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Prashant
Ajmera & Associates |
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Dual
assessment of old applications offers a ray of hope to old applicants
under the independent and business class,
Certain applicants can reopen their file. The new Immigration and Refugee
Protection Act (IRPA) came into effect on 28th June 2002 in
Canada. This act included many transitional rules that determined the
processing of immigrant applicants and the selection criteria to be
applied to these applications. These transitional rules were very
restrictive and the selection criteria applied under these rules were
very stringent. There was much protest within and
outside Canada from applicants, lawyers, consultants and others against
this new Act since their personal and professional future was threatened
by these new transitional rules. It was very unfair that these strict
rules would apply to applications that were submitted when immigration
policy was more open and selection criteria more favorable. Yielding to the pressure, on 1st
December 2003, the immigration department amended these transitional
rules to respond to the needs of those applicants who had applied for
immigration to Canada under the old immigration regulation. The new changes allowed applicants
under the skilled worker and business immigration classes, who applied
before 1st January 2002 to be assessed under the selection
criteria of the former (old) regulations. The government further announced
that these applicants (skilled workers, self-employed persons, investors
and entrepreneurs) would have the advantage of dual assessment. Dual
assessment means that applicants who applied before 1st
January 2002 would be assessed under the old as well as the new
selection criteria and the outcome of the application would be decided
based on the selection criteria that was most favourable to their
application. Simply put, if an applicant is
assessed using one set of selection criteria (say old) and the result is
not positive, he/she will be automatically assessed using the selection
criteria of the other regulations (new). Applicants who have applied for
immigration to Canada under the Provincial Nominee Programs and to the
Province of Quebec cannot benefit from this dual assessment. Who can benefit from dual
assessment? The government says that the
following groups will automatically receive a dual assessment:
The following groups must reapply before January 1,
2005 to receive the benefit of a dual assessment:
The government has also determined
that there will not be any charge to benefit from the dual assessment,
except under certain circumstances. The immigration department is
trying sense of uncertainty that many applicants felt when the new
regulations were introduced in June 2002. The largely negative response
to these new regulations in form of litigations, court cases and class
action suits pressurized the government to change its unfair tactics
that would jeopardize the future of thousands of applicants who wished
to make Canada their new home. The immigration department also realized that the selection criteria under the new regulations made it very difficult for most people to qualify for immigration to Canada and Canada would no longer be the favoured destination of new immigrants if this were to continue.
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