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65,000 visa applications from Punjab in limbo
There is a great deal of apprehension in India, especial from in the state of Punjab, among people who have applied for Permanent Residency status in Canada as well as potential applicants.
"Thousands of applicants from Punjab and other states of India who had applied under the FSWP before February 2008, now find themselves worried because the old waiting list has been eliminated as the Canadian government gears up to launch its new system," says Rakesh Garg, a Delhi-based lawyer, who had applied along with his family in February 2005, according to a report in Economic Times.
Canada's new federal skilled worker programme (FSWP) is set to kick off later this year. This will have a huge impact on applications from India. India sends the third-highest number of immigrants to Canada, the paper said.
Currently the FSWP, which will provide a pathway for thousands of skilled immigrants from India to move to Canada, is on hold and closed for applications.
Canada's minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, who was recently in India, believes that the changes to the immigration programme, under which 57,296 people were admitted to Canada in 2011, are geared towards linking economic growth of his country to providing the right kind of opportunities for skilled immigrants.
"We don't want skilled people from India getting to Canada and then finding themselves unemployed or underemployed. The changes to FSWP, which are in line with similar programmes in Australia and New Zealand, will ensure that we can select immigrants based on labour shortages that the Canadian economy is facing," Kenney told ET Magazine.
Under the new system, potential skilled immigrants will be linked to jobs through a portal under an "expression of interest" format. According to Kenney the system will empower employers in Canada as well as applicants for permanent residence (PR), since they would reach Canada with a pre-arranged job.
He is, however, still not able to estimate whether the new system will affect the number of immigrants to Canada under the economic categories.
"Since we have not set any quotas for the number of permanent residents that we admit each year, skilled migrants will still have an edge. Last year there were about 30,000 Indians who were granted permanent residence in Canada, a figure which is among the highest globally," Kenney said.
Garg, a Delhi-based lawyer, who had applied along with his family in February 2005 told the Economic Times he had paid over Rs 2 lakh about (C$6,000) as application and processing fees. Besides, he had put all other plans on hold because he was sure of being granted PR in Canada in due course. Recently, applications such as his have been cancelled and they are unable to view the status online. This is part of the Canadian government's effort to streamline the skilled immigration system and eliminate all backlog.
In March 2012, Garg, along with some others who faced similar issues formed an organisation called the Backloggers Pre-2008 Association. Currently, Backloggers has around 1,500 members in India. About 65,000 applications under the skilled migration category, which are pending, are from Punjab, according to estimates.
There are also apprehensions among potential skilled applicants in India over the new credential assessment process, which is similar to the Australian general skilled-immigration assessment. Under the new rules, Canadian professional institutions will have the responsibility of assessing the professional qualifications of skilled Indian applicants.
Legal Action
"We have sent thousands of email petitions to the prime minister of Canada which have gone unanswered," says Garg. In India, the organisation has approached minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur, leader of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj, deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal and NRI affairs minister of Punjab Bikramjit Singh Majithia, to take up the matter with the Canadian government.
Members of Backloggers also met representatives of Kenney's delegation recently. Besides, there are over 300 legal suits filed in Canada by people from India to appeal against the Canadian government's decision to cancel the applications.
Currently, the legal cases are under judicial review.
Tim Leahy, a Toronto-based lawyer, who is spearheading the legal action, feels that the decision to abolish all pre-existing files is unjustified. "If Kenney had closed intake and maintained the 2011 processing standard, he would have eliminated the backlog in 34 months," he told ET Magazine.
In his opinion, the Canadian government's claim of a backlog of 300,000 applicants is largely exaggerated. "Besides, four of the eight years' backlog is the result of the government's queue-jumping processing policy. Had the files been processed on the basis of the 2009 processing standard, there would have been no backlog," he said.
The New Federal Skilled Worker Program
The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) selects immigrants based on their ability to succeed economically in Canada. It measures applicants using a selection grid worth up to 100 points. The current pass mark is 67. Each applicant is awarded points for official language ability, age, education, work experience, employment already arranged in Canada, and adaptability (such as previous work experience or education acquired in Canada).
What has changed and why:
LANGUAGE: Requiring a minimum level of language proficiency (28 points max.)
Canadian and international research has consistently shown that language proficiency is the single most important factor in gaining better rates of employment, appropriate employment and higher earnings.
AGE: More emphasis on younger workers (12 points max.)
Studies show that younger immigrants integrate more rapidly into the labour market and spend a greater number of years contributing to Canada’s economy. The revised selection grid benefits younger immigrants by awarding a maximum of 12 points up to age 35, with diminishing points awarded from 35 to age 46. There will be no points given after age 46; however, workers aged 47 or older will continue to be eligible for the Program.
EDUCATION: New Educational Credential Assessment (25 points max.)
Previously, points were awarded based on the applicant’s educational credentials in their home country and the years of education required to obtain the credential. This did not take into account its comparative value when assessed against Canadian educational credentials.
The new regulations require a mandatory assessment of foreign educational credentials to determine their equivalency to a completed educational credential in Canada. This also helps to screen out fraudulent credentials, as CIC will not accept those that are not equivalent to a completed Canadian educational credential. In summary, education points will be awarded based on the value of the educational credentials in Canada.
WORK EXPERIENCE: Redirecting points to other factors (15 points max.)
Foreign work experience is a weak predictor of success in the Canadian labour market. As a result, CIC is reducing the total number of points for work experience from 21 to 15, and increasing the years of experience required to get full points.
ARRANGED EMPLOYMENT: Streamlining the process and reducing the potential for fraudulent job offers (10 points max.)
The FSWP evaluation showed that people who immigrate with a valid job offer do very well in Canada, earning 79% more in the first three years after arrival than people without arranged employment. However, a more rigorous up-front assessment of the employer and job offer is needed to curb the potential for fraud.
ADAPTABILITY: Changes to reflect factors that help promote integration (10 points max.)
CIC is proposing changes to the adaptability criteria to emphasize factors that are shown to have a positive impact on an immigrant and their family’s integration.
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