Immigration to Canada

Author: Alex

f) Non-accompanying Family Members Declaration (if applicable)

• Notarized statutory declaration stating your intention to proceed to Canada without your family members (only in case that you do not intend to include your spouse, common-law partner or dependent children in your application)

• You also need to confirm that you understand that your spouse, common-law partner or dependent children must meet immigration requirements by themselves if they wish to immigrate to Canada.

g) Proof of Settlement Funds

• Proof of transferable funds in a convertible currency for your settlement in Canada for the principal applicant and family members.

The proof of funds could be:

• A current bank certification letter

• Savings balance

• Fixed or time deposit statements

h) Police Certificates

• Police certificates of good conduct (Original document) from each country, state or territory in which you and everyone included in the application (18 years of age or over) have lived for six months or longer (since reaching 18 years of age)

• You should submit your original fingerprints to the authorities conducting the police checks or clearances

• If the authority in the country where you obtained your certificate will forward the result directly to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, you should attach a note explaining the situation

Please note that:

• A Police Certificate is required from ALL countries where the applicant and his/her family have resided in for 6 months or more since reaching age 18, along with the country where the applicant currently lives

• This certificate should be issued by a national or federal police agency if possible. If you do not currently reside in that country, you may need to apply at the local Embassy or High Commission in your country of residence.

• A Police Certificate (also called certificate of no criminal record), is necessary for every applicant age 18 and older • You should present original Police Certificates and also an original accredited translation if the certificates are not in English or French.

• The Police Certificate (s) must have been issued in the last six months.

The table in the following pages indicates some of the local Authorities where you could obtain a Police Certificate in several specific countries. Please note that this information may change from time to time; please confirm with local authorities if this information is still valid.


i) Photos


I recommend sending 10 photographs with your application, in case some of them are lost or damaged. You should send photographs of yourself and each member of your family.


I also suggest that you and your family dress well for the photographs (preferably formal or semi formal dress) and do not forget a sincere and warm smile! It will look much better to the visa officer than if you frown.


You should print each applicant’s name and date of birth on the back of each of his / her photographs. Visa officials have very strict requirements regarding photographs, so make sure that you meet all the requirements. These photographs must show a full front view of the person’s head and shoulders. The person’s face should be centered and the photograph should have a white background.


All the photographs should be identical, produced from the same negative, and they should be produced on single weight matte paper.


Education and language ability


a) Education


You should also attach to your application certified/notarized copies of all your diplomas and degrees from all the academic institutions that you have attended. You need to attach certified/notarized copies of the following documents:

• Post-secondary education documents

• University (or college) degrees

• Academic transcripts (original), preferably in university sealed envelopes

• Other qualifications (notarized professional qualification certificates)

Please note that an academic transcript is an official statement from the University that you attended, detailing your academic record from the period of enrolment. This document normally includes details of the program that you studied since you enrolled in the institution, exemptions granted and also graduation and details of your course status.


b) Language Ability


You have two options to prove your language skills:

1. Take a language test

2. Provide a support written document


I recommend that you choose the first option and take the language test. Even though it will take some time to prepare for the test, present it and receive the results, I believe that it will actually save you a lot of time (since your application could be either refused or delayed if you do not present the test).


1. Take the language test


One of the options that you have to prove your language skills is taking a language test. You can claim points for both official languages (English and French).

One of the advantages of taking the test is that you can be certain of how many points will you receive based on your test results.

You have to take one of the approved language tests in order to claim points for language ability.

Article Source: http://alex1.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/immigration-canada-with-family-members-181964.html

Alex Berezovsky is author of the now-famous book Step-by-Step Immigration to Canada. A book that helps potential immigrants apply for the Canadian visa on their own. For more information, go to: http://www.stepbystepimmigrationcanada.com

Canada as a place has always been in the priority list of immigrants due to its high standard of living and ample opportunities available there. It has been attracting large groups of immigrants from all over the world. In the recent times many remarked changes have been proposed and implemented in the Canada immigration rules. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has introduced changes in the procedures and categories of both temporary and permanent immigration like Temporary Foreign Workers; Federal Skilled Worker and also in Federal and Family Class permanent immigration.

Temporary Foreign Workers

Of late there have been instances of severe exploitation faced by the migrants at their workplace. These occurrences have somewhere made the hopeful immigrants be a bit apprehensive before taking the final plunge of going to Canada. The Canada government to avoid these cases of acting as a deterrent to the inflow of immigrants has proposed certain amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protections Regulations. These changes have been put forth to protect the interests of those immigrating to Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. These changes induced by the government are highly necessary for the following reasons :

• Reduction of exploitation of the workers under the temporary foreign worker program


• Increment in case of an employer's responsibility towards his foreign employee because if the


• employer fails to comply with the rules then he will be charged with harsh punishment.


• Work permits issued under this program is for a temporary phase only


• Strengthening the government to keep an eye on the temporary foreign workers and their employers.

Changes to the immigration rules

According to the new rules imposed by the government it is now necessary for the employer to prove that his employment offer to the temporary foreign worker is genuine and not fake.

It is necessary for the employer to show that his past record with foreign staff has been well. If a case of manhandling is found in terms of meager wages and inhuman working conditions then the employer will be barred for two years to hire temporary foreign workers.

Full details of the employers, ineligible to employ foreign workers to be given on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada's website.

A four year work limit to be put on the temporary foreign workers followed by another four years where they will not be given the authority to work in Canada.

These changes will be applied in practicality from 1st of April 2011 so as to ensure the fair treatment of

workers in Canada under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Federal skilled worker

The Canada government has initiated certain amendments in the Federal Skilled Worker Program also. Past history shows that changes made in this category has yielded positive results which has acted as a driving force to make the government introduce new ones. These changes have been proposed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada keeping in mind the needs of Canadian society and economy. Some of the changes proposed by CIC under this program are :

• CIC has proposed to increase the minimum number of points which can be attained by an applicant from 16 to 20 in the language category.


• Increase in the number of points from 10 to 12 for applicants between age of 25 - 34 keeping in mind factors like adaptability.


• Reduction in the number of years required of education for doing trade.


• Reduction in the maximum number of points from 21 to 15 in the area of work experience.


• Assessment of the job offer given by the employer to avoid potential fraud.

These changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program have been proposed with the intention of providing better facilities to the immigrants to fulfill their economic goals but as of now have just been limited to theory and not put into practice by the CIC.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/immigration-articles/proposed-changes-in-canada-immigration-rules-4363738.html

Ruchi is a freelance journalist working with Canadaupdates. You can add Immigration to Canada feedback about the immigration agents you hire. You can also stay updated on various news on canada immigration