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From the CIC Evaluation Division - report obtained under Access to Information Highlights: “IRPA FSWs [Foreign Skilled Workers] earn significantly more than their pre-IRPA counterparts.” “IRPA cases make about $10,000 to $17,000 more than pre-IRPA FSWs admitted during the same period, depending on the cohort and tax year considered.” “The incidence of employment insurance and social assistance benefits is also lower for IRPA FSWs than for pre-IRPA FSWs.” “The effectiveness of selection criteria: “Once having controlled for province of residence, origin and intended occupation skill type, regression analysis shows that the most releva...

New 2D bar code Sponsorship Form (IMM 1344) Operational Bulletin 325B - February 6, 2012 Issue Effective February 6, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will launch a new two-dimensional (2D) bar code sponsorship application form entitled Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking (IMM1344). This form will be applicable to both the Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada class and the Family Class. Background The 2D bar code Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008) was introduced on July 18, 2011; however, CIC had to manually enter the data contained in the IMM 1344. Current status Canad...

New Permanent Resident Card application forms: Introduction of the Downloadable IMM 5455 Supplementary Identification Form. Operational Bulletin 383 - February 1, 2012 Summary The purpose of this Operational Bulletin (OB) is to introduce a new downloadable version of the Supplementary Identification Form. Background The Supplementary Identification Form (IMM 5455) is used to collect client information related to the processing of Permanent Residence (PR) Cards. The printed version of this form has an integrated adhesive photo patch and a shaded box to assist with the digital capture of the applicant’s signature. Due to these speci...

If a Parent or Grandparent sponsored as a member of the Family Class passes away - Replacing the Principal Applicant on an Application for Permanent Residence Operational Bulletin 369 - January 17, 2012 Summary When the Principal Applicant (PA) on a parent or grandparent application for permanent residence in the Family Class passes away prior to permanent residence being granted and where the sponsor makes a request, the officer may replace the PA with the individual identified on the application as the accompanying spouse or common-law partner in cases where they are also eligible to be sponsored as a member of the Family Class by...

Job offers in Canada’s immigration program - Quality Assurance Program Update on Arranged Employment Opinions (AEO) HONG KONG: In February, 2010, Hong Kong conducted verifications on the C-50 SW applications with arranged employment received after February 27, 2008 and finalized up to January, 2010 The top three occupations in the SW2 category were Financial Auditors and Accountants, NOC 1111; Restaurant and Food Service Managers, NOC 0631; Financial Managers, NOC 0111. 70 percent of the arranged employment offers [AEO] were for jobs in Ontario.” “At the time of our review, only 22% of the AEO cases were shown to be genuine. About 60% of t...

“Neither IRPA nor administrative guidelines provide for the reconsideration of case decisions; at the same time, there is an expectation that errors will be corrected. This creates a dilemma for an office such as New Delhi, rendering about 100,000 decisions per year.” “Between November 2009 and April 2010, the IPM examined all requests for reconsideration of SW refusals.” 1. Document request not received per New Delhi's protocol: “Cases were reopened where document request had been sent to a non-functioning e-mail address or, most frequently, where document request had been sent by regular mail, but refusal letter by registered mail, and a...

Sponsoring a Spouse when the Sponsor is not residing in Canada?  Residency Issues, Processing Spousal Applications - Quality Assurance Exercise - Abu Dhabi, U.A.E./April 2010: “Abu Dhabi processes FC1 applications from nationals and residents of all GCC countries (Gulf Cooperation Council - Saudi Arabia; Kuwait, Bahrain; Qatar; Oman and, the United Arab Emirates) plus nationals and residents of Yemen.” “At some point during processing, visa officers take steps to ensure that the sponsors are either residing in Canada (for PRs) (Permanent Residents) or will reside in Canada (for CCs) (Canadian Citizens) once we issue the spouse's the visa. If ...

The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) is one of the Government of Canada’s main avenues to permanent immigration. The program uses a selection system established in 2002 that looks at the worker’s overall capacity to adapt to Canada’s labour market. It measures each applicant’s score on a grid of up to 100 points, taking into consideration factors such as education, work experience, knowledge of English or French and other criteria that have been shown to help them become economically established in Canada. Consulting Stakeholders and the Public In February and March 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) held consultations ...

CIC has introduced a new Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside of Canada [IMM 5257] form. It comes with additional forms and an instruction guide. Please read the guide carefully as it contains important information on how to complete the form. All applicants must complete and sign their own individual form, including persons travelling as a family. Applicants who are under the age of 18 years must have their form signed by a parent or guardian. Effective January 15, 2011, the only TRV application form that will be accepted by Citizenship and Immigration Canada is the new Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made O...