Canadian Immigration Lawyers at Canadim Address Law Changes
Canadim (Dery & Associates) is a Montreal based immigration law firm. They are preparing to educate their clients and website viewers that the upcoming changes are to both their advantage and the Canadian immigration system.
On Wednesday, October 14, 2009 the “Quebec Experience Class” visa (PEQ: Programme de l’Expérience Québécoise) was supposed to come into effect but was postponed to winter 2010 for its official release. Similar to the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) visa, it is an accelerated immigration program that will allow Temporary Foreign Workers as well as international students to qualify for Canadian permanent residency. The PEQ will allow temporary resident permit holders to qualify sooner than under the CEC when they first arrive in Canada. Temporary Foreign workers in Quebec, will only need one year of eligible work experience to qualify for the PEQ whereas the same type of worker would need double the experience elsewhere in Canada to qualify. Foreign students in Quebec do not need work experience in Quebec to be eligible for the upcoming PEQ and can even begin their application process up to 12 months before their graduation date. Applications will only be assessed with submitted proof of graduation in combination with factors such as age, language abilities, professional experience, past educational records and family ties in Quebec. The Quebec program will also feature selected applications being fast tracked to expedite the process. Once the Quebec selection has been granted, the candidates must still comply with federal background and medical requirements to obtain their Canadian permanent residency visa.
Canadim is preparing for the new changes in the same way they’ve prepared for the changes made in February 27, 2008. Before that date, Federal Skilled Worker applicants were evaluated on various criteria to reach 67 points, this lead to a large volume of applications submitted over the past years, hence creating a bottleneck in the Federal qualification process. Since February 27, 2008 the government of Canada decided to only accept applications from people with one year full-time paid work experience within the past ten years, in one of the 38 occupations outlined. These occupations correspond directly to the needs of the Canadian work force, therefore qualified applicants benefit from the new system. “After the February change, many clients had questions, we were happy to offer personalized service to address their concerns and educate them on how the system would benefit them. With the upcoming changes, we are looking forward to further guiding them on a one-on-one basis” said executive director Richard Dery.
Canadim is current with the changing laws and has recently launched a new website, the product of months of research, as a tool to educate potential immigrants. Mr. Dery states “We have taken steps to ensure that prospective immigrants who want to live in Canada have quick and easy access to legal representation. This includes the launch of our new website which provides free access to assessment forms for all the different immigration visas. Once an assessment form is filled, it is sent directly to the inbox of a lawyer who will then guide them based on their situation in accordance with the constantly updating laws.”
For more information and to fill out an assessment, their website is: http://www.Canadim.com
