Filipiniana News
– January 2019
By
Maria Deanna P. Santos
Reopening
of Interest to Sponsor Form for Parents/Grandparents
Instead of the previously anticipated early January 2019
launch, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that
the reopening of the parent/grandparent sponsorship program will occur at noon
(EST) on 28 January 2019.
As in the previous years, prospective sponsors may express
their interest to sponsor their parents and grandparents by accessing the
online form and providing the required basic personal information including
dates of birth, contact information and immigration status in Canada. The sponsor will also need to upload a copy
of their status-in-Canada document and must ensure that they meet the minimum
necessary income requirement to sponsor.
IRCC will close the online interest to sponsor form after a specified
number of confirmed interest to sponsor forms are received.
Unlike in previous years when those invited to apply were
drawn by lottery, the IRCC will issue the invitations this year on a first
come, first served basis, until the cap of 20,000 applications is reached. If the prospective sponsor receives a
confirmation number after completing an interest to sponsor form but was not
invited to apply, their confirmation number will be kept for consideration in
the following year. Submitting multiple forms
will not help increase the sponsor’s chances as duplicate entries will be
deleted.
Once invited, the prospective sponsors will have 60 days
within which to submit the complete sponsorship and permanent residence
application package to IRCC.
Although the new online system might sound simple and straightforward,
possible issues may still arise if the interest to sponsor forms are not
properly completed and/or will later conflict with the submitted sponsorship
application package. It is thus very
important that the initial interest to sponsor form is done correctly to avoid unnecessary
complications later, or even a disappointing refusal.
Biometrics
Requirement Expanded
For Canadian immigration purposes, "biometrics"
refers to the electronic fingerprints and facial photo collected from visa
applicants to help "maintain the integrity of the system" and "ensure the safety and security of
Canadians."
In 2013, Canada
began requiring biometrics from temporary resident visa applicants (visitor,
student or worker) from 29 countries and one territory. On 31 July 2018, the requirement was
expanded to include applicants from Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Starting 31
December 2018, the biometrics requirement had also been imposed on applicants
from Asia, Asia Pacific and the
Americas, when applying for a visitor visa, study or work permit.
Most applicants
will need to go to a visa application centre (VAC) in person to provide their
biometrics before being granted a visa to enter Canada.
According to IRCC,
"Having biometrics makes it easier
for immigration and border services officers to stop individuals who pose a
risk to the safety and security of Canadians.
It also helps officials verify travellers' identities, makes processing
applications easier and simplifies entry for legitimate travellers."
To help ease
the burden on frequent travelers, temporary resident visa applicants (to visit,
work or study) will only need to give their biometrics once every ten
years.
The IRCC is
also working with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to ensure the protection of biometrics and other personal
information which are collected from the visa applicants.
Excessive Demand Threshold Increased
Meanwhile, a
recent significant change in Canada's immigration policy which took effect on 1
June 2018 is expected to benefit even more prospective immigrants this
year. This change had been a boon to
many prospective immigrants who were likely to have been refused in the past if
they or their dependents have a medical condition which may potentially cause
an excessive demand on Canada's health and social services.
The tripling of
the annual cost threshold and removal of certain social services (such as
special education, rehabilitation and vocational services) from the computation
have led to more inclusive and fair decisions in recent permanent residence
applications. That is, minor
disabilities or chronic medical conditions which may have led in the past to a
finding of medical inadmissibility due to excessive demand, are now being
granted permanent residence to Canada.
Since the
annual cost threshold increases every year, it is expected that even more
applicants will benefit from this more generous assessment of medical admissibility
in Canadian immigration law and policy. Starting 2019, the annual cost threshold for
determining whether a permanent residence applicant will cause an excessive
demand on health and social services had been increased to $20,517 per
year (or three times the new average Canadian per capita health and social
services cost of $6,839). Last year's
annual cost threshold was $19,812 (or 3 times the 2018 per capita cost of
$6,604).
Like the PGP
sponsorship process, this positive development should not lead to complacency
from permanent residence applicants who may be affected due to potential medical
issues. With the now more generous
medical admissibility policy, applicants should not be misled into thinking
that fulsome submissions are not anymore needed in responding to procedural
fairness letters (PFLs). Since
immigration applications are subject to a high level of discretion and
subjectivity, it is still important to
ensure that submissions are adequately and properly documented to avoid a
refusal or at least have a good foundation for judicial review.
As always, the above are meant for
information purposes only and not as specific legal advice. Each case is unique and is best discussed in
detail with a qualified, experienced and trusted immigration legal counsel to
increase the chances of success.
The author is a Filipino-Canadian
immigration lawyer and may be reached at deanna@santoslaw.ca
or tel. no. 416-901-8497.
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