British Columbia added new communities to EI Regional Pilot

British Columbia added new communities to EI Regional Pilot

British Columbia added new communities to EI Regional Pilot
On June 29, 2022, the Government of British Columbia announced that new community profiles have been added to Entrepreneur Immigration Regional Pilot Program. The Pilot is designed to encourage global entrepreneurs to search for business possibilities across the province. Entrepreneurs can open a business in British Columbia’s smaller towns and settle in Canada. The communities that enrolled for Phase 2 of the EI Regional Pilot have identified the kinds of businesses that are a priority for their communities. The province has introduced the EI Regional Pilot in March 2019. The Pilot will accept businesspeople until March 31, 2024.

British_Columbia, #EI_Regional_Pilot, #entrepreneurs

The Canadian Government still has not waived the citizenship fees
The Canadian Government announced in late 2019 that it would waive application fees for new Canadian citizenship applicants. The pandemic delayed these plans, and then Canada held a federal election. Justin Trudeau, the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, asked his new immigration minister, Fraser, to keep his campaign promise and waive citizenship fees after the party’s third consecutive victory. This is outlined in Fraser’s ministerial mandate letter, which describes his top immigration priorities. However, the Canadian Government will need more time to fulfill its pledge to waive citizenship fees.

Fraser, #Trudeau, #Citizenship_application_fees

IRCC Beijing to move to fully digital services
IRCC Beijing has cumulated a wealth of information on paper applications and their digital equivalent during the digitization process, which underlines the importance for IRCC to move to fully digital services given the current burden of paper on the department. This process revealed that a significant number of supporting documents appear to have limited relevance and do not contribute to reaching final decisions. As IRCC is looking at developing an online submission portal, it is essential for an applicant’s submission to be focused on highly relevant supporting documents that will contribute to the efficient processing of their application and improve the client’s experience.

IRCC_Bejiing, #paper_applications, #Online_applications

India has the largest number of unauthorized immigration agents
Client Survey of Temporary Resident applications in India has revealed that rural India is inundated with advertising with potential applicants unable to know which agent to choose. There are hundreds of billboards directing the public to agents to get a visa. The issue is only 8.5% of these agents were ICCRC authorized representatives, while the rest of the clients utilized the services of unauthorized immigration agents. According to the survey result, 29% of the agents guaranteed that a visa would be issued, and 15% of the clients were charged an additional fee once the visa is issued.

India, #Immigration_agents, #unauthorized_immigration_agents