November 2016
On November 19th, changes were made to how points are calculated under the Express Entry application management system. You can read more about this here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/2016-11-19.asp
November 2016
Way back in April, I attended the Canadian Bar Association’s annual national immigration law conference. Our Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, John McCallum, knew that the Express Entry application management system wasn’t quite working out how the department was expecting. At a luncheon address, he advised those of us in the crowd that changes to the way ‘points’ were allocated to applicants would be changing. International students, he said, would be one group who would benefit from the changes.
So, for over six months, I’ve been meeting with potential Express Entry applicants and telling them that the points system would change. In mid-October, I heard that the changes would be in November. Two weeks ago, I stopped doing consultations for most potential clients – what was the point when everything was about to change!
Yesterday, the changes were finally announced and you can read them in all their complexity here:
November 2016
The 2017 Immigration Levels Plan has been announced. These ‘levels’ are the numbers of permanent resident applications Canada plans to approve during 2017. The numbers are broken down based on the type of application (family reunification programs, economic immigration programs, and refugees/humanitarian cases.) The number of applications in each category will impact processing times; the more space in the category, the more staff that will be assigned to process those applications.
October 2016
I’ve been getting an increasing number of calls from people wanting to know if they can get Canadian citizenship, with a parent or grandparent born in Canada. Why? Because of the endlessly entertaining, but equally as terrifying prospect of Donald Trump becoming president of the United States.
Evenings at the Carey household are a wind whirl of activity. Our dog Cleo waits by the front door, hoping someone will take her for a walk. The child whose turn it is to do the dishes grumbles by the sink. The child who is rushing to get to a basketball practice, wearing Adidas flip flops even in the dead of winter, fights over the tap to fill a water bottle. A third child sits at the family computer, pretending to do homework while actually texting friends on an iPod hidden behind a textbook.
Choosing a Province with a Provincial Nominee Program for You
August 2016
I recently took a trip to Prince Edward Island (‘PEI’) with my family. For those of you wondering, PEI is an island located off of Canada’s east coast. It is amongst a cluster of provinces we call ‘the Maritimes’.
July 2016
Remember back in March, when our Prime Minister and his wife Sophie visited the United States for their first State Dinner with President Obama and Michelle Obama? Yes, the one where our head of state and his wife looked like Hollywood superstars thanks to some impressive Canadian fashion designers. Well, it turns out fashion wasn’t the only thing being discussed.
June 2016
Whenever I read materials on marketing, I'm always told to try to identify my 'ideal client'. Apparently, once I start focusing on taking ‘ideal clients’, my business will flourish like never before.
So I’ve been thinking: What kind of client would be the most profitable for an immigration lawyer like myself?
May 2016
In our modern world, falling in love with someone from a different country is becoming as common as striking up a romance with a cute next door neighbour. With the help of the internet, Skype, and (sometimes) affordable travel options, it is becoming much easier to maintain a long-distance relationship.
Long-distance love is not without difficulties. Telephone conversations must be planned around time differences. Meeting each other’s friends and families requires an airplane and time off work. But for those who have fallen love with a Canadian, the biggest test of the relationship occurs after the decision is made to join their partner in Canada.