RHYME & REASON

Filipiniana News   -   May 2018 After 40 years, the Canadian immigration policy on medical admissibility due to "excessive demand" had recently been updated to "strike a balance between protecting publicly funded health and social services" and becoming more consistent with "current views on the inclusion of persons with disabilities."   These changes, which are expected to take effect on 1 June 2018, consist of the following:   1. increasing the cost threshold for medical inadmissibility to three times the previous level;   2.   amending the definition of social services by removing references to special education, social and vocational rehabilitation services and personal support services; and 3.   implementing administrative reforms such as providing further training to immigration and medical officers, centralizing medical admissibility assessment in one office and improving language that will explain the process to applicants. ...

Filipiniana News   -   April 2018 Legal temporary residents of Canada are those who have valid status as students, workers or visitors.   With the ever changing state of Canada’s immigration laws and regulations, many temporary residents may inadvertently lose their status due to ignorance, misinformation or even carelessness.   Those who have lost their status are understandably fearful of being removed anytime soon and thrown on the next flight back to their home country.   However, misconceptions about the removal process abound and are misleading even temporary residents who may still have valid status in Canada.   There are those who initially came to Canada as visitors, workers or students whose initial permits may have expired but whose extension applications are still pending.   Some of them fear that they may just be picked up by the authorities and detained since they could not show any proof of legal status.   Such fear ...

Filipiniana News –   March 2018 RHYME & REASON After Bill C-6 was enacted on 19 June 2017, the changes to Canada's citizenship law underwent incremental changes which have all become fully effective by February 2018.    Please find below a summary of these changes.    The changes which took effect   on 19 June 2017 include the following:   1.   Removal of the citizenship revocation provisions for dual citizens who are convicted of treason, spying, terrorism and related offences.   This was meant to remove the resulting two-tiered citizenship from the previous system in that dual citizens were being treated differently than non-dual citizens.   Under this recent amendment, all Canadians who violate criminal laws, whether dual citizens or not, are   expected to face the Canadian criminal justice system instead of being stripped of Canadian citizenship. 2.   Removal of the requirement to confirm intent to...

Filipiniana News   -   February 2018 A sense of panic quickly spread among the caregiver community in early February when the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced in its website that it will stop accepting applications under the two caregiver pathways for permanent residence (Caring for Children and Caring for People with High Medical Needs) by November 2019.   The original IRCC announcement read:    We will stop accepting applications for this permanent resident program on November 29, 2019.   If you don’t have two years of full-time work experience as a caregiver before it closes, you won’t be eligible to apply. A few days later, the IRCC Minister Ahmed Hussen, in response to a related question at the House of Commons, stated that:   "O ur government will continue to ensure a pathway for permanent residency for caregivers. In fact, we are conducting an assessment of the existing programs to improve th...