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Prashant
Ajmera & Associates |
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Are
you without status in the USA? There
is no doubt that USA has remained the most favored destination for most
immigrants who wish to settle out side their home country. This is
substantiated by the fact that USA has the largest number people living
without status in the country. People from all walks of life and
background live in the USA. Many of these applicants have no options
available to them to obtain any kind of visa to stay legally in USA and
they look at Canada as a viable option. Under
the old Canadian immigration regulations (before 28th June
2002), there was no provision regarding who could apply and who could
not apply for immigration visa to Canada at a specific visa post.
Individuals living in India applied for their immigrant visa at visa
posts in other countries in order to reduce the processing time. In
1994-95 many offices rejected immigration applications and asked the
applicants to apply for immigration at the visa post in their home
country. In response to this, a few applicants filed a court case
against the immigration department in 1995-96 and the federal court
decided that there was no provision in the old regulations or Act that
permitted any visa office to refuse processing the application of an
individual who did not live in the geographical jurisdiction of the
particular visa office. Thus
under the old rules applicants could apply for an immigrant visa at any
Canadian immigration visa post worldwide. The old regulations also
allowed transfer of applications from one visa post to the other. However,
allowing the applicant to apply for an immigration visa at any visa post
resulted in the backlog of applications at some posts that were small
with only one or two visa officers. For example: Colombo, Sri Lanka is a
small office with 2-3 officers and in 1998-1999 visa processing time was
only 4 months. The prolonged processing time at the Canadian High
Commission in Delhi (2-3 years) encouraged applicants to file their
applications in Colombo. Consequently, within a few months, the
processing time at Colombo was increased to 2-3 years.
The
old regulations created another problem for visa officers. The visa
officers may not aware of the documentation and education system of
every applicant’s home country and this results in procedural delay as
the officer is required to contact concern visa post for the
clarification of issues on a file by file basis. Considering
the above problems, the Canadian immigration department formulated very
specific regulations in the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
and Regulation of 2002, which came in to force on 28th June
2002. Section
11 of the Immigration and Refugees Protection Regulation (IRPR) provides
as follows: 11.
(1) An application for a permanent resident visa -- other than an
application for a permanent resident visa made under Part 8 -- must be
made to the immigration office that serves - (a)
The country where the applicant is residing, if the applicant has been
lawfully admitted to that country for a period of at least one year; or (b)
The applicant's country of nationality or, if the applicant is
stateless, their country of habitual residence other than a country in
which they are residing without having been lawfully admitted. Place
of application for temporary resident visa, work permit or study permit: (2)
An application for a temporary resident visa -- or an application for a
work permit or study permit that under these Regulations must be made
outside of Canada -- must be made to the immigration office that serves
- (a)
The country in which the applicant is present and has been lawfully
admitted; or (b)
The applicant's country of nationality or, if the applicant is
stateless, their country of habitual residence other than a country in
which they are residing without having been lawfully admitted. Based
on the interpretation of the above regulations and interpretation
provided by the visa office for making an application for permanent
immigration to Canada, any person who is residing in USA without status
may be eligible to apply for immigration to Canada at the Canadian
consulate office in USA.
For More
Information about Canada immigration Please Contact : |
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