There have been lots of questions regarding what rules are applicable. Given that there have been several changes in recent months to the instructions, confusion seems to be increasing.
As context and a reference guide, there's been 4 distinct applicant periods this year, each with their own twist to the rules:
* Pre-April 10 2010 applicants: 38 NOC codes, simplified application still in effect, applicants had 120 days to submit all documents to their visa office once the application had been reviewed by the CIO and referred to the Visa Office. Maaties' thread at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/faq-t13225.0.html covers the post 2008 to pre-April 10 2010 process.
* April 10 2010 – per announcement on March 10 2010, Proof of Language ability had to be sent to the CIO at the time of initial application (test results or written submission) (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-03-10.asp)
* June 26 2010 – new Ministerial Instructions issued defining 29 NOC codes in demand as a result of which several instructions changed in significant ways – summarized in the first post of this thread @ http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/important-need-to-send-all-documents-to-the-cio-now-not-visa-office-t45808.0.html;msg331057#msg331057 (including: all documents in the Visa Office checklist had to be sent to the CIO, all applicants had to submit language test results to the CIO)
* August 4 2010 – new FSW applicant instructions (IMM EG7000) and operational manual (OP6) issued with several changes (e.g., EG7000 indicates Police Certificates should NOT be sent to the CIO and instead to the Visa Office and must be issued 3 months prior to receipt by the Visa Office, applicants need to rank NOCs they qualify under in preferential order, PCCs have 1 year stated validity). There's a specific discussion at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t49610.0.html
Please pay careful attention to what information is actually relevant for your case (as you always should, of course). Hopefully the structure above helps folks understand some of the history, where they fit in, why information seems to be changing so fast and where to find sources with the most relevant information for their application period.
As context and a reference guide, there's been 4 distinct applicant periods this year, each with their own twist to the rules:
* Pre-April 10 2010 applicants: 38 NOC codes, simplified application still in effect, applicants had 120 days to submit all documents to their visa office once the application had been reviewed by the CIO and referred to the Visa Office. Maaties' thread at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/faq-t13225.0.html covers the post 2008 to pre-April 10 2010 process.
* April 10 2010 – per announcement on March 10 2010, Proof of Language ability had to be sent to the CIO at the time of initial application (test results or written submission) (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-03-10.asp)
* June 26 2010 – new Ministerial Instructions issued defining 29 NOC codes in demand as a result of which several instructions changed in significant ways – summarized in the first post of this thread @ http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/important-need-to-send-all-documents-to-the-cio-now-not-visa-office-t45808.0.html;msg331057#msg331057 (including: all documents in the Visa Office checklist had to be sent to the CIO, all applicants had to submit language test results to the CIO)
* August 4 2010 – new FSW applicant instructions (IMM EG7000) and operational manual (OP6) issued with several changes (e.g., EG7000 indicates Police Certificates should NOT be sent to the CIO and instead to the Visa Office and must be issued 3 months prior to receipt by the Visa Office, applicants need to rank NOCs they qualify under in preferential order, PCCs have 1 year stated validity). There's a specific discussion at http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t49610.0.html
Please pay careful attention to what information is actually relevant for your case (as you always should, of course). Hopefully the structure above helps folks understand some of the history, where they fit in, why information seems to be changing so fast and where to find sources with the most relevant information for their application period.
