Updates in Immigrationland
The quick and dirty on recent changes to Canadian immigration:
Raising the Age of Dependent Children to “Under 22”
On October 24, 2017, the regulations changed to raise the age of dependent children from “under 19” to “under 22.” This change was made in recognition of the fact that many young adults remain living with their families after the age of 18.
The new definition applies to applications received after October 24, 2017. Applicants who submitted an application for permanent residence on or after May 3, 2017, and who have a child who was 19, 20, of 21 as of that date, have until January 31, 2018, to add that child as a dependent to their application. Note that there are additional forms that must be completed by any dependents over the age of 17, and that they must also provide the required police clearances.
Citizenship – Coming Into Force of Additional Provisions
On July 19, 2017, new Citizenship Act provisions came into force. On October 11, 2017, a number of important additional changes came into effect, including:
- New residence requirement of 1095 days (three years) of physical presence during the five years before the date of application;
- New physical presence requirement allows applicants who were temporary residents or protected persons before becoming a permanent resident, to accumulate half a day of physical presence for every day during which they were physically present in Canada up to a maximum of 365 days;
- Applicants are required to meet their tax filing obligations under the Income tax Act for three taxation years that are fully or partially within the five years immediately before the date of application;
- Retroactive amendment to the age range for applicants who must meet language and knowledge requirements to 18 to 54 years of age.
CETA – Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement
On September 21, 2017, CETA came into effect. CETA is a Free Trade Agreement with a limited number of labour mobility provisions for EU citizens for
- Key personnel: including intra-corporate (company) transferees, investors, and business visitors for investment purposes;
- Contractual service suppliers and independent professionals; and
- Short-term business visitors.
As CETA is a relatively new program its impact remains to be seen. While CETA’s ICT provisions appear similar to NAFTA’s, its Professional (Contractual Service Suppliers and Independent Professionals) category is much more restrictive and requires substantially more experience than is required under NAFTA.
Upfront Medical Exams are No Longer Available for Family Class Applicants
The December 2016 changes to the Family Class program removed the requirement for upfront medicals. As of December 2016, Family Class applicants no longer had to undertake an immigration medical prior to submitting their application for permanent residence. Instead, immigration medicals for Family Class applicants are now requested by IRCC later in the processing of the application. In light of this change, upfront medical examinations are no longer available for family class applicants.
Mobilité Francophone Program – Change to Recruitment Requirement
In August 2017 the Mobilité Francophone Program was updated to remove the requirement that the employer or the foreign worker participate in recruitment through a francophone immigration promotional event coordinated between the federal government and francophone minority communities. Now, though participation in a promotional event is encouraged, it is no longer required.
Applicants for work permits under the Mobilité Francophone Program must prove that:
- They are destined to work in a province or territory outside of Quebec;
- They are qualified to work in a NOC 0, A, or B skill level position;
- Their habitual language of daily use is French;
- Their prospective Canadian employer has submitted an Offer of Employment through the IRCC Employer Portal.
All initial work permit applications under the Mobilité Francophone Program must be submitted outside of Canada.
The lawyers at Capelle Kane are well versed in these and other changes to immigration law. Contact us for further information.