How about Canada?

On November 7th Darren Silver & Associates in conjunction with CSI Professionals will be conducting a seminar on Canada immigration at CSI’s offices in Glendale, CA. In addition, in late this year DSA will be travelling to the Philippines to conduct seminars on Canada immigration and will also be appearing on a live worldwide telecast to millions of Filipino viewers discussing various Canadian immigration options. Be sure to tell your relatives abroad to catch the show! Below please find a revised version of an article that DSA first published a few months ago in the Asian Journal about Canada immigration***

For many aspiring immigrants, the negative effects of the world wide economic meltdown towards their ability to be able to work and or immigrate to greener pastures abroad has been devastating. For example, in the United States, there are scores of temporary H-1B workers that are in danger of running afoul of their status as more and more employers are facing a cash crunch and are forced to let them go. For these displaced workers the only options are either to quickly find another employer or go back home.

However, there is a 3rd relatively unknown option for these and other aspiring skilled workers to be able to realize their dream of a better life. That option is Canada. Canada has been ranked as one of the best places to live by the United Nations numerous times within the past 10 years.   Other than its historically lower rates of gun crime and other violence compared to the United States, Canada mirrors its neighbor to the south in almost every other aspect. In fact upon visiting Canada, one will note that it looks like just like any other part of the United States with wide open highways, shopping malls, movie theaters, restaurants, etc. The only real palpable differences is that they use kilometers as opposed to miles, their currency is multi colored, they have a parliamentary system as opposed to our federal system of government and their head of state is the Queen of England as opposed to our President.

Geographically Canada is truly a breath taking wonder of nature. Second only to Russia, Canada is the largest country in the world with mountains in the western region to low lying plains in the eastern part of the country with fresh water lakes [Canada has the largest supply of fresh water in the world] and some of the most spectacular forested regions one has ever seen in between the two coasts. A majority of the estimated 33,000,000 people of Canada live within 150 miles of the border Canada shares with the United States with a majority of them living in the corridor between Windsor, Ontario [bordering Detroit, Michigan] and Montreal, Canada, i.e. the “401 corridor.”

Economically, Canada is one of the trillion dollar class economies. Historically in order to fill the labor shortages that a country of its size encounters, the Canadian government has had to rely on a large influx of new immigrants each year. In 2007, Canada admitted approximately 250,000 new immigrants with similar figures for 2008 and expected for 2009. The majority of those new immigrants arrived in Canada in one of the following categories; family, refugee and asylum, investment and skilled workers. The latter is the focus of the remainder of this article.

In 2008, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration issued ministerial instructions to completely revamp how Canada immigration accepts and processes applications for the Federal Skilled Workers class and also put FSW applications into a Fast Track processing stream.   According to the new instructions, all FSW applications will now be limited to a new list of 38 occupations that are considered to be in high demand in the Canadian economy. All that is required is that the applicant have 1 year of experience in the listed occupation acquired from anywhere in the world and they can have Permanent Resident or Landed Status status [aka Green Card] in Canada within 6-12 months!   No job offer is required. Previously FSW applications to Canada were taking approximately 3-5 years to be processed. In addition to the 1 year of experience, the applicant will have to garner at least 67 points out of 100 on the assessment scale. Factors include age, education, language ability, existing ties to Canada, arranged etc. Most of the occupations relate to health, skilled trades and finance.   Please see below for a complete list:

Financial Managers Computer and Information Systems Managers Managers in Health Care Restaurant and Food Service Managers Accommodation Service Managers Construction Managers Financial Auditors and Accountants Geologists, Geochemists and Geophysicists Mining Engineers Geological Engineers Petroleum Engineers Specialist Physicians General Practitioners and Family Physicians Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists Occupational Therapists Physiotherapists Head Nurses and Supervisors Registered Nurses Medical Radiation Technologists Licensed Practical Nurses University Professors College and Other Vocational Instructors Chefs Cooks Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System) Industrial Electricians Plumbers Steamfitters, Pipe fitters and Sprinkler System Installers Welders and Related Machine Operators Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics Crane Operators Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction Supervisors, Mining and Quarrying Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service Supervisors, Petroleum, Gas and Chemical Processing and Utilities

Alternatives to the FSW stream are the provincial programs that are being offered by various Canadian provinces [states]. One of the more popular programs being offered by the Province of Alberta is for the Fast Track Strategic Recruitment Stream for applicants currently in the United States on H-1B visas. The main requirement is that the applicant have at least 1 year of experience in a listed occupation and that they currently are still in valid H-1B status. The process generally takes around 12-15 months from the initial application to the applicant receiving permanent resident status.   Please note just like the FSW program, the H-1B stream does not require that the applicant have an employer or a job offer and neither is there any language testing involved to be considered eligible. However, if you have a job offer from an Albertan employer then your application will be given priority preference.

In addition to the programs outlined above, there are many other avenues to gain fast track permanent residency to Canada, the above are just highlights of the more popular programs. Please visit our websites:   www.darrensilver.com, www.canadah1b.com,   www.albertah1b.com for more details or feel free to contact our Los Angles offices for a free consultation with our resident licensed Canadian attorney.   Please frequent our website often to get the latest updates and news regarding Canadian immigration.

Darren Silver & Associates is a nationwide practice that concentrates exclusively in the area of immigration and naturalization Law. Attorney Silver has over 15 years of immigration experience and posses an extensive knowledge in all aspects of immigration law and procedures. Darren Silver was a former Immigration Department Adjudications officer in Los Angeles. Immigration Attorney, Darren Silver can be contacted directly through his website Darren Silver & Associates is one of the Nations' preeminent Full Service Immigration Law Firm with focus on Family, Business and Employment Immigration law in the US and Canada.
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