“Too many live-in caregivers have completed their work obligations but must continue living in the home of their employer, waiting for their application for permanent residence to be reviewed,” said Kenney. “This is understandably frustrating. That’s why we have started issuing open work permits to live-in caregivers as soon as they have completed their obligations and submitted an application for permanent residence.”

Under the new procedures, a foreign caregiver can apply for permanent residence after 3,900 work hours, rather than after two years of work as a caregiver in Canada as required under the old system, ensuring overtime is appropriately recognized. The Live-in Caregiver Program allows Canadian families to hire workers from abroad to provide care to a child, an elderly person or an adult with disabilities when there is a demonstrated shortage of Canadians and permanent residents to fill available positions.

“The change I have announced today will help caregivers settle into their new life in Canada while they wait for their permanent resident applications to be processed,” Kenney added. “And with the significant improvements being made to our global case processing system, my department’s officers will be better able to manage the file load between Canada and missions abroad and improve the efficiency of that processing.”

In 2010, Canadian immigration admitted a record number of permanent residents through the Live-in Caregiver Class—nearly 14,000 in all— This is similar to the number of live-in caregivers who entered the country as temporary foreign workers in 2007.

The changes announced by Canadian immigration include:

• the elimination of the need for a second medical examination when the caregiver applies for permanent residence;
• increasing the amount of time a caregiver has to complete the required 3,900 hours for permanent residence from three years to four;
• the adoption of a standardized employment contract that ensures both parties agree to the salary, hours of work, vacation time, overtime, holidays, sick leave, and the terms of termination and resignation;
• defining the costs the employer is obliged to pay, including the caregiver’s travel expenses in coming to Canada, medical insurance, workplace safety insurance and third-party representative fees;
• emergency processing of work permits and employer authorizations to hire live-in caregivers who have been abused and need to leave their employment immediately; and
• an assessment of the genuineness of the job offer, as well as confirming the employer has sufficient financial resources to pay the wages of the caregiver and whether the accommodations being provided are adequate.

Global Visa Support offers several Canadian programs. Please visit our website for more information: http://globalvisasupport.com/canada.html

There will be no change in filing locations when submitting Form I-130 along with Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status. Individuals filing these forms together will continue to mail them to the Chicago Lockbox facility. Petitioners filing from overseas addresses in countries without USCIS offices will also continue to file at the Chicago Lockbox facility. Petitioners residing in a country with a USCIS office may send their I-130 forms to the Chicago Lockbox, or they may file their Forms I-130 at the international USCIS office having jurisdiction over the area where they live.”

Source: USCIS Website

The new rule applies to approximately 580 principal immigrant investors who had their Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur (I-526) approved between Jan. 1, 1995, and Aug. 31, 1998.  Their dependents are also covered.

The review was most likely prompted by calls from Australia’s education sector to make it easier for overseas students to gain entry; In recent years, Australia has seen a sharp decline in the number of international students applicants after stricter rules were put into place.

Applicants from 38 countries will benefit by not having to provide so much documentation in support of their student visa applications; It is likely that less documentation will need to be provided to show English language proficiency, financial capacity and academic qualifications.

“Prospective students and their families, agents and education providers should be aware that these changes will lower the minimum evidentiary requirements needed for the grant of a student visa for the selected countries and education sectors,” a DIAC spokesman said today.

DIAC was quick to point out that the changes only affect the requirements for initial entry as a foreign student — not the requirements to stay on in Australia as a permanent resident after studies are completed.

“While many international students apply for permanent residence when they complete their studies, this is an entirely separate process and there is no guarantee that, on the basis of having held a student visa, a person will meet the requirements to be granted permanent residence,” DIAC said.

DIAC warned potential applicants not to choose Australia solely based on their chances of obtaining a permanent skilled immigration visa in future.

“Students should not make educational choices solely on the basis of expecting to achieve a particular migration outcome, because the skilled migration program will continue to change and adapt to Australia’s economic needs,” the spokesman said.

270,499 student visas were granted during the 2009-10 Fiscal Year, with 382,710 student visa holders actually in the country as at 30 June 2010; 80,450 of these students were from India, 80,010 were from China and 21,720 were from South Korea.

The stricter requirement is an attempt by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to crack down on fraudulent marriages.

Under the new proposal, a spouse or partner from overseas who has been in a relationship with their Canadian partner for less than two years would only be granted conditional permanent residence.

If the overseas partner failed to stay in the relationship, or it can be shown that it is not a genuine relationship, conditional permanent residence could be revoked.

The United States, Britain and Australia already have similar laws in place.

The Canadian government has also proposed to introduce a “sponsorship bar”. This would prevent those who gained entry to Canada themselves as sponsored partners and spouses from sponsoring a new partner for five years.

The new rules, which take effect in April 2011, would allow people who invest at least 5 million to settle (indefinite leave to remain) in Britain after three years. Those who invest at least 10 million will be able to settle after two years. Normally, people must live in the UK lawfully for five years to attain settlement.

Immigration minister Damian Green also announced a new visa which will allow an investor or entrepreneur with 50,000 of funding from a reputable organisation in a “high potential” business to come to the UK. The usual entrepreneur visa requires that an applicant already has 200,000 available to invest in the UK.

There will also be a new visitor visa for prospective entrepreneurs. This will allow you to enter the UK to secure funding, and make arrangements to start your business; You will then be able to apply for a full entrepreneur visa that will allow you to live in the UK on a long term basis.

Entrepreneurs in the UK will also be able to gain permanent residence more quickly by creating 10 jobs or by turning over 5 million pounds over a three-year period.

It remains to be seen how successful these changes in the immigration rules will be in practice. Only one thousand of these new visas will be available. Very few people in the World have GBP5 Million to invest anyway. Probably a number of businessmen will employ at least ten people in their new business in the UK in the first three years; These people may turn out to be the main beneficiaries of the changes.

Other Countries are also taking steps to encourage entrepreneur immigration. The US has announced legislation which if enacted will create a new “E-6″ or “StartUp” visa, to attract foreign-born entrepreneurs to the US.

A good immigration attorney should know how to obtain a waiver for his or her client from deportation when the client has been unfortunate enough to be convicted of a crime. Even though a client may be deportable based on the criminal conviction, qualifying lawful permanent residents (LPR) may be eligible for the LPR cancellation of removal waiver (INA 240A(a)), and keep their LPR status. The time to apply for this waiver is when you are in removal proceedings. The Immigration Judge has the discretion to deny the waiver even if the client meets the statutory requirements.

Here’s the statutory test: removal may be canceled if the alien—(1) has been an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence for not less than 5 years; (2) has resided in the US continuously for 7 years after having been admitted in any status; and, (3) has not been convicted of any aggravated felony.

Assuming the first two requirements are not at issue, the key issue is whether the conviction qualifies as an “aggravated felony” as defined by the federal immigration statute, INA 1101(a)(a)(43). It is crucial to understand that many misdemeanors are “aggravated felonies” under immigration law and not all felonies are “aggravated felonies.” If you are shopping for an immigration lawyer and he or she does not know this, do not even think about hiring that attorney.

When an immigration attorney analyzes your conviction, there is no substitute for a close reading of the statutory definition and current court decisions, as offenses are reclassified frequently by federal appeals courts. They are not all obvious; in fact, sometimes even clients that have served long prison sentences may still be eligible for cancellation of removal. Some of the more popular aggravated felonies are crimes of violence, theft offenses, and fraud. Some of the offenses listed in the statute specify monetary amounts of funds stolen, the term of imprisonment served, or, the term of imprisonment that the offense is punishable by—notice the distinction here. Also, a good immigration attorney will consider the possibility of reopening a client’s criminal court case, as any changes will be binding on the Immigration Court.

Now, just because you pass the aggravated felony test does not mean you are safe from deportation due to a criminal conviction. Coming up, I will discuss how to tell if a conviction qualifies as a “crime involving moral turpitude,” which can also be grounds for deportation of an LPR.

In the case of an immigrant living abroad who is married to a U.S. citizen there are two possible routes to getting a green card. First, the traditional method is for the U.S. citizen spouse to file the visa petition (I-130) with USCIS. Assuming USCIS approves the petition, the immigrant will go through consular processing abroad. Hopefully, the immigrant spouse will be approved for the visa, which he or she must use within 6 months to go to the U.S. and claim permanent residence, or conditional residence. This process typically takes at least a year.

Second, there is an alternative, more expensive option that is sometimes faster, depending on the speed of the particular USCIS processing office. (You should consult with an immigration attorney in making this decision.) The U.S. citizen spouse can send in the visa petition to USCIS and once he or she receives a receipt notice from USCIS, the U.S. citizen spouse can file a separate fiancé visa petition (Form I-129F). Yes, you read that right. A fiancé visa petition, even though you are already married. Once USCIS approves the fiancé petition, the immigrant spouse then proceeds through the consular processing system abroad. At the consular interview, the consulate will hopefully approve the immigrant for a fiancé visa (K-3). The immigrant spouse can travel to the U.S. using the K-3 and once in the U.S. can file for adjustment of status with USCIS. Following what will be at least several months of waiting, both spouses will attend an interview and hopefully the immigrant will be approved for permanent residence. Whichever route you decide to take, an experienced immigration lawyer can guide you through the process and minimize administrative delays.

Stay tuned for my next article, which will cover how to obtain a green card for an immigrant living in the U.S. who is married to a U.S. LPR, and for an immigrant living abroad who is married to a U.S. LPR.