|
'Citizenship and Immigration Canada'
Responds to Natural Disasters
'Citizenship
and Immigration Canada'
(CIC) is committed to a humane, flexible response when natural
disasters abroad affect the relatives of Canadian citizens and
permanent residents. The Department has developed a response
plan that includes several measures that can be used depending
on the nature of the disaster. CIC staff have sufficient
discretion to respond in a humane manner without needing to
resort to special legal authorities". What this means is
that the staff members at CIC charged with responsibility
in these programs have the authority to make quick decisions regarding who
may be allowed a temporary visit to Canada or whom may
even be eligible for permanent residence in Canada, based
on humanitarian and compassionate circumstances.
This response
process was developed through past experience with previous
disasters - for example, the earthquake disasters that
occurred this year in India and Turkey.
In response to disasters, the overseas
efforts include sending staff from the local visa office (Canadian
Consulate General or Canadian Embassy) to the disaster
area to render a decision if the area is safe for the persons
involved in the disaster and CIC staff to initiate the
program in the affected area. The CIC response team (including
Visa Officers) will assess and prioritize immigrant and
visitor visa issuance's on the basis of those with immediate
or close family ties to Canada, i.e., parents,
children, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces or nephews,
receiving first consideration. Determinations on immigrant
applications will be finalized and the visa issued
immediately, pending a quick review of all circumstances. The
CIC Visa Officers have the authority to exempt applicants from
the full application of the Immigration Act where there are
compelling humanitarian or compassionate considerations.
Visitor visas will
be issued to persons affected by the disaster who are
able to clearly indicate they will leave Canada at
the end of the authorized visit period. Details of CIC's
response will be disseminated to the public through the
CIC Call Centre and the CIC Web site (http://www.cic.gc.ca).
In response
to persons affected by overseas disasters who are in Canada as
visitors, workers and students (those persons in Canada on a
temporary basis) at the time of the disaster, the Central
Processing Centre (CPC) in Vegreville will evaluate, on a
case-by-case basis, persons wishing to extend their
status as visitors in Canada. If the disaster cuts off their
access to funds, international students may be granted work
permits. Canadian citizens and permanent residents who wish to
sponsor immediate family members residing in a disaster area
may do so by obtaining the necessary forms from the Call
Centre or the CIC Web site. The Case Processing Centre (CPC)
in Mississauga will provide priority processing for these
sponsorship applications. If CPC Mississauga approves the
sponsorship, an application kit will be sent to the sponsor in
Canada to forward to the relative abroad. Persons
subject to removal orders - departure orders, exclusion orders
and/or deportation orders - to
an affected area may be deferred for up to three months or may
be removed to an unaffected area of the country. This
is all subject to the actual conditions in the affected area
and how quickly the area performs the necessary steps to offer
it's residents a safe, satisfactory mode of living.
*Rick
Howat
Upon completion of economics studies in university, Mr. Howat
thereafter joined the Citizenship and Immigration department
where he acted as a Senior Immigration Officer and supervisor.
After five years of employ with the Immigration department,
pending a one-year hiatus, Mr. Howat established his own
immigration consulting practice. More recently, Mr. Howat
assumed the position of V.P. Marketing and Development with
First Entrepreneur Enterprises, developing and promoting
business immigration programs in Canada.
Family
Class Sponsorships
The “Family Class” of immigrants has long been a preferred
means to bring family members to Canada who would otherwise be
ineligible for permanent residence. This “Class” of
immigrants is restricted to spouses, fiancé (s), parents,
grandparents and dependent children. This means that you
cannot sponsor brothers or sisters unless they are included in
a sponsorship of your parents as dependants. This can include
overage (19 years of age or over) siblings if they have
maintained their educational pursuits on a full time basis –
provided no more than a lapse of one year has occurred during
the continuation of their formal education.
In
order to sponsor family members for permanent residence in
Canada within this class, you must meet a “Low Income Cut
Off” (or LICO). You
can find general details at www.cic.gc.ca or if
you wish to go directly to the “Family Class” website, you
can do so at www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigr/index2.html#family.
The LICO amount needed is dependent on the number of members
presently in your family in addition to the number of the
persons sponsored. The sponsor must present an annual income
to immigration authorities i.e. from employment, interest or
investment income etc. The presentation of “general assets”
to demonstrate you have the financial means to support your
sponsored family members will not be accepted as the
Immigration Department only accepts annual income, as shown on
the sponsor’s Notice of Assessment, issued by the Canada
Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA).
For
many countries of Southeast Asia (India, Singapore, Malaysia
and Taiwan to name a few), Citizenship and Immigration Canada
has initiated a new process or “joint application package”
in an effort to streamline Family Class sponsorships. The new
application package includes a sponsorship form, an immigrant
application form and a medical form. This sponsorship package
is only available to sponsors in Canada. With this process,
the sponsor sends
the application forms to the relative(s) abroad. The completed
application is returned to the sponsor with all supporting
documents. The sponsor will then submit the application to the
Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. To
further speed up processing, the sponsored relative(s) should
complete the medical examination before the application is
submitted to the Case Processing Centre. This new and
streamlined sponsorship process does not apply to children who
are to be adopted.
Citizenship
and Immigration Canada states that “half of the applications
submitted under this new process will be randomly selected for
appraisal in Canada”. The applications that are correctly
completed and free of complications will be processed to visa
issuance, within Canada. Applications deemed to require
personal interviews and/or clarifications will be forwarded to
the applicable overseas visa office, thus incurring a much
lengthier processing period. If you are unsure if your
application is properly completed, refer to your local
immigration professional for assistance; it may save you
months of unnecessary delay.
|
|
