Monthly Archives: November 2020

New immigration pathways and initiatives offer more options for Hong Kong residents who wish to live in Canada. 

Canada recently declared immigration measures to help Hong Kong residents and Canadians in Hong Kong. 

The new immigration initiatives have been started to attract Hong Kong students  and youth to Canada, offering them the opportunity to acquire a new work permit that opens the door to permanent residence.

Besides, advancement has been made to existing immigration programs that will assist Hong Kong nationals live in Canada, as well as the individuals who wish to begin planning for their appearance in Canada when the COVID-19 travel limitations are finally finished. 

New pathways for Hong Kong youth

A new program to be started soon will permit Hong Kong residents in Canada or abroad to give an application for an open work permit. Qualified applicants need to have graduated from post-secondary institutions inside the previous five years. The work permit will be legitimate up to three years and will permit Hong Kong residents and, youth in specifically, to come to Canada to obtain valuable work experience.

Two new pathways will be started in 2021, and they will lead to permanent resident status for Hong Kong residents in Canada. 

The first path will target Hong Kong residents who complete least language and education level qualification standard and have obtained Canadian work experience.

The government  will also quicken study permit applications for qualified Hong Kong youth who want to study in Canada. When they complete their studies, these students will have the option to give an application directly for permanent residence by the second pathway. 

Under these new programs, candidates will have the option to have spouses, accomplices and dependent kids residing in the country as part of their application. 

New measures for Hong Kong residents

Hong Kong residents in Canada applying for an extension of their stay are provisional exempt from the application processing fee.

The Government of Canada will also expand its advancement and enlistment efforts to attract Hong Kong youth to study in Canada. The immigration department will restart processing of International Experience Canada (IEC) applications for Hong Kong youth, which have been suspended due to the Covid pandemic. Hong Kong is one of the countries that has a Working Holiday Agreement with Canada, which permits Hong Kong residents can work for any employer in Canada. Indeed, even with travel limitations, people can travel to Canada under the IEC as long as they have a employment offer. 

Finally, Canada has allotted resources to quick up the processing of applications for permanent residence,  including family sponsorships. This is a measure that will profit candidates from Hong Kong. 

Canadian economic-class immigration programs

Express Entry is the most famous  pathway to Canadian permanent residence. Express Entry positions qualified candidates against one another based on human capital elements, and then invites the top-scoring candidates to give an application for permanent residency. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) gives applicants points based on their age, education,  language skills,  work experience  and other elements. 

Those from Hong Kong might be well placed to migrate to Canada through Express Entry due to their high level of education and English language expertise, which are especially valuable elements on the CRS. 

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) are another immigration option. Over than 240,000 individuals are anticipated to obtain Canadian permanent residence by PNPs between now and 2023. 

Family Sponsorship

One of Canada’s first immigration priorities is family reunification. There are several immigration programs in Canada that provides Canadians the chance to sponsor family members to come to Canada.

Canadians can sponsor their spouses or common-law partners from Canada or abroad. They can also bring their kid or other dependents by family sponsorship. 

Canadians can also sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence. One year from now, Canada purpose to acknowledge 30,000 applications by the Parents and Grandparents Program. 

IEC Working Holiday Program

Every year, the International Experience Class brings tens of thousands of individuals from over 30 countries to work in Canada. Hong Kong is one of the countries that has a Working Holiday Agreement with Canada, which permits Hong Kong residents to come to work in Canada and change employment and employment places after their arrival.  To be qualified to take benefit of this immigration channel, you should be  between 18 and 35 years old to give an application and a limited quota system is  present.

Refugees

In reaction to the deteriorating condition in Hong Kong, Canada has executed a waiver of the 12-month pre- removal risk assessment rule for Hong Kong inhabitants. With this exemption, a few people who were beforehand ineligible may now be qualified for another appraisal prior to being taken out from Canada. Generally, people whose refugee claim is declined can’t again apply for at minimum one year from the date of the decision.

Moreover, Hong Kong inhabitants in danger of mistreatment who have fled to another country may also be qualified under Canada’s current resettlement programs, for example, the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program and the Government’s Refugee Assistance Program.

The province is looking to attract  highly educated and highly skilled  newcomers to stay.

On November 18, Newfoundland and Labrador’s provincial government declared a new immigration pathway that will wish to maintain newcomers who are already in the province.

The new immigration pathway, Priority Skills Newfoundland and Labrador, under the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Nominee Program (NLPNP), will focus on highly educated and highly skilled applicants with work experience in specialized industries for such as technology. The program is anticipated to launch on January 2, 2021.

This move will try to address the province’s labour deficiency in certain high-development sectors. The new pathway comes as a reaction to employers’ growing demand for skilled and experienced workers, the province said in a media release.

Who is eligible for the Priority Skills pathway?

Masters or PhD graduates of Memorial University who graduated inside the previous three years related to information and communication technology, sea technology,  healthcare, agriculture and aquaculture.

Moreover, professionals with work experience in the following highly skilled high-demand  occupations will be think about:

• Software Developer
• Biomedical Engineer
• UI/UX Developer
• Electrical Engineer
• AI Developer
• Mechanical Engineer
• Python Developer
• .NET Developer
• Infrastructure Engineer
• Security Specialist
• Cloud Specialist
• Bioinformatician
• Computer Network Support

People are also needed to demonstrate their language expertise in English by taking one of the following language tests and scoring equivalent to Canadian Language Benchmark level  5 or over. 

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS),
• Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP).

Other ways to immigrate to Newfoundland and Labrador

The NLPNP is divided into five classifications: Express Entry Skilled Worker class, Skilled Worker class, International Graduate classification, International Entrepreneur classification and the International Graduate Entrepreneur class. 

The Express Entry Skilled Worker class permits the province to designate skilled workers through Canada’s  federal Express Entry system. Designated members need to have employment offers in the province.

The Skilled Worker class targets people who have obtained a employment offer from an employer in the province. This class also targets those who are already working in the province on a legitimate work permit. 

The International Graduate classification is for recent graduates who are holders of the Post-Graduate Work Permit. They should have an employment or an employment offer in the province.

The International Entrepreneur class is for the individuals who want to settle in the province and start or buy a business. Applicants are needed to operate their business for one year in the province before applying. 

The International Graduate Entrepreneur classification provides a pathway to permanent residence for international graduates who want to start or operate a business inside the province.

Besides these five classes, people who want to settle in Newfoundland and Labrador also have the option of giving an application by the Atlantic Immigration Pilot. To qualify, applicants should also have an employment offer in the province.

About Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada‘s easternmost province with two separate land masses: Labrador is associated with territory Canada, and Newfoundland is an island. 

The province has a developing economy, because of its energy and resources boom. Crucial industries in the province incorporate financial services, healthcare, mining, fishing, oil production and manufacturing.

Most of the populace live in the provincial capital of St. John’s, one of the oldest cities in North America that progress a rich history. The city also has an fantastic architectural landscape, with buildings that have a very different look from  from other cities in Canada.

New portal permits employers to have direct access to potential applicants already in Québec or abroad and to benefit from personalized help offered by an immigration advisor.

A new feature of the Employer Portal permits businesses to recruit migrant employment  candidates in Quebec and abroad utilizing information from the Arrima system.

Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, Nadine Girault, made the declaration on November 5. 

It was also on that date that the new usefulness of the Employer Portal, a service provided by the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, was made available to businesses.

Drawn to facilitate the choice of the individuals who best complete current labour market needs in the province, the new feature will permit businesses to go legitimately to the ministry’s website,consult the profiles of immigration applicants, offer them employment and assist to start the immigration process.

Organizations registered in the Registraire des Entreprises Québec (Enterprise Register) will have the option to select migrants or individuals from ethnocultural minorities set up in Quebec, international students who have graduated  from Quebec with a post-graduate work permit, or provisional or permanent  workers from overseas. 

“By making profiles of immigration applicants available to organizations, they can more rapidly identify  the individuals who best complete their labour needs,” the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration (MIFI) wrote in an email to CIC NEWS. 

“The navigation in the Portal is ergonomic and permits the organization to see results that are shown in real-time when it chooses its different find standard.Besides, the interface permits clients to save and download their find results and identify their favourites so they can rapidly contact them.” 

When there is a match among employers and immigration applicants, organizations will also have the option to take advantage of personalized assistance service to assist them select the correct immigration program and go through the different steps included. This personalized  help program is provided by the department’s  territorial immigration and international recruitment consultants and is available in all administrative  areas of Quebec. 

The Employers’ Portal is a free service that has been operating since June 27, 2019. “Since that time, an organization can get personalized and local help by a Ministry consultant to get to the Employers’ Portal. The new form of the Employers’ Portal, which incorporates an interface permitting organizations to find freely, has been open since November 5, 2020,” the MIFI said. 

To get to the employers’ portal, organizations have to firstly make a profile in Arrima, Quebec’s online Expression of Interest, the management system,after which they will have the option to appeal for online help.When this application has been presented, organizations will get a personalized  reaction from a Ministry counselor within five working days.Once this step has been finished and access obtained, organizations will have the option to lead free research, store the outcomes and contact applicants.

The MIFI wrote although the portal will make it feasible to more rapidly identify the individuals who best complete their work needs, it “won’t accelerate the immigration process under a provisional or permanent immigration program.

The included characteristic on the portal is basically an enrollment instrument drawn to address the province’s long-standing labour shortages and to make sure economic recovery post-COVID-19. 

“Intensifying efforts to enroll international ability is a need for our government and is a vital part of a strong economic recovery,”said Minister Girault in a press release.

“With the launch of the Employers’ Portal online interface secured for businesses, as well as the resumption of international enrollment activities, the government is acting proactively.We are helping businesses more effectively and working in a more targeted manner.”

On October 29th, Girault presented the 2021 Quebec Immigration Plan before the National Assembly. Quebec intends to welcome up to 47,500 new migrants in 2021, to which will be added 7,000 migrants from an anticipated 2020 deficiency.The province won’t have the option to arrive at the immigration levels it has set for itself this year due to the effect of the Covid pandemic on immigration to Quebec.

Some significant guidelines for international students en route to Canada are now  available on the official website.

The federal government has delivered a guide for international students who are coming to Canada, and exploring travel limitations. 

It’s called “COVID-19:  guide for international students in Canada coming from abroad.” The government outlines the roles and duties of DLIs, provinces and regions and the government of Canada in supporting international students.

The guide is aligned with health advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Here are some of the main points. International students can see the guide on the official webpage.

What to know before coming to Canada

Any international student or their following family members with symptoms of COVID-19 won’t be permitted to board their flight. In case symptoms appear after coming in Canada, a health  Canada officer will play out a screening and the person may not be permitted to enter, or moved to a hospital for a medical inspection. 

International students are permitted to come to Canada to go to school at an organization that has a Covid readiness plan. The list of approved  establishments are kept up-to- fresh on the official webpage.

International students require a study permit or study permit approval, however this isn’t a travel  permission in and of itself. Once the travel permission has been granted IRCC will speak with students. This approval might be cancelled if there are any changes in conditions at their school, or the province or region. 

To be offered admittance to come to Canada, international students need to tell the border services officer that they are entering Canada for non-optional purposes, and that they are studying at one of the approved DLIs, beside other requirements. In case they don’t complete these requirements international students might be denied entry.

Immediate family members might be permitted to go with international students. This would incorporate students’ life partners, subordinate kids, or their lawful parent or guardian if they are a minor. Family members  should also show border officers that they are travelling for a non-discretionary, non-optional cause, for example, helping the student get set up in Canada. 

Quarantine plans

International students and their accompanying family members must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. They are required to wear a mask or face covering during travel, including to their place of quarantine.

Before coming to Canada students need to create a quarantine plan. Border officers will also think about this plan, when deciding whether the student can enter the country. 

While in quarantine, students ought to guarantee that they have individual housing, and that they surveillance themselves for symptoms. They ought to stay away from public and shared spaces. They also have to arrange to approach fundamental necessities like food and medication. Besides physical distancing,  they require to ignore contact with individuals who are at higher danger for serious ailment, for example, older adults, and people with underlying medical conditions, or who are immunocompromised.

Spots with shared living housing, for example, hostels, are not acceptable  for quarantine or segregation. International students living with other individuals, for example, with a host family or homestay supplier, will be required to self-isolate from other individuals in the housing or home. This implies having a separate bedroom and washroom if conceivable. It also implies physical separating from other household individuals and frequently disinfecting surfaces.

Minors should also go through mandatory quarantine. Parents or guardians have to guarantee that proper arrangements have been made for their kid before they leave for their home country.

Additionally, international students are asked to affirm their qualification for health-care coverage and Canada. In case they are not covered, they can gain private insurance that incorporates COVID-19 coverage before takeoff. 

The punishments for breaking quarantine can incorporate a fine of up to $750,000, and six months in prison. In case somebody causes bodily harm or danger of immediate death because of breaking quarantine, they can be fined up to $1 million, and face punishment of up to three years.