|
2004
IMMIGRATION LAW DEVELOPMENTS (Page3)
ECONOMIC
CLASS
Skilled
Workers
By
and large, the majority of the regulatory amendments made to the skilled
workers provisions clarify the selection requirements. That said, the
new regulations considerably broaden and clarify the circumstances in
which points may be awarded for arranged employment. As before, a
foreign national is required to have at least one year of employment
experience within the ten years preceding his or her permanent residence
application in order to submit an application as a skilled worker. The
amended regulations clarify, however, that the one year of employment
experience, whether full-time or part-time, must be continuous. In other
words, short periods of part-time employment interspersed throughout the
preceding ten-year period cannot be combined to meet the one-year
employment experience requirement.
Previously, the regulations allowed an officer to use positive
substituted evaluation to approve a permanent resident application for a
skilled worker where the applicant did not meet the minimum funds
requirements. Subsection 76(3) has been amended to preclude an officer
from exercising positive discretion in order to overcome the minimum
funds requirement where an applicant obtained insufficient points on the
selection grid. Despite submissions during the consultation process from
various stakeholders, CIC opted not to modify the republished amended
regulations since it was of the view that there would likely be some
time before adequate employment could be found to support a skilled
worker and his or her family after landing. That said, however,
applicants with arranged employment under section 82 are not required to
meet the funds requirement.
Subsection 82(2) has been amended to specify that the type of arranged
employment offered must fall within Skill Type 0 (management
occupations) or Skill Levels A or B (occupations that typically require
a university or college education or apprenticeship training) of the
National Occupational Class-ification ("NOC") matrix. The NOC
matrix may be found online at http://www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/2001/e/generic/matrix.pdf.
Similarly, subsection 82(2)(iii) now provides that work permits for
applicants already working in Canada must be valid at the time the
permanent resident application was made and at the time that the
immigrant visa is issued. Previously, applicants were required to hold a
work permit valid for at least 12 months after the date of the permanent
resident visa. This change enables work permit holders who can only be
issued permits valid for a maximum of 12 months, such as those under the
North American Free Trade Agreement, to obtain points for
arranged employment. In addition, subsection 82(2)(b) has been amended
to allow recent graduates who have studied and worked in Canada to
obtain arranged employment points. Previously, such applicants would
have been required to obtain an Arranged Employment Opinion from HRSDC
in order to be awarded arrangement employment points. Subsection
82(2)(d) has been added to allow other applicants who are work permit
holders in Canada and who were not covered by the former regulations to
apply for arranged employment points. This category includes applicants
who hold a permanent job offer of employment other than the one for
which they currently hold a work permit, as well as numerous other
confirmation-exempt work permit categories that were not covered under
paragraph 82(2)(b) of the regulations. Applicants under this new
category, however, must make an application to HRSDC to obtain arranged
employment points for their permanent offer of employment.
Business
Immigrants
Several
amendments were made to the various definitions contained within
provisions pertaining to business immigrants. For instance, the
definition of "business experience," in relation to investors
and entrepreneurs, has been amended to clarify that the minimum two
years of experience required may consist of experience in different
businesses so long as each period of experience is defined in terms of a
discrete one-year period. That is, it refers to two periods of 12
consecutive months' experience. Similarly, the definition of
"qualifying business" has been amended to clarify that each of
the one-year periods of "business experience" under
consideration, as noted above, will be assessed independently against
the job equivalents, annual sales, net income, and/or asset
requirements.
As for self-employment applicants, the definition of "relevant
experience" has been amended such that a foreign national may
qualify based upon the following:
- in respect of cultural activities, any combination of one-year
periods in self-employment or participation at a world-class level
in cultural activities;
- in respect of athletics, any combination of one-year per-iods in
self-employment or participation at a world-class level in
athletics; and
- in respect of purchase and management of a farm, two one-year
periods of experience in the management of a farm.
Next
Page
|
