Canadian Immigration News
Canada Puts Temporary Pause on Federal Skilled Worker and Investor VisasMonday, 2 July 2012
From July 1, 2012, the Canadian government will temporarily stop receiving new applications to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and federal Immigrant Investor Program (IIP), Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced on June 28, 2012.
The temporary pause on the FSWP and IIP is the latest step in re-designing the immigration system of the country. It will allow Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to make important changes to its economic immigration programs before accepting more applications. This step will help CIC get closer to a fast and flexible immigration system while immigration levels are at a historic high. According to Minister Kenney, this temporary pause on new Federal Skilled Worker applications would allow CIC to set the program on a new course as it intended to launch revised selection criteria soon. "The pause has no impact on the number of workers Canada admits into the country, as CIC continues to process applications already received. Current immigration remains at historically high levels," stated Kenney. The temporary pause on FSWP applications does not apply to candidates with offers of arranged employment or those applying under the PhD eligibility stream. CIC expects to start accepting new applications for FSWP in January 2013, when the proposed FSWP regulatory changes are expected to take effect. In the announcement, CIC also introduced a pause on new applications to the federal immigrant investor program. This pause allows CIC to make progress on processing its existing inventory and will remain in place until further notice. In an announcement made earlier in April, Minister Kenney said that there would be consultations between CIC and provinces, territories and stake holders on ways to reform the current IIP in order to maximize the economic benefit to Canada, and whether to create a new investor program on a short-term basis to promote growth of the Canadian economy. If you are interested in Immigration to Canada, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you. You can also try our visa eligibility assessment to see if you are eligible to apply for a visa to Canada |
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