Canada’s Conflict of Intention
Canada’s Conflict of Intention
CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS
Dual intent is an issue that is hotly debated from time to time in immigration circles. Can a person have the intention to come temporarily to Canada as a student, worker and visitor as well as have the intention to stay permanently as a permanent resident? At the same time?
Since the last change of the Act and Regulations the possibility of having both a long term and short term reason for being in Canada was more or less formalized.
Not that long ago Canadian Immigration was very strict on the issue. If you come to Canada for temporary purpose you must not have any intention of staying in Canada permanently. After some debate and some crafty twisting of language there came about a position that it was possible and legal for a person to have both a temporary and permanent intention, but not at the same time.
Under this interpretation a person may have applied for permanent residence and thus be demonstrating their permanent intention, but they may for some reason, need to come to Canada for a temporary purpose, say perhaps to attend a wedding or a conference for example, but then leave Canada to await the finalization of their permanent resident application.
This concept of dual intention that was so much spurned by Immigration Canada in the past now seems to be wholly embraced, but moreover, they seem to want to take advantage of it.Ê Let me explain.
Each year Canada welcomes approximately 250,000 new permanent residents to Canada. Of that, approximately 130,000 are derived from the Economic Class (based on selection factors to assess ability to establish in Canada). Each year Canada issues more than 100,000 Work Permits and 90,000 Study Permits. These are people who are coming temporarily to Canada and will leave when their temporary purpose is finished.
It seems to be that Immigration Canada is encouraging people who come to Canada for a temporary purpose such as students or workers to stay as permanent residents.
There are several programs that are designed for students or workers both in the federal program and provincial programs that make it easier for these temporary residents to apply for permanent residents. Canada already allows for landing inside Canada for certain classes, and shortly we may even see in-Canada processing centre for such people.
No doubt that Canada needs all these people. If they can come to Canada and start working right away this is great. There is benefit for Canada and there is a benefit to the applicant since they are in Canada working or studying and then become permanent residence and are already established.
Also, there is less, much less, trouble with foreign credentialing since everyone who enters is already working or if a student would have earned a credential here.
The conflict is this, on one hand Immigration seems to be encouraging temporary visitors (students and workers) to apply to stay permanently, or effectively to changeä their intention.
On the other hand, we have overseas officers trying to determine whether a temporary visitor will changeä their intention and not leave Canada at the end of their temporary visit and refuse to issue the visa if that is the case. So while over here we are planting the seed of permanent intention, over there they are shutting the door on those very people.
Further, if we look at the targets Canada has, it is very possible that our entire complement of Economic Class applicants that we issue visas to each year could be replaced by the number of temporary workers and students we let in each year who decide later to ãchangeä their intention and stay permanently.
But, what does that mean for those hundreds of thousands of applicants just waiting for their applications to be processed under the Skilled Worker Category of the Economic Class?
Currently applicants who apply in that category can expect to wait between 3-7 years before they come to Canada. If we start processing the people already in Canada without reviewing the total that we will allow in, certainly that time is going to grow and ultimately lead to the closing of that class either by attrition as people lose interest in waiting or by regulation change to eliminate it as Canada underscores its intention to have people arrive ãhitting the ground running as they say, with employment and already established.
Many of my regular readers will know that I do not typically do a ãquestion and answerä type column. I am sure there are some who may benefit from this simple form of exchange with the proliferation of information via the internet and availability of regulated professionals qualified to give answer to questions.
I prefer to push a little further into the theory and practice of immigration policy challenging us all to think about what is going on with Canadian immigration perhaps bringing some understanding and change where needed.
Many of my regular readers will know that I do not typically do a ãquestion and answerä type column.
I am sure there are some who may benefit from this simple form of exchange with the proliferation of information via the internet and availability of regulated professionals qualified to give answer to questions.
I prefer to push a little further into the theory and practice of immigration policy challenging us all to think about what is going on with Canadian immigration perhaps bringing some understanding and change where needed.
If you have a specific question, please contact me or send your question to the editor and I will respond to you. It also helps me see what topics people are most interested in.
Have a question? Send them to Berto Volpentesta or to the editor.
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Berto Volpentesta of Cannex Immigration Specialists has been a practicing consultant in Toronto since 1991. You can reach him at: (416) 398 8882 or (416) 787 0612 or by email at berto@canneximmigration.com and on the web at www.canneximmigration.com.
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