the queue. It just creates more work for them and with high volumes of applications they are really looking for every opportunity they can to bounce applications. Now ultimately it’s possible for Ripu’s employer to reach out to the AINP and say, “Hey, we are looking at promoting him to a Sous Chef position.”

They would obviously at least over the next little while, because he’s under the post grad work permit category, at least that’s his work permit. He can be promoted to that position without need for an LMIA or any other change, but it is possible for the employer to reach out to the AINP and ask them what they– you know if it’s possible for them to continue to support his position as a Sous Chef, and to make sure that he doesn’t lose his position in the queue.

Now there’s no guarantee of that, but that’s something that I often will instruct my clients to do, or we would do on their behalf. We would reach out to the AINP and ask them for direction. There’s no policy on this, so it’s difficult to know for certain how they would treat this. So with respect to that, I think that’s really the issue. Ripu needs to decide if the position that he’s going into as a potential Sous Chef, if it makes sense for him to do that based on whatever the AINP says.

So one thing we’ll find as we go through these question and answer process with the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast is that there are often no clear and decisive answers to every question that’s asked. And I’m almost positive that people that will be listening to this podcast, will say to themselves, “Hey I did it a different way and it worked out just fine.” So understand that with lack of clear policy, there are really a number of different options that could be pursued depending upon the pre-directions of the officer who is adjudicating the application.

And so these suggestions that I’m giving are definitely not the only options that are available. And I definitely don’t pretend to be all-knowing when it comes to every aspect of immigration. But I know that these strategies will work if an individual follows them. And ultimately, although there may be other pathways forward, I’m confident in giving these suggestions.

Now because of the complexity of this situation, Ripu, you will definitely want to make sure that you have all the information that you can before you make any decisions. And it’s very easy for an employer to just promote you because they really don’t have a stake one way or another in your permanent resident process. They just want to have a worker who is working in a position that they really want them to work in. And sometimes you have employers that are very loyal to you but often you as an employee you are of value to them, because you are making them money. And you need to look out for yourself. You need to make sure that you are protecting your own interest, and so you were very-very wise to take the time to consider this before you rush in to accepting a new position, which I presume will also come with an increased wage.

So this concludes this episode of the Canadian immigration answers podcast. I hope that the general information that was provided today is of use to others out there. Once again, I want to invite anyone who would like to leave a question for us to answer through this podcast through our website at www.ht-llp.com. And you can leave a message there, you can send me an email, you can leave a voice message on our widget that is on the side bar, the right sidebar of the website. And if you leave a voice message I can even embed it directly within to this podcast if the audio quality is sufficiently good.

So thanks a lot for listening today and instead of my regular outro I have got a little song that I thought will be really fun to have and to include at the end of this podcast so that if people look at it will authorize and say, “Hey that’s kind of goofy.” You can just end the podcast right now. But I thought it was kind of fun. It’s kind of just a fun little song that’s representative about how I feel about this beautiful country Canada, and whatever I can do to help you out there, navigate your way through the complexities of this crazy immigration world. All right, thank you very much and I hope to get back to you soon with more answers to your immigration questions.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian Immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.

[/spoiler]

Binge on All the Canadian Immigration Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]

:

I’m a Canadian citizen who owns my own home with solid employment. Would I be eligible to sponsor my brother to immigrate to Canada? He is 55 years old.

[Tweet ” Can I sponsor my brother to immigrate to Canada? He is 55 years old.”]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

Family Class Sponsorship: click this link to determine if you may be eligible to sponsor a family member:

• http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/index.asp

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here OR [spoiler]With Citizenship and Immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian Immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. Please welcome ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer Mark Holthe, as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions, and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast, today July the 30th 2015. Today’s question comes from Maria. And Maria has a brother in Portugal. This is near and dear to my heart, as I spent two years as a young missionary in Portugal, where I learned Portuguese, and had an opportunity to really get to know the people and the country and develop a love for that beautiful location. So thank you Maria for sending this question. She asks, “I’m a Canadian citizen, I have a home, I work, can I bring my brother to be legal in Canada? He is 55 years old.”

So Maria what you are asking is, can you sponsor a family member to become a permanent resident of Canada. The family members that are included within the family class are spouses, partners, dependent children, parents, and grandparents. It also includes adopted children and what the government determines and defines as other eligible relatives. So in the case of your brother he would need to fall under the classification of other eligible relatives.

And essentially in order for you to be able to sponsor him, you would need to be defined as what as within the immigration ranks, would commonly refer to as a lonely Canadian. In other words, you would need to show that you do not have a spouse, a common law partner, a conjugal partner or a son, daughter, parent, grandparent, brother or sister, uncle and nephew, or niece, a family member that’s living with you in Canada. Or that they themselves is a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada.

So if you are a lonely Canadian, then it may be possible to sponsor your brother. However if you are not, and you do have family members in Canada, then the options that are available for you are quite limited. So Maria, I wish I had good news for you, but in these circumstances your brother would probably need to explore individual options for immigration. And for the most part those would be under the economic class. And they would include to a large extent the permanent resident categories within the new express entry regime that was instituted at the beginning of this year in January of 2015.

So with all of the people who have immigrated to Canada, and 4made Canada their home and have been able to really be blessed because of this opportunity, it’s only natural to want to include your extended family within this great country that we love. Unfortunately, because of the immigration — current immigration policy, those options are quite restricted. So your brother would have to consider possibly obtaining a work permit to work for a company, and then transition to permanent residence, but that’s a whole different question. So we’ll leave at that, thank you Maria for your question, and will see you all again when we address the next question from one of our contributors.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.
[/spoiler]

Binge on All the Canadian Immigration Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

I am going to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker Program of Express Entry, does my spouse need to get his Educational Credential Assessment too so that we can get extra points, or is there no need? Thank you in advance.

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

List of designated Educational Credential Assessment Agencies: 

• http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assessment.asp?expand=designated#designated

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here OR [spoiler]With citizenship and immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice.

Please welcome, ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome again to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. Today is July the 30th 2015. Today’s question comes from Lude [ph] Miller, and it is regarding educational credential assessments. Her message reads, “Hello, I’m going to apply under the federal skilled worker program. Does my spouse need to get his ECA too for the aim to get extra points or no need? Thank you in advance.”

Well thank you Lude Miller for this question. And this is another common question that we get. When it comes to applying for permanent residence and in particular through the economic class, which in turn is governed by the new express entry regime, the difference between being granted invitation to apply for permanent residence in Canada and not can be as much or as little as the education that your spouse has.

So when we are applying on behalf of our clients and submitting their express entry profiles into the pool hoping to get drawn, hoping that they will rank high enough within the comprehensive ranking system that the government has instituted; which by the way is simply a computer algorithm that goes through the answers that people give and grants out these ITAs with virtually no human interaction. So what that means is the answers that you give when you are completing your profile can be the difference in being granted that invitation to apply and not being.

So in the case of the question for Lude Miller here, absolutely I would say 100% that it is worthwhile for your spouse to go ahead and get the educational credential assessment done. And if you go to the express entry website, there’s a list of accepted third party organizations that have been granted the authority to acquit foreign credentials to Canadian credentials. So I recommend you take a look at that list, and that I will give you the locations for you to obtain those educational credential assessments. I’ll also put a link to that within the show notes for this particular segment. And you can just click on those and those should take you to where you need to go.

However I would also like to extend this as well to English language testing, because your spouse could also score high enough to bring in a few additional points that could tip the scale in terms of you being drawn under this new regime. So Lude Miller thanks for this question. I wish you all the best in your pursuit of obtaining permanent residence status in Canada.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com
[/spoiler]

Binge on all of the Canadian Immigration Podcasts!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

I am a Food Counter Attendant. Can I apply for express entry?

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

Resources:

• National Occupational Classification System (2011): http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011/Welcome.aspx
• Job Bank: http://www.jobbank.gc.ca

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here OR [spoiler]With citizenship and immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice.

Please welcome, ex-immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions, and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. Today is July the 30th 2015. Today’s question comes from Henry. In the email that he sent me, he says the following, “Hi, I am a food counter attendant. Can I apply for express entry? My previous work was as a senior supply clerk and warehouse specialist. Thanks, Henry.”

So what Henry is getting at here is the skill level that is required to be eligible to enter into express entry. Not every position that an individual fills working in Canada or outside of Canada will qualify them to enter into the express entry pool, and ultimately seek an invitation to apply for permanent residence. In the case of Henry, he has what appears to be Canadian experience, I have to assume, working as a food counter attendant. Well under Canada’s National Occupational Classification system, that position would be considered as a low skill, or skill level D.

In order to qualify for express entry, individuals need to have experience working in positions that are considered to be skilled. In other words, skill level B, A or 0. These positions are often ones that require some form of post secondary education. Now that’s a general rule and there are exceptions such as in the case of Henry’s industry. Food service supervisors often do not require any formal education, but they are considered to be skilled for the purposes of express entry, because they are classified as skill level B.

If you want to determine your occupation and how it matches up with the requirements for express entry, you need to go to the National Occupational Classification system 2011. See if you can locate the position that you’ve got experience in, and match up the duties that you have within your job description with those set forth in the individual position profiles that are contained within the National Occupational Classification system or the NOC.

So in the case of Henry, he would not be able to qualify for express entry if the only experience he had was as a food counter attendant, but his question does indicate that his previous work was as a senior supply clerk and warehouse specialist. Now when clients come to me and ask me whether or not they qualify, you cannot make that assessment based on title alone. So I would need to see specifically what duties were contained within Henry’s job description for these positions. If those duties match up with a position that falls under skill level B, then it is possible that Henry could at the initial stages meet the minimum requirements to apply. However if the senior supply clerk and warehouse specialist are really classified as a skill level C, then he would not be eligible to apply. I hope this helped Henry. Thanks so much for sending a question our way, and we look forward to answering further questions in the future.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.
[/spoiler]

Binge on all the Canadian Immigration Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

My employment reference letter states my hierarchical designation as General Manager but does not detail my duties or role. I do not wish to inform my employer about my intention to immigrate, and asking any such letter now may create difficulty for me.

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Answer

Resources:

[Advisory] The following information is for reference purposes only. Because the Express Entry system changes frequently, you must consult the specific instructions contained within your portal when seeking to upload an employer reference letter. There is currently no available template listed on the general CIC website that describe the specific information that must be included in employer reference letters for Express Entry. As such, I have provided below a sample of what you could use in the interim. However, the instructions below come from the old document checklist for the Canadian Experience Class and are only to be used as a general guideline.

Employer reference letters must be:

• written on company letterhead,
• signed by the responsible officer/supervisor,
• have the printed name and title of the responsible officer/supervisor beneath the signature,
• show the company’s full address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and website addresses, • stamped with the company’s official seal (if applicable).

Reference letters must include all of the following information:

• the specific period of your employment with the company,
• the positions you have held during the period of employment and the time spent in each position,
• your main responsibilities and duties in each position,
• the corresponding National Occupational Classification (NOC) code (if known),
• your total annual salary plus benefits,
• the number of hours worked per week.

Read the Transcript

You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here OR [spoiler]With citizenship and immigration Canada making it increasingly difficult to speak to an officer, there are few places to turn for information that can be relied upon. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. Please welcome, immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer, Mark Holthe, as he answers a wide variety of immigration questions, and shares practical tips and guidance to help you along your way.

Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. My name is Mark Holthe, I’m an immigration lawyer practicing in the beautiful province of Alberta Canada. Today’s question comes from Yuvraj and he asks the following, “Hi, my employment letter states my hierarchical designation as general manager, but does not detail my duties or role. I do not wish to inform my employer about my intention to integrate, and asking any such letter now may create difficulty for me. How do I meet CICs requirement of proof of my duties as per my stated occupation? Your assistance is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.”

Well, Yuvraj, I have to admit that over the last little while, immigration has become extremely difficult to deal with. They have shown very little mercy to anyone who does not submit a complete application. Because of that the answer that I have to give you is probably not one that you would like to receive. If you are submitting an express entry application, or any permanent residence application today, you pretty much need to submit exactly what the government is asking for. If you choose to not do so, you run a significant risk in getting your application returned. They seem to now be following a one touch only policy where if there are any missing documents, rather than the good old days when they would provide you with a letter stating the deficiencies, and then give you an opportunity to upload the missing information, they now simply refuse it.

So because of that I have to tell you that you really have to probably disclose to your employer and get their cooperation in submitting your application. Without that letter there is really very little that you can do to prove to Citizenship and Immigration Canada that you actually have the experience, and are working in the role of general manager as stated in your application. So I wish that I could tell you that you could submit some form of alternative to that letter or provide the existing letter with an explanation. However the days are gone when CIC will accept those kinds of things, especially if you are currently encumbered within that position. So I hope that answers your question, and good luck working that out with your employer.

Thank you for listening to the Canadian Immigration podcast, your trusted source for information on Canadian law, policy, and practice. If you would like to contribute a question for future podcasts, or wish to set up a legal consultation with Mark, please visit www.ht-llp.com.
[/spoiler]

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Comment left on Holthe Tilleman LLP’s Facebook Page:

Likelihood of success when submitting a profile to EE without an LMIA.

I only have one question.  My work permit will expire in June 2015, so technically I have 6 months remaining after the Express Entry program opens in January of 2015. Is there any chance that I can apply without an LMIA cause I don’t think the company that I’m with right now will be willing to apply for an LMIA to support me. I’m a retail store supervisor and have almost 3 years managerial experience back home and a graduate of a 4 year course. I would appreciate it if you’ll enlighten me with the possibilities that I may have when this new program kicks off. Thanks!
[Tweet “Express Entry: Can I apply without an LMIA?”]

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You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode here OR [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. My name is Mark Holthe, I’m an immigration lawyer practicing with the law firm of Holthe Tilleman in the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada. This podcast is designed to answer the questions that we receive from our listeners. These questions can be left, and if you would like to leave a question for us you can do so directly on our website. We have an “Ask an immigration question” link that you can click on to leave a voice message on the right sidebar of our website, or alternatively there’s also a place where you can fill in a form on our site to ask that question.

Today’s question actually comes from a reader that is following us on Facebook, and left a comment to one of the blog posts that I had previously written on express entry. The question reads as such, “Hello, I’ve been following your post and I find it really helpful. Thanks for the answers to our questions, and for what is happening right now with regards to temporary foreign workers. I only have one question. In my case, it may be the same situation as stated above except that my work permit will expire on June 2015.

So technically I have six months still when the express entry will open, January of 2015. Is there any chance that I can apply without the LMIA because I don’t think the company that I’m with right now will apply for an LMIA for me? I am a retail store supervisor and have almost three years managerial experience back home, and I’ve graduated from a four year course. I will appreciate if you enlighten me with the possibilities that I may have when this new program kicks off. Thanks.”

Well thank you very much listener for this question. It’s a question that we’ve received numerous times over the last few weeks, and as we are nearing the launch of express entry. The question just to summarize relates to whether or not a person can apply through express entry without an LMIA supporting their work permit. The short answer is yes you can if you are applying through the Canada Experience Class, or alternatively some individuals will have nominations from their Provincial Nominee Program. That can be used in lieu of an LMIA.

However in this circumstance this individual is likely on a permit that is either through a post grad work permit process, where the individual is on open work permit, or they are currently working on an LMIA based permit. But because of the overhaul of the foreign worker program, the business that they are working for which is usually a first food restaurant or some other retail store is capped out at the percentage of foreign workers that they can have. And the government has set that at 10%. Now some companies will be grand fathered in, but the reality is this person is probably working in a company where there are more than 10% foreign workers, and therefore the company will be unable to get a new LMIA to support his work permit extension.

With time running out, many individuals in this situation are wondering if it’s possible for them to submit a profile through express entry, and possibly be drawn and given an invitation to apply for permanent residence, and obtain an open work permit through the bridging work permit process all in time to extend their permit before they cap out and essentially have to leave Canada. So in the case of this individual who has some prior years of managerial experience, for sure good English because the comment that was left was very well written, and a four year program back home, they should score fairly high with their human capital points.

The government has repeatedly told us that initially they do not believe everyone that will be drawn from the first pool, or the first selection at the end of January of 2015. They don’t feel that there will be enough individuals with LMIA based work permits to comprise the entire draw. So in this case I would highly recommend that this reader and follower take every step they can to submit their profile as soon as possible come January 1st when express entry is launched. By doing so, they will be in a position to potentially be drawn through the first selection process. And if there are insufficient numbers of LMIA based candidates, in other words candidates that have work permit supported by an LMIA, then there is a possibility that this individual could be drawn in one of those first few selection processes.

So I would also encourage everyone to go back and read my blog on the things that you need to do now to give yourself the best chance of being selected. And I won’t belabor that blog too much, but the key here with everyone in the same situation as this listener is that unless you have your educational credentials assessed, or you have taken the time to get your language examinations done through the IELTS or CELPIP examination centers, you are going to be hard pressed, because everyone is trying to get those dates now. And that was one of the main reasons why I did the blog probably about three or four weeks back is because people needed to start then before everyone started rushing to get these third party supporting documents in place.

So hopefully that answered this question for today. And if you have a question yourself that you would like to ask, please go to our website and leave a comment for us through our text or our voice messaging system. Alternatively go to our Facebook page and leave a comment on one of the blogs there. I always try to review those and even answer if I can. However, I hope everyone can appreciate that it’s impossible to answer everyone no matter how much I would like to. So the source of these podcasts, all your questions and when I get sufficient numbers that are similar, I go out of my way to try and answer them as best I can here in this podcast. So that concludes our Canadian Immigration Answers podcast for this day, and we will talk to you again soon.
[/spoiler]

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Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

Are Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) mandatory in order to be drawn from the new Express Entry pool and granted an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent resident status?

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You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. My name is Mark Holthe, I’m an immigration lawyer practicing in Alberta, Canada. Today’s question relates to one of our most popular topics, express entry. As most people are aware now, express entry is a new way that the government is able to manage the influx of applications or people applying for permanent residence in Canada. Express entry is used as a management tool to control the number of applications that come into the immigration streams each year. And by doing so, they are able to keep processing times down thus express entry. Processing is supposed to be done within six months of receipt of the application.

Now the question that has come up quite a bit lately is whether an LMIA, a Labor Market Impact Assessment, is actually needed in order to qualify and be drawn from the pool and given an invitation to apply. The government has consistently indicated that an individual does not need a Labor Market Impact Assessment necessarily to be drawn from the pool, and given an invitation to apply. Now as our dear government has done on a number of separate occasions, that answer is true and correct, but it’s critical to understand what they are really saying.

Now a careful review of the immigration regulations that have been published in the gazette on December the 1st, suggest that individuals who wish to apply through the Federal Skilled Worker or the Federal Skilled Trade categories will for all intents and purposes need to have an LMIA in order to qualify. Individuals who are going through the Canada Experience Class may not require an LMIA. Obviously if you have one it’s good, because you will get the extra 600 points towards the maximum 1200 points candidates can obtain through the new comprehensive ranking system. However, if a person has sufficient numbers of human capital points, they may be able to qualify without an LMIA.

Now this has been something that we have talked about over the last month considerably, and recommended that people apply right away if they do not have an LMIA, because there’s a chance they could be drawn even without that supporting job offer, if they get in the pool quickly. The government does not feel that there are large numbers of LMIA based work permits that would be seeking permanent residence at this time. And so it’s possible that individuals can get in on human capital alone. However, without getting too technical, if you are hoping to qualify into the Federal Skilled Worker program or the Federal Skilled Trade program at the very onset, you have to meet the qualifications for those programs.

In the case of Federal Skilled Worker, you need to obtain at least a minimum of 67 points in order to qualify for that program. Well, if you are relying on arranged employment, that arranged offer of employment to give you an extra 15 points to reach your 67 points, you can only count those arranged offers if you have a Labor Market Impact Assessment.

So basically the government is saying that in the past we allowed those on LMIA exempt work permits to also collect the points, the extra 15 points, for an arranged offer of employment regardless of whether they have an LMIA as long as the company they were working for was willing to offer them an indeterminate offer of employment. And that usually came in the form of a letter for existing temporary form workers, where the company that they worked for provided that letter of support, but that’s not the case anymore. If you want to qualify under Federal Skilled Worker or Federal Skilled Trade, you pretty much need to have a Labor Market Impact Assessment.

So the short answer is no, you do not need to have necessarily an LMIA to qualify and be granted an invitation to apply through express entry, but please be advised that if you don’t have one, you need to get your application in immediately. And I’d also want to bring up another factor that the government intends to place priority on certain types of applications over others. And so we envision that applicants under the Federal Skilled Trades, and then Federal Skilled Worker category, and then finally CEC, the Canada Experience Class. The government will rank these programs in order of priority, and the FST will rank ahead of the FSW, and the CEC will come in a distant third.

So the government is looking to draw individuals from the pool, they can indicate that they are only drawing Federal Skilled Trade this round, or they only are going to draw Federal Skilled Worker. And because CEC is the easiest to qualify under, that program will always rank third when it comes to them pulling individuals and giving them invitations to apply. I’ll also indicate that when you are applying for express entry, you will not be the one who chooses the program that you go through. It’s actually the government. So if you are engaging an authorized representative, a law firm, or a lawyer, and they are submitting an application for you, they will have to go through the same wizard as you would through the online application process, which will in essence make the determination as to which category you will be going under.

Now obviously as we work forward and get more familiar with the program, we’ll be able to answer questions in a way hopefully that will try to steer people towards the program that we feel will be of the most benefit to them. However, ultimately the government will decide which program you go through. So I hope that has answered, in a pretty fulsome way the question that was asked. But yeah, it’s going to be an interesting world to see how all of this express entry mania unfolds as people are scrambling to understand the program, to get their documentation ready, and to be ready to apply.

If you have any questions that you would like to ask me and our law firm, Holthe Tilleman LOP, please go to our website, www.ht-llp.com and you can ask a question through our text entry system. Or you can alternatively click on the right sidebar, the tab that says “Ask an immigration question,” and you can leave a voice message for us. We do our very best to collect all of the similar questions together and then podcast the answers as frequently as possible. So ask a question and we will endeavor to answer it.

Finally if you feel that you need more specific answers, you can contact our firm through our consultation section on our website and request a paid consult. We charge $100 for a 30 minute consult, and you will be able to speak with me. I look forward to our next podcast where we answer more immigration questions. Signing off.
[/spoiler]

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Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

Can Food Service Supervisors qualify for Express Entry?

[Tweet “Can Food Service Supervisors qualify for Express Entry?”]

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You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. My name is Mark Holthe and I practice with the law firm of Holthe Tilleman in the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada. In this podcast we will be addressing the following question. “I’m a food service supervisor currently working with a fast food franchise in the province of Alberta. I’ve submitted my Alberta immigrant nominee program application. However, I have not yet received a nomination. I am concerned that the nomination will not come through in time for me to extend my work permit as I would be reaching the four year cap on April the 1st 2015. With the launch of the express entry in January of 2015, can I qualify?”

Now I get this question a lot. And in speaking with the head officials of the Alberta Immigration Nominee Program, it is clear that there are over or close to 2000 individuals currently in the queue waiting for their AINP to be adjudicated, and for them to receive their nomination. With the timing of work permits that are going to be expiring in April of next year, many people are really caught in limbo. And so the question becomes, can we apply through the new express entry program for permanent residence.

Now if we think back to the existing programs because nothing has changed theoretically with the Canada experience class, the federal skilled worker program or the federal skilled trade programs, which are all affected by this new express entry scheme, the question becomes can you qualify independently through one of those categories? So it may be possible for a food service supervisor who is a skill level B or a skilled worker in Canada, that they could qualify under one of those programs. Now usually the route that was followed was the Canada experience class, because all you would need is one year of experience and a corresponding minimum level of at least five on the Canadian language benchmark at least for skill level B, which are our food service supervisors.

But there’s a problem. And the problem was that the federal government created a list of ineligible occupations, and that was included on it or cooks and food service supervisors among others. Well the reality, come January that list will no longer exist. So it is absolutely possible for you to apply through express entry. Provided you have the necessary level of English language ability and that you have a minimum of one year skilled work experience in Canada, then it is possible for you to apply.

Now one advantage that food service supervisors have is that generally speaking you are working on a labor market impact based work permit. Well, under the new express entry system that gives you a definite step up over any other applicant that does not necessarily have an LMIA supporting their work permit. So you could have a CEO of a publically traded company that came into Canada through one of the senior managerial level intra-company transfer permissions that didn’t require an LMIA. And if you as a food service supervisor have an LMIA, you will be selected before that CEO.

Now that’s sound like a pretty interesting distinction, but the reality is there are a total of 1200 points available for individuals who submit profiles to the express entry pool. Of those 1200, 600 are given a radar-off-the-butt for holding a Labor Market Impact Assessment. So our food service supervisor is automatically going to be ahead of that CEO given the fact the LMIA gives them 600 points. So if you are in that situation, my recommendation is that you start the process immediately to prepare to file your express entry profile at the earliest possible opportunity come January the 1st.

And the reason is because you have to be drawn early if you are capping out on April the 1st. And when you submit your application, the first draw will come at the end of January of 2015. If you are fortunate enough to have your profile complete and be drawn and given an invitation to apply, then you also need to be prepared to file your permanent residence application immediately without any delay, so that you can have that application received, assessed and reach the first stage of approval, where the government accepts it as being a complete application under one of those three permanent residence categories.

Ultimately we are not exactly sure how they are going to be selecting individuals, because they can choose generally the applicants that rank the highest in terms of points. So whichever ones have the highest point level based on the 1200 points that they have established. But they also have the ability to select specific industry or to use different methods for ranking individuals. But at this stage, if you are running out of time, then this is an option for you.

So if you reach first stage of approval and your current work permit has not expired, in other words it hasn’t reached April 1st 2015, then you can apply for a bridging work permit to essentially save your work status, and continue working on that open permit until permanent residence is ultimately received. And we know through express entry that they have indicated that will be some point, but less than six months processing.

So I hope that answer clarifies that question which I get a lot. Ultimately there’s no guarantees because it’s up to the government to decide who they wish to draw. But if you act quickly, we know that there are not going to be a lot of individuals with Labor Market Impact Assessments who will be submitting applications into express entry, and so it’s very possible that you could be drawn.

This concludes this portion of our Canadian Immigration Answers and if you have any question, feel free to go to my website www.ht-llp.com. And you can leave a text message for us through our written interface, or alternatively you can click on the side bar, ask an immigration question, and leave a digital voice mail for me.

We will continue to group the question that are similar and answer in as much detail as possible going forward here. So leave those questions and if you have something of a more specific nature that you would like to book a consult, please feel free to do that. Our fee is $100 for a thirty minute consult, and you will have the opportunity to speak with me. Take care and signing off.[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

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Question [Holthe Tilleman LLP website]:

Work Permits – Extending Work Permit with Concurrent Filing of In-Canada Spousal Sponsorship

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You can download a complete, word-for-word transcript of this episode, [spoiler]Welcome to the Canadian Immigration Answers podcast. My name is Mark Holthe and I’m an immigration lawyer with Holthe Tilleman, located in the beautiful province of Alberta, Canada. This podcast is the source of all the answers to the various immigration questions that we receive through our ‘Ask an immigration question portal’ on our firm website. Our website is located at ht-llop.com. And through our ‘Ask an immigration question portal,’ individuals can send us a written request, or written question, or they can also click on our ask an immigration tab, and leave a voicemail message for us.

And we endeavor to answer these general immigration questions, and it’s a way for us to give back to those who maybe will not to necessarily to be able to afford the services of an immigration lawyer. And so this question and answer process is a way for us to give general direction and general advice, and this is not to be taken as legal advice. If individuals need specific legal advice regarding their particular circumstances, we encourage them to go to our website ht-llop.com and book a paid consult; we charge $100 for 30 minutes.

This consult will be preceded by us sending you our intake form, you indicating the areas that you want assistance with and providing some background information. And then that is all reviewed before the consultation so that, that 30 minutes is used to the utmost and that $100 is — the person is receiving value for that money.

Well let’s take a look at our immigration question today. The question reads, I’m a foreign worker working in Canada, and my work permit is soon expiring. What options do I have to stay in Canada legally? I have a Canadian spouse, but my company that I’m working with is not able to obtain a new labor market impact assessment. So this question can really be divided into a number of different areas. In essence individuals working in Canada on work permits where the employer is unable to obtain a new LMIA, is extremely common given the recent overhaul of our foreign worker program in June of 2014.

In many cases, companies will have either exceeded their 10% proportionate rate of foreign workers within their operation, or many foreign workers will have reached their four year cap on April the 1st of 2015. These two unfortunate events often lead to a circumstance in which people are unable to extend their work permit, and face the prospect to having to go home. Now the answer to this question is actually one that is really good. So if you have a Canadian spouse and that spouse is either common law or you are officially married, or even in a conjugal relationship, you may have the ability to file a spousal sponsorship before your work permit expires.

And at the same time include an open work permit application with the spousal application. And we are talking about an in Canada spouse or common law partner application for permanent resident. If you file your spousal and you include an open work permit with that spousal, then it allows for a person to be able to continue to work under the same terms and conditions of the original work permit under what the immigration regulations and indicate or describe as implied status. So essentially despite the fact the work permit may have expired, the person may continue to work without a new labor market opinion, or even without a new work permit, so long as that open work permit that was coupled with spousal is held by CIC pending receipt of the first stage of approval on the spousal application.

When in Canada spousal application reaches the first stage of approval, then CIC will actually issue the official open work permit to this particular candidate while they are waiting for finalization of the spousal. So in this case this is actually a good news story, because this individual will have the ability to apply for open work permit, to allow them to continue working. And that open work permit will sit there so long as the spousal sponsorship application, the first stage is being processed. Now there are a couple drawbacks to this, nothing seems to be quite as rosy as it first appears.

In this circumstance when an individual no longer has a valid work permit, in other words the document has expired, there are usually other government programs or services that are tied to the expiry date on that permit. Social insurance is number — social insurance numbers will expire, drivers licenses have the potentials to expire if they are linked to the expiry date on the work permit. And most importantly provincial health care sometimes also will expire with the expiry of the work permit.

Now according to CIC, the person will be able to continue working under implied status on the work permit. However that same rule does not necessarily apply to the provincial health authorities, or to the driver’s license issuing registry. And so one of the things that we recommend, is that individuals take steps to notify the health authority, and to request a temporary extension. In Alberta for example, they are used to issuing up to a two month extension of health coverage pending receipt of the work permit, provided you can provide evidence that the work permit was applied for as well as the labor market impact assessment. When it comes to driver’s licenses and other things like that it’s really a hit or miss type of a situation.

If the drivers license is expiring, then sometimes we will send them down to the registry to see if the permit can be extended based on a letter from our office confirming that they are invalid implied status. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t it depends on the registry. And then when it comes to the social insurance number, well CRA is still happy to continue receiving remittances under that number. So it’s not really a big deal if the same number expires. So this is essentially the answer to the question today which was post, which was I have a work permit that’s expiring, but I’m married to a Canadian or I have a Canadian spouse, what options do I have if my employer is not able to secure a labor market impact assessment?

Or even in the case of a labor market impact assessment, as I have talked about here briefly if one has been filed and it just hasn’t been received yet. So in each of those circumstances this open work permit submitted with the spousal sponsorship application when it’s filed, as long as it’s done so before the current work permit expires, that person can continue working under implied status. And that is the answer for today’s question.
[/spoiler]

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

I answer questions each week on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you.

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If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love