canadavisa.com

Think you don't qualify? Think again

October 29, 2009

Over the past few years, there has been a gradual but steady shift in the ways that people qualify for a Canadian permanent resident visa. More and more, the Canadian government is relying upon the 13 provinces and territories to come up with their own immigration strategies (Quebec and Provincial Nomination Programs), using selection criteria that best suit local interest. To counterbalance this change in direction, the Canadian government has stifled the national Federal Skilled Worker program by making it available only to individuals with work experience in a short list of 38 occupations or to people who have a Canadian job offer. So what we have now in Canada is an immigration selection system that resembles a patchwork quilt of more than 60 separate and distinct immigration programs that lead to Canadian permanent residence. Talk about confusion!

So, how do you find out which immigration program will work for you? Until now, there has been no one place that can match your qualifications against all the different immigration programs out there. Yes, you can do a self-assessment on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website but that will only tell you if you qualify under the Federal Skilled Worker program. What about the other 60 programs? Well, you can search through the websites of each province and territory, but what a tiresome task that would be.

Now, for the good news. We have just spent the better part of a year re-working our website, and we have just recently gone live with the new version. The centerpiece of the site is the unique free comprehensive assessment form. Complete it, submit it, and in less than a day you will have my response - a response, which has considered your specific background and qualifications against all of the 60-plus ways of coming to Canada.

It's about time.