Man's chances hurt by record in U.S.
Q: My niece wants to immigrate to Canada from the U.S. She is in her 30s, married and has children. She is an accounting clerk and her husband is working in a factory, on the line packing food products. While she has some college and is working her way to an accounting degree, he does not have a high-school diploma.
She was born in the U.S. and has lived there all her life. He entered the U.S. without permission 15 years ago and has been caught and sent back to Mexico twice and then re-entered, each time illegally. Next week, she is coming for a visit (alone) and wants to find a lawyer to help her and her husband with a move to Canada.
I feel that this would be a waste of money. From what I have read and from the questions I have asked of both Immigration Canada and friends who have immigrated to Canada in the last while, it seems he would be ineligible and she – if she were applying on her own – would have to wait years before permission to live in Canada could be granted.
A: It is probably a good idea for your niece to get some professional advice from a lawyer or consultant. Based on what you have told me, there is no clear-cut answer. She might qualify to apply for entry to Canada in the skilled-worker class. But those criteria changed in early 2008 and, now, applications from people from particular occupations get priority.
To find out if she is eligible to apply as a skilled worker based on her accounting work experience, your niece could use an online eligibility tool: cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/tool/index.asp. If she is eligible, there is another tool she can use to make a rough calculation of how she would fare under the point system. For example, she would benefit from the fact that she has relatives in Canada. She can find the self-assessment tool at: cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/assess/index.asp.
If eligible to apply, your niece would obviously include her husband in the application. He might well be deemed inadmissible to Canada because of his previous violation of U.S. immigration law. But if his wife were granted permanent residence in Canada, he could apply for a "minister's permit" that would allow him to reside in Canada with her until he is deemed to have been rehabilitated. At that point, he would be eligible for permanent residence in Canada.
In a nutshell: Her eligibility to apply to enter Canada as a skilled worker would seem to be essential. And because her work experience may be on the borderline, professional advice might well be a good idea.
Q: Would you please advise as to the documentation required to accompany my son's application for British citizenship and passport? He is 33 and is considering moving to the U.K. to live and work. His Canadian passport is current. I was born in London in 1940, emigrated to Canada in 1968 and obtained Canadian citizenship and passport in 2006. My wife is Canadian-born; we married in 1972. My British passport recently expired and I intend to renew it. I understand that a registered marriage certificate is required – where would I obtain a duplicate? We were married in Alliston. Also, I'm not sure of the whereabouts of my son's long form of birth certificate showing names of parents. A: Your son is allowed to apply directly for a British passport without first applying for registration of his citizenship. As of November, processing of British passports for people living in North America was centralized in a production centre in Washington. For full details on the application process and an application kit, visit ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/passports. With the application, your son will need to provide his original birth certificate, as well as evidence – such as your birth certificate – that you, his father, is indeed, a British national. He will also need to provide a copy of your marriage certificate.
If you don't have this documentation, your first step is to obtain it. You can apply for replacement birth certificates and marriage certificates through Service Ontario at https://www.orgforms.gov.on.ca/eForms/start.do. To obtain a British birth certificate, you will have to contact the Home Office at www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ order_certificates/index.asp.
Correction: In the Nov. 29 column, I had suggested that a woman living in the U.S. on a green card might need a visitor visa to enter Canada. A reader pointed out that the immigration department website says visitor visa requirements are waived for holders of U.S. green cards.
World Citizen appears every other week. Email: immigration@thestar.ca. Fax: 416-869-4410.
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