Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has decided to reduce the processing times for applications under the Investor category
In the case of the Skilled Worker category, the list of priority occupations was radically revised, quotas were introduced for the number of immigration applications submitted for each of them, and an overall quota was set for the number of accepted applications. As for the Investor category, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration proposed doubling the amounts of funds that an investor must have as personal savings and the size of investments that must be made in the Canadian economy. After that, a rather long period of uncertainty ensued, which effectively ended only now.
It should be said that although there are always some changes in the immigration sphere, and one must be ready for innovations at any time, usually the current situation allows with a high degree of reliability to calculate what to expect and in what direction events will develop. However, the last few months have been an exception, and I got the impression that the work of the immigration sections of embassies was generally suspended for the entire summer period due to a lack of clear understanding of what to do – perhaps due to a delay in developing new directives within the ministry itself. By mid-September, the work of embassies revived, and the ministry's latest initiatives give hope that its work is getting back on track.
Investor Category (investor)
In mid-November, Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration finally announced that as of December 1, 2010, the acceptance of applications under the Investor category would resume. Let me remind you that it was suspended by a decision of June 26, 2010, due to the need to revise the requirements for applicants under this category. At the same time, a plan of these changes was published. It was said that a moratorium on accepting new applications was imposed until early fall 2010, for the duration of discussions and consultations. In reality, it took much longer.
What are the changes in the requirements for this category? First, under the new rules, an applicant under this category must demonstrate that they have their own liquid assets in the amount of 1.6 million Canadian dollars (previously this amount was 800,000). Second, the amount that the investor must invest in a government fund for 5 years is 800,000 Canadian dollars (previously only 400,000 was required). That is, two key amounts – the size of personal funds and the size of investments – have been doubled compared to what was required before June 26, 2010 to apply for immigration under the Investor category.
It is worth noting one point concerning the method of investment in the Canadian economy and the amounts required. Let me remind you that one of the main conditions for immigration under the Investor category is the obligation to invest in the Canadian economy (into an account designated by the government) an amount of 800,000 Canadian dollars for 5 years. These investments are interest-free, meaning no dividends are accrued on them. After the five-year term, the invested amount will be returned to you, with government guarantees. However, that is all you will get. That is, for five years you withdraw 800,000 dollars from your turnover and effectively freeze them.
True, these investments can be used as collateral to obtain a bank loan, but you will have to pay interest on it. Alternatively, you can do the opposite – take a bank loan for 800,000 dollars for five years, paying the entire bank interest upfront, while instructing the bank to deposit the loan into the government fund as an investment. Since the return on the investment is guaranteed by the government, a number of banks agree to such an operation, as the risk for them under this scheme is effectively zero.
Under the old rules, when only 400,000 dollars needed to be invested in the Canadian economy, interest payments on the loan were about 100,000 dollars. At present, if you calculate how much interest will accrue on a loan of 800,000 dollars over 5 years, it comes to about 200,000 dollars.
Simultaneously with the adjustment of the federal Investor program, similar changes were made to the Quebec investor program. The requirements for it were aligned with the requirements of the federal program, and now they are effectively twin programs.
The changes made, according to Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, are intended to reduce the processing times for applications under the Investor category. At least, interest in this category has recently been so high that due to the sharply increased number of applications submitted, there was a real threat of longer processing times. This was largely the reason why the Canadian government decided to double the amounts, the possession of which is one of the main selection criteria for this category. As the ministry explains, this step should reduce the number of applicants wishing to apply as investors. In my opinion, the reason for the changes lies a bit elsewhere, namely in the opportunities to attract much more investment, as there are quite a lot of people willing to make such investments.
Frankly, I personally very much doubt that the tightening of requirements will scare off those wishing to apply under this category for long, if at all. The requirements for the Investor program remain the most lenient among all similar programs existing in the world. Moreover, if the government can actually reduce the processing times for applications (at least for the next year or two), then the number of people wishing to immigrate to Canada under the Investor category will only grow.
Therefore, if you are interested in immigrating to Canada and have enough funds to pay the indicated amounts, I strongly recommend taking advantage of the current moment.
Furthermore, I also want to draw attention to another business-class category – Entrepreneur. In my opinion, this is currently the most accessible category for those who want to immigrate to Canada through business. However, you need to hurry with this category, as it is quite possible that its requirements will also be revised upward, as has already happened with the Investor category.
Skilled Workers Category
Let me remind you that on June 26, 2010, the list of priority occupations for the Skilled Worker category was changed, with a number of popular professions removed, significantly narrowing opportunities for skilled workers to immigrate to Canada. The document submission process was also changed – currently, a complete package of documents, along with test results for one of Canada's official languages, must be submitted to a single application processing center in Sydney. However, the main innovation was the introduction of a cap on the number of applications accepted, including a cap for each occupation.
Currently, the total number of applications is limited to 20,000 per year, with the requirement that the number of applications in each category does not exceed one thousand. This means that as soon as the number of applications in a particular category reaches one thousand, applications in that category are no longer accepted. The exception is applications with a arranged employment offer, which are accepted above the cap. The same will happen when the total number of applications across all categories reaches 20,000; all applications will stop being accepted, except those with a job offer.
Obviously, some occupations are much more attractive to immigrants, and their caps should be filled much faster. However, it was difficult to say how quickly they would be filled. This uncertainty raised the question of whether it made sense to apply for immigration in a given occupation, as it was unclear whether the cap had been reached and whether there were vacancies.
In mid-October 2010, this question was resolved – Citizenship and Immigration Canada began regularly reporting the number of applications submitted for each occupation on the priority list. The list can be found at the following address: www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/complete-applications.asp
Judging by how applications are being submitted, the overall cap may not even be reached by July 1, 2011. The reason for this situation is what I have written repeatedly – the list of priority occupations is completely illogical and does not reflect reality, so it is difficult to expect a flood of applications for most occupations. However, those occupations for which there could realistically be many applicants are filling up quickly. In particular, for occupation 1122 (Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management), as of November 22, 2010, the cap was completely filled, and application acceptance was stopped. Apparently, by spring the same will happen with occupation 3152 (Registered Nurses).
Forecasts for the Future
I am often asked when we can expect improvement in the Skilled Worker program, i.e., when the list of priority occupations, which currently looks completely illogical – as evidenced by the extremely low number of applications submitted for a whole range of occupations on it – will be abolished or significantly expanded. For now, it seems to me that it will not be soon. The main reason for introducing caps and the priority occupations list is the desire to stop the flow of incoming applications so that the backlog of applications submitted before February 27, 2008 can be processed. Until this backlog is cleared, relief is unlikely, as we are talking about hundreds of thousands of cases waiting in line. Given that the Citizenship and Immigration Ministry's plans currently aim to reduce this backlog by only 50% by 2013, the prospects for positive changes look rather bleak.
The only scenario I consider realistic, in which the situation could change dramatically for the better, would be Canada's refusal to process applications from the accumulated backlog. Moreover, such a step cannot be ruled out, as immigration is a key issue for Canada, and if the political situation changes and the need arises to attract as many voters as possible, one party or another might take such an action. But for now, this is in the realm of hypothetical scenarios, and I do not think anything like that will happen in the next year or two.
Therefore, for those who currently do not qualify under the federal Skilled Worker program, I recommend considering other categories, such as the Canadian Experience Class, as well as looking for work in Canada.
For those who have the opportunity to go through the immigration process under the business class, i.e., the Entrepreneur and Investor categories, I advise not to waste time – now appears to be the most convenient moment for this, and it is possible that the situation in this area will soon begin to worsen due to the large number of applicants.
Elena RYABININA.
