“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

In 2012, Canadian immigration plans to accept 55,000–57,000 Federal Skilled Workers, which is up from 47,000–47,400 in 2011. The Canadian government stressed that these additional numbers will help meet market demand, as well as reduce the backlog of applicants for the skilled worker immigration program from previous years.

The Federal Skilled Worker Program is Canada’s most popular immigration route for immigrants to obtain permanent residency. Under this program, potential candidates are awarded points for their ability to adapt and contribute to Canada’s economic development. In order to be eligible you must either:

• have a job offer with an eligible employer;
• have been legally residing in Canada for at least one year as a temporary foreign worker or an international student; or

• be a skilled worker with at least one year of experience in one or more eligible Canadian skilled occupations within the last ten years.

In a recent speech, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney expressed his optimism about the program and about Canadian immigration, “The government’s number one priority remains the economy. We recognize the importance of immigration to our labour market and we value the contributions of skilled immigrants who add to our international competitiveness.”

Canadian immigration completed an extensive review of the Federal Skilled Worker Program in 2010, which seemed to suggest that the program was working well and was leading to the selection of immigrants who perform well economically. The report also found that 89 percent of Federal Skilled Workers were employed or self-employed three years after landing in Canada. This would appear to suggest a strong continuing need for skilled immigrants in Canada.

“CIC will continue to ramp up efforts to modernize our immigration system to make it more nimble and responsive to labour market needs,” said Kenney.

Global Visa Support will be happy to assist you with your application for Canada.

According to the press release by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada’s Experience Visa, created in 2008, is one of Canada’s most recent programs aimed at ensuring Canada retains a skilled work force “and motivated individuals who have demonstrated a strong work ethic, have an ability to contribute to the economy, and will easily integrate into Canadian life”.

In order to be eligible for the visa class, applicants must be either: a temporary foreign worker with at least two years of full-time skilled work experience in Canada, or a foreign graduate from a Canadian post-secondary institution with at least one year of full-time skilled work experience in Canada. Applicants must be fluent in English or French and apply while working in Canada or within one year of leaving their job in Canada.

Before the program was created, highly skilled foreigners could not become permanent residents from within Canada. “We’d tell them to leave the country because their temporary foreign work permit or student visa had expired” after they’d completed two years of contract work here or obtained a degree at a Canadian university,” Kenney recalled.

Kenney expects the number of candidates for Canada’s Experience Visa to rise to 7,000 in 2012, up from 2,545 in 2009. Last week, Canada welcomed its 10,000th permanent resident who came in through this stream since its inception in 2008. It is currently Canada’s fastest-growing immigration program.

Canada has continued to admit an average of 254,000 immigrants each year.

“We’re maintaining the highest per capita levels of total immigration in the developed world, with, I think, the sole exception of New Zealand,” said Kenney.

“The CEC and the PhD initiative represent what we hope is the future of immigration to Canada: bright young people who have a Canadian education or work experience that will be recognized by Canadian employers, and who have strong English or French language skills,” said Kenney. “Such newcomers are set for success.”
Global Visa Support can help you to enter Canada under our Canada: Study-Migrate program.

A K1 visa is generally applied for a fiancé visa which is non immigrant visa but it allows the person to enter into the country to marry. After marring each other, an application is made for the status for permanent residence. Obtaining the K1 visa i.e. the fiancé visa is a multi – step process. Firstly the citizen of any country files a formal written request for his permanent residency and immigration services. Once that approval is received by the local Government, the foreign fiancé will file a case and will give an additional documentation to the local embassy, take all the medical exams and the visa interviews for the same.

This service is forwarded to the National Visa centre for processing and then after approval is collected by beneficiary’s embassy. Fiancé visa is generally issued for the period of six months and is issued for the purpose of travelling in order to get married. People who wanted to apply for this type of immigration service must be 21 years of age or above, and the partner should also be permanently and well settled there. And only after the marriage the partner can go for the permanent residence there.

Today there is high anxiety level regarding the Fiance Visas. Many of the people find this way better and the easiest one in order to get settled in any of the foreign country. One can also contact the immigration experts for these visas. The petitions filed for these types of visas are quickly and accurately solved.    

In order to achieve this goal, a Green Card or a permanent residency will be right away available to any foreign student having an advanced degree from any U.S. college/institute of higher education. Vocational student are mostly in a field of technology, science, industrial, or mathematics. India has the most number of students in these fields. They have an offer of service from a U.S. employer in a field associated to their degree after they graduate.

There is a lot of foreign immigration which are illegal although they are highly motivated and experienced worker. They are asset to the American company. The new regulation proposes to limit the present family-based immigration system that a lot of Indians prefer to join their families who live and has an occupation in the US. Simultaneously, they have planning to tighten of rules for H1B and L1 visas, which are the two most well-liked among Indian skill professionals.

Skilled labour is a must for expansion of any country.  India has a lot of skilled workers. Most people want to stay in US because of superior opportunities and extra income. For the permanent settlement for Indians in US, there is a need to get a permanent ticket to be in US permanently. This ticket is known as green card. They are recognized by the employers in US.

President Barack Obama has also called for a complete immigration modification and recognized this as one of his top priorities to the country benefits. This is to prevent the loss of American jobs to illegal foreign labour workers.

Here we will focus on first type of settlement that is the sponsorship by a family member.

The following is the whole process to get a sponsorship:

1. The sponsor must be a U.S citizen or a lawful permanent resident of U.S and can provide document to prove the status of relationship and background.
2. The family member must be a close one and the allowed sponsors can be: Spouse, Unmarried child under 21 years old, unmarried son or daughter over 21 years old, married son or daughter of any age, brother or sister or mother or father if the sponsor is at least 21 years old.
3. The sponsor must be completely willing and he has to file a petition filling up an I-130 form.
4. The sponsor must be capable of supporting the family members and can provide resources that will bring the whole family 125% above the poverty line.
5. After this I-485 is filled this is the final step to get green card.

To get a sponsorship and green card from the sponsorship of the employer:

1. Employer must determine that the person is eligible for lawful permanent residency.
2. A labour certificate must be issued mentioning that no skilful labour is available in US for the same purpose so labour has to be hired globally.
3. If the labour certificate is issued than the petitioner can file I-140 form along with I-485 form which is the ultimate step to get a green card.
4. Immigrant visa number is issued and priority date is checked.
5. If priority is current then the resident in US can change his status to lawful permanent resident or if he is abroad then he files for immigration in embassy.

The green card holds the foreign national’s photograph, signature and a fingerprint. This card also allows the holder to travel anywhere across the world and to return as long as primary residence in the U.S. is maintained. These cards can also be obtained through close family relations, employers etc. Visas are always available for the immediate family members of United Nations citizenship (spouse, parent and a minor child).

Green Card also refers to an immigration process of becoming a permanent resident, it serves as a proof of the holder that he or she is officially granted to reside and take employment in United States. One can apply for his or her green card after five years of his residency in the U.S. this period is also shortened to three years if Married to a U.S. citizen, or four years if permanent residency is received through asylum.  The process of obtaining a green card can be time consuming and complicated. Not all the foreign individuals are eligible to work in United States but if you are having the green card then no one can stop you working in U.S. Don’t create the impression that you are not living in the United States once you have obtained the green card. If you leave the United States for too long, you may lose your green card also.

Recent changes in the United States visa policy and procedures have increased the amount of time it can take to obtain a U.S. green card. Several steps have been taken by the immigration authorities to reduce delays and speed up green card processing. Mostly, the immigration authorities’ intention is to deliver the green card within one month from the time of application. Sometimes it may take less time and sometimes longer.

Diversity visa lottery is also popularly known as Green card Lottery that puts certain requirement before an individual applicant before his/her permanent residency is approved. One such requirement is that person winning the Diversity visa lottery should be able to present his/her confirmation page information. The information required by winner for Green card lottery can be easily obtained from websites. The only constrained is that information available is up to June 30, 2010.

All winning candidate of the diversity visa lottery received notifications and results through individual mails at their mailing address. Normally the winner receives mails between the period of May and June. All notification is done through official government letters and emails are no way used for such notifications. Official government letters holds seal of U.S Department of state Kentucky consular centre. This letter contains the necessary details and direction that helps in supplementing other requirements. Applicants are informed about the other important forms or documents and fees of immigrant application that has to be handed over.

Between the months of October to September, winners of Lottery for green card are issued Visas. It is very important for applicants to obtain their diversity visa or modify status before the end of current fiscal year.

All those who were not lucky enough to qualify for the green cards would not be given any sort of regret notification. For all those unlucky applicants, the E-DV website is now available which helps them in assessing their status online.

So, who all are interested for lottery for Green card, the application process will open on October, 2010. Get ready with your document because you never know you may be the lucky one out of fifty five thousand.

Primarily there are two ways by which you might become a citizen of the United States.

Birth – If you are born within the territorial boundary of the United States or, if you are born of an American parent, who already holds the American citizenship.

Naturalization – Naturalization refers to the process, where in you approach the United States government with a citizenship request, as per the policies laid down by the federal government.

Being a Citizen of the United States would bring in a bagful of rights for you. The same has been briefly discussed about here to give you an idea of the same.

Rights of an US Citizen

Voting – As a citizen of the United States you would have the right to cast your vote in the federal elections, and you would be able to exercise your choice in choosing the next president of the United States of America.

Serve as Jury – As a citizen you would have the privilege to serve as the jury, and you would have your liberty to pronounce a person guilty or not guilty in a trial in any of the federal courts where you would be invited for being present in the trial and there after expressing your opinion.

Invite to United States – As a Citizen you would have the right to invite your family members to the United States of America, who till date have been staying in some different country. You would also have the liberty to file a request for their permanent residency with you.

Obtain Citizenship – In case your children are born in a different country other than the United States you would be allowed to obtain a citizenship for them.

US Passport – Being a citizen of the United States of America would mean that you would be eligible to get an American passport and you would be allowed to travel with the same all over the world.

Work for Federal offices – As a citizen you would be allowed to apply for a federal job opening.

Grant Eligibility – You would be eligible for obtaining the benefits of the federal grants and the scholarships.