CANADA IMMIGRATION OPTIONS: CITIZENSHIP, PERMANENT RESIDENCY & VISA

INTRODUCTION You have one day to go before your work holiday to Canada comes to a close. You really want to stay and set up shop in the beautiful North American country but you simply can’t. Reason? Your visa will expire in a few hours. You have no option but to jump on that plane back to home and regrettably so, you do just that. What a dilemma! The good news is, you can actually live and work in Canada for as long as you please. If you’ve been keen on following immigration news, you know Canada has been trending for all the right reasons. Just last year, it announced through its Immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen, that the country plans on taking in 1,080,000 new permanent residents (PR) between the years of 2019 and If you want to migrate to Canada, take advantage of this generosity while it lasts.announced Like any other country in the world, you can’t just show up in Canada without having the right documents that give you a right to stay there. Ideally, you need a visa, PR car, or citizenship. Here, we have explained each of them in detail but first…

TABLE OF CONTENTS  What Does Canada Have To Offer Skilled Immigrants, Businessmen, And Students? What Does Canada Have To Offer Skilled Immigrants, Businessmen, And Students  What Gives You Access To Canada? What Gives You Access To Canada  Temporary Visas Temporary Visas  Permanent Residency Permanent Residency  Canadian Citizenship Canadian Citizenship  Finally. Finally

WHAT DOES CANADA HAVE TO OFFER SKILLED IMMIGRANTS, BUSINESSMEN, AND STUDENTS? Canada is no doubt an ideal place to live and work not just for its beauty but its big heart for skilled workers, students, and businessmen. While all other third world countries are busy tightening their immigration rules to reduce immigration flows to their countries, Canada is opening its wings further to accommodate as many immigrants as possible. The three categories of immigrants Canada loves include the following:  Skilled Workers: There are thousands of employment opportunities for foreign skilled workers across Canadian provinces and industries. This has been largely contributed by the shortage of skilled workers in the country especially in engineering, the service sector, engineering, healthcare, and IT. The Canadian Federal Government has classified the skills in levels and invites workers to make applications through the Federal Skilled Worker branch of Express Entry and several other PNP avenues.Canadian Federal GovernmentExpress Entry

 Investors and Businessmen: To attract investment to the country, Canada also has tons of provisions for foreign businessmen and investors. Most of the successful immigrants through this avenue often receive permanent residency right from the start along with their families. However, the investors must make certain investments to Canada and meet basic criteria before being handed the PR card or business visas.  Students: Apart from skilled workers and businessmen, Canada also has opportunities for students looking to be a part of Canada’s world-class school system. Recently, the Canadian government promised to make immigration rules for student less stringent in the coming days to help students get citizenship and PR in Canada.

WHAT GIVES YOU ACCESS TO CANADA? Let’s talk about the visa, PR, and citizenship comprehensively: Visa A Canadian visa is what is given to most immigrants before they become permanent residents or naturalized citizens. They are grouped into two categories namely: Temporary Canadian Visas: These visas are given to immigrants to allow them to stay in Canada for a limited amount of time. The purposes range from working, studying, studying, visiting relatives, and tourism. Permanent Canadian Visas: These allow the holder to permanently relocate to Canada and be on a path to Canadian Citizenship. Here is a detailed description of each of the categories.

Temporary Visas As mentioned before, these allow the holder to stay in Canada for a specified amount of time as determined by the Canadian Consulate or the BSO. Temporary visas are valid up to 6 months and can be single entry or multiples entry. As the name suggests, single entry visas only allow the holder to visit Canada only once, for 6 months after which they will be required to go back home. Multiple entry visas, on the other hand, allows the holder to visit Canada as long as they please until the expiry of the visa. Under the temporary visa category, there are two types: a. Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) which has the following subcategories: Tourist Visa Courtesy Visa Diplomatic and Official Visa Facilitation Visa

Super Visa Business Persons and Business Delegations Visa Organ Donors Visa People hoping to give birth in Canada b. Other Temporary Visas Student Visa Temporary Foreign Workers Temporary Resident Permit Working Holiday Visa

Permanent Canadian Visas You apply for a permanent visa, also known as an immigrant visa if you want to permanently settle in Canada. Under this category, there are the following types: a.Express Entry Visas: This is an electronic immigration system that allows people from all nations to migrate to Canada based on their skills. The Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) are part of this program.Canadian Experience Class, Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP), Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) b.Business Immigrant Visa: This visa is given to businessmen and investors. The visas in this category include: Entrepreneur Program Self-employed Persons Program Immigrant Investor Program

c.Other Canadian Permanent Visas Quebec-Selected Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) Family-Sponsorship Program

Permanent residency A permanent residency card is the next best thing after a permanent Canadian Visa for many immigrants. a. Overview of the PR status In essence, if you have a PR card, you can enjoy almost all the rights enjoyed by Canadian citizens. These include the following: The right to work, study and live anywhere in Canada The right to apply for citizenship in Canada Right to protection under the Canadian law and the Canadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Access to the benefits enjoyed by Canadian Citizens including medical insurance

Along with all the benefits above, you must share in the responsibilities of any other Canadian citizen. These include abiding by Canadian laws and paying taxes. Obviously, you can’t cast political votes or run for office neither can you hold a certain high-level government position. In addition, Canadian permanent residents, cannot be given Canadian passports. If they wish to travel outside of Canada, they can use their passport from their citizenship country, Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD), or a valid PR card. b. Living outside of Canada as a PR Permanent residents can live and work outside of Canada as long as they have fulfilled the requirement that claims they must live in Canada for at least two years during a five-year period. However, if you stay too long outside of Canada, you can lose your PR status. There are only a few exceptions to this. One is being away on the grounds that you are accompanying a common-law partner, spouse, or partner who already has Canadian citizenship. The second one is if you are outside Canada on a work trip for a Canadian business

c. How to become a permanent resident in Canada There are five ways you can obtain a Canadian permanent residency. These have been grouped according to the various Canada immigration programs. Express Entry Category Canadian Experience Class Business Immigration Family Class Immigration Provincial Nominee Programs Before you apply for a Canadian PR, you should keep in mind that the validity of the PR card is usually 5 years. In certain circumstances, it can only be valid for one year instead. Also, although Canada sends out PR cards to addresses within the country, sometimes, you will be called in person to pick yours up at the Canadian government offices.

Canadian Citizenship The dream of virtually every immigrant to Canada if to finally become a neutralized Canadian citizen. Permanent residency is great but it must be maintained. You have to keep renewing your status every five years. Then there’s always the looming fact that you can easily lose your residency status at any time. a. Benefits of being a Canadian citizen In a nutshell, here are the benefits that Canadian citizens have over permanent residents: Voting rights Better protection in terms of losing their right to be in Canada. No matter how long, you have lived in Canada, you can be deported back to your country of citizenship is need be. A chance at having a Canadian passport Having one’s children born outside of Canada qualify as Canadian citizens by birth.

b. The application process As you might have guessed, applying for Canadian citizenship is anything but easy. You have to jump too many loops before the all-important document is placed on your hand. Some of the requirements of becoming a Canadian citizen include the following: Evidence of your ability to read and write in either English or French Have resided in Canada for at least 1,095 for the last five years before making the application Must be already a permanent resident (PR) Have your tax returns for a minimum of 3 years during the last 5 years without any income debt

c. Additional information There are a few things to know before making an application. These are: Unlike the United States, marrying a Canadian citizen doesn’t automatically make you a Canadian citizen. You cannot become a Canadian citizen if you are in prison, have recently served time, is on probation or parole, have been charged or convicted of a crime or serving a conditional sentence. Also if you have a deportation order, you cannot apply to become a neutralized Canadian citizen. In a nutshell, you can migrate to Canada via three different paths: visa, permanent residency, and citizenship. Often, you will begin with a visa then hopefully move to a PR status and if you are lucky enough, become a neutralized Canadian citizen. The last category lets you access all the benefits and rights of any other Canadian citizen by birth say for a few things like not being given a Canadian birth certificate. Permanent residents also enjoy quite a number of benefits except they can’t run for office or vote, be given a Canadian passport or work in high-security government jobs.

FINALLY Canada Immigration IntCanada Immigration Int. has been providing quality immigration services for over 15 years. Their immigration consultants in Toronto specialize in immigration law to ensure that needs are properly addressed, guaranteeing a hassle-free and enjoyable immigration to Canada.

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