13 Jun Spousal immigration processing time again on the rising side
Spousal immigration processing time again on the rising side
Spousal sponsorship processing time that was reduced to 12 months is now again on the rise. Currently, it is unclear what are the reasons of the time increase. However, the number of applications under the inland spousal sponsorship category is also being observed to be on rising. According to the data by IRCC, the number of temporary residents has been increased during the last 6-7 years. They include foreign students, workers, and refugee claimants. When any temporary residents marry in Canada and apply for spousal sponsorship, then the visa officer wants to ensure that it was not a marriage of convenience. They call the sponsor and the applicant for an immigration interview, which adds to the processing time.
#Spousal_sponsorship, #IRCC
BCPNP issued 57 ITAs for Tech Pilot candidates
On June 11, 2019, British Columbia held a new round of invitations for the candidates in the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) Tech Pilot. This stream is designed for 29 key technology occupations which are in-demand in the province. In this round, BC PNP issued 57 invitations in the four categories: Skills Immigration – Skilled Worker, Skills Immigration – International Graduate, Express Entry British Columbia – Skilled Worker, and Express Entry British Columbia – International Graduate. Fifth round in the row, the lowest score in all four categories was 90. In 2019, British Columbia invited 598 candidates in the Tech Pilot program. In total, BC has already issued 3,393 invitations this year.
#British_Columbia, #BCPNP, #Tech_Pilot
A significant spike in demand for Temporary Resident Visas
Canada is seeing a significant spike in demand for Temporary Resident Visas. According to a statement from the Office of the immigration minister, officials issued more than 5 million temporary visas and electronic travel authorizations, an increase from over 1 million issued two years earlier. Most of the temporary visas were issued under the tourist visa category and the number of visitor visas may be increased further.
#TRV
Employers face long delays for temporary foreign workers as demand spikes
Some employers looking to hire temporary foreign workers are experiencing significant delays due to an increase in demand this year for migrant workers in Canada. Employers who want to hire migrant workers in the “low-skill stream” are now waiting more than 100 days to find out if their labour market impact assessments (LMIA) will be approved. These assessments are necessary to prove the employer needs to hire temporary workers and that there are no Canadian workers available for the jobs. In 2017, former auditor general Michael Ferguson flagged concerns about the management of the foreign worker program, including employers who often hired migrant workers without first demonstrating they had exhausted all other options for finding local workers and applications that were frequently approved without being challenged. In response, the government has been stepping up employer inspections and has been publishing the names of those caught breaking the rules. To date, 168 companies have been cited for infractions and given fines or bans on using the program for a set length of time.
#LMIA, #Foreign_workers