On December 3, 2003, Canada's Minister of Immigration and Citizenship Denis Coderre announced the introduction of amendments to the transitional rules for selecting applicants for immigration to Canada, reports Russian Toronto. They were announced back on September 18, 2003 (see "Zagranitsa" No. 40, October 2003), but the rules officially came into force only on December 1.
After Canada's new immigration law came into force on June 28, 2002, its selection system also began to be applied to those who had originally applied under the terms of the old immigration law. The new law's selection system is significantly stricter than the old one, and it effectively closed the door to Canada for many potential applicants.
Under strong pressure from various organizations, including the Federal Court of Canada, the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship was forced to yield and resume evaluating applications submitted under the old immigration law according to its selection system. This step is recorded in a document called Amendments to Transitional Rules (Changes to Transitional Rules), officially brought into force on December 1, 2003.
What is the essence of the changes?
All applicants for immigration to Canada who applied under the old rules (before January 1, 2002) will be assessed under a dual system: according to the selection rules of both the old and the new law, depending on which of these two selection systems gives them a better chance of receiving a positive decision. This provision applies only to those who applied for immigration to Canada before January 1, 2002.
Those who applied before January 1, 2002 and whose case was still under review at the embassy as of December 1, 2003, will be automatically assessed under the dual system.
Those who withdrew their application themselves between January 1, 2002 and November 30, 2003 because they could not meet the passing requirements of the new law, as well as those who were refused between March 31, 2003 and June 20, 2003 after being assessed under the requirements of the new law, must reapply before January 1, 2005 to take advantage of the dual assessment option (under both old and new rules).
When reapplying, you will not need to pay the government fees again. You will only need to pay them if the embassy has already returned these fees to you when you withdrew your application, or if you have new family members.
How to take advantage of the introduced changes?
Those whose applications are with the embassies should wait for further instructions - for example, a request to submit additional documents or an invitation to an interview. However, in order to take advantage of the opportunity to be assessed not only under the old but also under the new system, you must submit to the embassy a set of newly completed forms and accompanying documents (results of the IELTS English language test and/or the TEF French language test, an updated reference from your current place of work, etc.).
Those who withdrew their application or were refused between March 31 and June 20, 2003, should reapply.
How to reapply? Send to the embassy the new IRPA IMM 0008 forms, including Schedule 1, Schedule 3, Schedule 7, and Additional Family Information (IMM 5406). Pay the government fees (if you have already received a refund or have new family members). Indicate the file number assigned to you when you previously applied. You do not need to attach any additional documents to be assessed under the old law. However, in order to benefit from the dual assessment system, it is highly recommended to attach additional information - for example, the result of the IELTS English language test.
Additional information You may submit a repeat application either to the same embassy where your case was previously considered, or to the Canadian embassy of the country of which you are a citizen or permanent resident. In this case, you must have been a permanent resident of that country for at least one year. If you have previously received a request from the embassy for additional documents and have not yet provided them, you should do so as soon as possible. You must submit a repeat application before January 1, 2005 in order to take advantage of the introduced Amendments to Transitional Rules. Upon re-submission, your application will not be placed again at the end of the general queue for review. Your case will be considered taking into account the date of the initial (previous) application. Despite the fact that your application will be assessed under the rules of the old law, under which taking the IELTS English test (or the TEF French test) is not mandatory, the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship of Canada strongly recommends taking this test (IELTS or TEF, or both tests, depending on your proficiency in English and/or French) and submitting its result to the embassy. You can download the IRPA IMM 0008 forms for submitting a repeat application from the website of the Ministry of Immigration and Citizenship of Canada (www.cic.gc.ca/english/applications/transition.html).