Canadian Immigration Questions and Answers with Attorney David Cohen

Every month, Attorney David Cohen will answer a few general Canadian immigration questions submitted by our readers. Here are this month’s questions and answers:

I am in the process for sponsoring my parents for Permanent Residency through the Family Class. My father, who was the principle applicant, recently passed away. I still wish to bring my mother to Canada. Can we continue with the application process, or do we have to start all over again?

I am sorry for your loss. Earlier this year Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued an Operational Bulletin, wherein it indicated that during the processing of a parental sponsorship appliaction, if an officer is notified of the death of the Principal Applicant, the officer may replace the Principal Applicant with the individual identified on the application as the accompanying spouse. The officer will request an updated sponsorship application and IMM 0008 form, but no additional fees. So you should be OK.

I have heard that the new Federal Skilled Worker class will require the Canadian equivalency of foreign education documents to be determined by a third party. Has this party been designated yet? Can I begin submitting my credentials to them?

Yes, foreign educational credentials will need to be assessed for Canadian equivalency under the revised Federal Skilled Worker Class. As of this date no third party has been designated for this purpose by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

My diploma is not related to my ten years of work experience. How does this affect my Quebec Skilled Worker application?

Under the Quebec Skilled Worker program you will not get points for the "domain de formation" selection factor if your diploma is more than five years old and you do not have at least one year of related work experience in the last five years.

Is there any way to work temporarily in Canada without first receiving a job offer from a Canadian employer?

An open, unrestricted work permit is required in order to work in Canada without a job offer. Open, unrestricted work permits are available in limited circumstances. People who may qualify for open unrestricted work permits include spouses of temporary workers who hold skilled job-offer based work permits, working-age children of skilled temporary foreign workers in select provinces, full-time foreign students or recent graduates from Canadian post-secondary institutions, or participants in the International Experience Canada program, also known as the Working Holiday program.

If you would like your general immigration question to be featured in our newsletter, please email your question to QNA@CICNEWS.COM

If you would like to be assessed for Canadian immigration, please complete a free Canadian immigration assessment form.