News Release — Reducing Backlogs to Achieve a Fast and Flexible Immigration System

Ottawa, September 17, 2012 —The Government of Canada welcomed the findings of a report on immigration backlogs by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and tabled its response in Parliament today.
“I think we can all agree that backlogs are unfair to applicants, harmful to Canada’s ability to attract the best and brightest from around the world, and hold back economic and job growth,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney. “I thank the Standing Committee members for their hard work in compiling their report.”
The Committee commented favourably on what the Government has already achieved to date through the Action Plan for Faster Immigration and the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification. However, the Committee report also made clear that more needs to be done in order to better align application intake with admission levels.
The committee report recognizes that backlogs have occurred because for too long Canada has accepted more applications than it can process and admit in a given year.  Over time, this annual surplus of applications resulted in a backlog of more than a million applicants, and processing delays of eight to ten years in some immigration categories. The report concluded that, in order to avoid future backlogs, it is critical that the Government act to ensure that the annual number of applications better align with the number of admissions.  The report also recommended exploring further options to deal with the problem of existing backlogs, particularly in the federal skilled worker, immigrant investor, and parent and grandparent classes.
The Government agrees with all of the Standing Committee’s report recommendations and has already acted quickly to tackle application backlogs in key areas. Successes include:

• Reducing the pre-2008 Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) backlog by more than 50 percent by 2011 – two years earlier than expected – through the 2008 Action Plan for Faster Immigration and successive Ministerial Instructions limiting application intake.  Most recently, Economic Action Plan 2012 removed around 280,000 applicants from that FSW backlog, which paves the way for a faster and more flexible economic immigration system;
• Managing intake of the Immigrant Investor Program applications starting in July 2011.  Most recently, a temporary pause on new applications was introduced on July 1, 2012 to allow Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to focus on processing existing applications and reviewing the program’s effectiveness;
• Significantly decreasing the backlog of applications for parents and grandparents since fall 2011, as a result of increased admission targets and a two-year pause on new applications under the Action Plan for Faster Family Reunification.  At the same time, CIC introduced a new “Super Visa,” which allows for visits of up to two years by parents and grandparents, and has proven to be a popular alternative for applicants.

In the last year, the Government has also launched public online consultations on re-designing the parent and grandparent program, and reforming the Immigrant Investor Program.  Policy work on reformed programs is now underway.
“The economy and job growth remain the Government’s number one priority,” said Minister Kenney. “We continue to take the issue of immigration backlogs very seriously, and we will be doing even more in the future to transform our immigration system into one that is fast, fair, flexible, and serves the interests of Canada’s long-term prosperity.”
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration tabled its report, entitled “Cutting the Queue: Reducing Canada’s Immigration Backlogs and Wait Times,” in March 2012.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2012/2012-09-17.asp

How to apply to come live in Canada

Do you want to come live in Canada but do not know what options are open to you?

You can apply to live in this awesome country - not as a burden to the country but as an asset. It's a win-win situation. You can apply through one of the following programs:

• Skilled workers and professionals
  For people who want to settle and work in Canada (outside of Quebec)
• Quebec-selected skilled workers
  For people selected by the Quebec government to settle and work in Quebec
• Canadian Experience Class
  For people who have recent Canadian work experience or have graduated and recently worked in Canada
• Investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people
  For people who want to start a business in Canada
• Provincial nominees
  One of Canada’s provinces or territories can nominate you to settle and work there
• Sponsoring your family
  How a family member can sponsor you to join them here if they are permanent residents or Canadian citizens

 To find out about the requirements and the steps to apply in each category, go to the Government of Canada’s  Citizenship and Immigration Canada website: www.cic.gc.ca. It is comprehensive, clear and up to date. You’ll find everything you need and links to other information portals.

Research; do your homework. Then, apply.

Adios amigos!

Should I hire an immigration agent?

This is a question most people ask themselves sometime before and/or during their immigration application.

It is common knowledge that many people spend unbelievable amount of money on agent fees. They hire agents - some dubious - who promise to do the impossible: get their immigration application to Canada approved fast, find them jobs immediately and get them to Canada without waste of time or simply to complete the application forms correctly.

Speaking from experience, I'd like to assure you that the forms and instructions are straight-forward. You can fill them out yourself. I did for me and my family and we are now permanent residents in Canada. And did I mention that hiring an agent never crossed our minds? It didn't. We were saving all our money for the move to Canada. It is clearly stated on the CIC website that hiring an agent is your choice but it will not influence the processing time. Each application is queued once received. It is an orderly and fair process. You are made aware of possible errors that can disqualify or delay your application. All you need do is carefully and patiently complete the forms (lots of forms :); I know!). Then go over them a couple of times to be sure there are no mistakes.

What do I think about using an agent? You already know from the preceding paragraph. If, however, you are convinced of the need to employ the services of an immigration agent and you can afford it, be sure to hire one with integrity. There are many agents in good standing and there are many fraudulent ones as well.

Good luck on your quest to immigrate to Canada. It is one of the few best places on earth. The effort and wait that go into the whole process are absolutely worth it!