Guys,
I feel the pain of all of those who are waiting. I cant believe its almost a year for some people. This sucks. Seriously, its way too much of us to stay at home and do nothing esp. most of us are working professionals and stuck here due to this immigration so-called "first stage approval".
I second you, US immigration system is so much faster and better as compare to Canadians. Canada should learn something from his sister country "US".
Missha, although I sympathize with you, I disagree in that the US immigration system is faster and better than the one here in Canada. That may be partially true in certain instances, but it is not true in all cases and most certainly not overall.
We in the US - I am a US citizen - "enjoy" a questionable immigration system whose much needed overhaul has failed to pass in Congress for many consecutively years, most notably during the failed attempts of 2006 and 2007. The old system that still prevails favors family reunification over other classes, making the largest portion of new immigrants, 65% to be more precise, the dominant entrant population in the country. This was a policy that made sense in the 80s during the Reagan era, but that in modern days, 30 years later, is faulty and inconvenient specially when considering the current economic crisis.
Canada, however, has no problem in tackling the issue with decisiveness and several times in a row if needed, as it happened in 2010 with Bill C-11, and will most likely repeat in the months to come according to Ministry Kenney. By the way, have you ever asked yourself why there is no Citizenship and Immigration Minister in the US? That`s right buddy, because immigration is NOT a federal priority there as it is here in Canada. About that, there is not only a clear Federal interest in bringing qualified newcomers, but there is also a similar and much more flexible formula at the Provincial level.
Furthermore, the Canadian system is undoubtedly better in that it encourages and facilitates the arrival of qualified immigrants, which makes up the largest percentage of new PRs in the country. By doing this the gov. not only guarantees that newcomers are productive and
contributing members of society, but also, and quite intelligently, helps reduce the steadily increasing decline of qualified labor because of the continuous retirement of baby-boomers.
Additionally, multiculturalism an immigration are social phenomenons widely accepted by Canadian society as positive to the economy and the social make up of the country, whereas in the US it is the absolute opposite. In Canada this has to do to a large extent with the many government-guided policies and regulations of a system that welcomes new immigrants, which does not happen in the US.
In terms of processing times, in the US family based sponsorships may take anything from 4 to 18 months, depending on the processing center where the petition is filed. For instance, Vermont today is working on I-485s received on July 2011, while Missouri is a total mystery and cases can take a long time to get finalized, not much different than Vegreville.
Immigration-wise the US has lots to learn from Canada, which does not mean that there are not many, many things Canadians could learn from Americans in a number of areas!!! That said, as an American citizen and Canadian resident - and very soon to become Canadian citizen - I am very much aware of the differences and advantages of living in either country, and have to admit that I am grateful with Canada for what it offers to newcomers like yourself and my wife, whom I successfully sponsored to become a Canadian resident.
Cheers
S.
P.S.: I still believe that there is no better city in the world than New York City, and plan to move back there sometime in the next 5 to 8 years. In the meantime, God bless Canada as much as the US, I say!!
Immigration Forum
