The canadian parvasi ( 1 Jul 17 - 07 Jul 17)

The International News Weekly National
July 01, 2017 | Toronto
03
Immigration minister Ahmed Hussen,
who waited for 6 years for his PR, uses his experience to fix the system
The Canadian Parvasi
Canada’s immigration and
citizenship minister Ahmed
Hussen had to wait six long
years before he could get immigration
from his native
Somalia to Canada years
ago.
“I have experienced both
the good things and the challenges
of coming to Canada,”
the minister told Parvasi
Radio last week in a live chat
show.
“Those experiences inform
me when I talk about
client services in the immigration
department. That’s
why client services is a key
priority for me. I want to
improve how we treat our
clients, not just reducing
the processing time which
we have, not just reducing
the backlog which we have,
but even how responsive we
are.” He said his mission is
to make the immigration
system people friendly. “I
want you or other people
when they interact with
the immigration system to
have pleasant experience,
not leave with frustration...
make the form easier, make
the website easier, make the
number 1-800 more responsive...”
Talking about the Bill C-6
which was recently passed
into a law, the minister said
under the new law all Canadians
– both born in Canada
and abroad – will be treated
in the same manner.
“The Conservatives
brought in Bill C-24. They
wanted a two-tier citizenship
where you and I would be
two people who committed
the same crime. But because
you are born in Canada and
I was born somewhere else,
I would lose my citizenship
and you won’t. We thought
that was a dangerous thing
and we campaigned against
it. We said a Canadian is a
Canadian and people should
be treated equally.”
He said a Canadian citizen,
who is a dual national,
should be punished for the
crime here, not deported.
“No differential treatment.”
He said the Conservatives’
Bill C-24 tried to put
obstacles for people who
were trying to become citizens.
“Bill C-6, which is our
law, changes Bill C-24. It
is a brand-new law and it
passed last Monday and now
it is law. It does a number of
good things that the people
in community were asking
for. The two-tier citizenship
is gone. Now a Canadian is a
Canadian. We have removed
the barriers that Conservatives
have put in the path of
citizenship for genuine people
who have fulfilled all the
requirements. They changed
the residence requirement
from three out of five years
to four out of six years. That
meant that people had to
wait additional one year. It
was unacceptable. Second,
they made a requirement
that you had to have a number
of consecutive days each
year to get four years. We
have removed all that and
brought it back to three
years out of five,” the minister
elaborated.
He said the changes were
introduced after getting feedback
from people.
Referring to people who
acquired PR after living for
five or ten years in Canada
but still had to wait four
years to get their citizenship
under the previous law,
the minister said his party
thought it was unfair. “The
time that they spent here before
they become PR, is the
time they also attach to Canada,
so we should also give
them some credit for that
time. Bill C-24, which is now
law, gives them time credit
up to one year. They only
have to wait another two to
apply for citizenship.”
“The other thing the new
Bill does is bring back the
age range from 14-64 years
back to 18-54 years. The Conservatives
unnecessarily
made the change and created
challenges. The previous age
range was working fine.”
Under the new bill, minors
separated from their
parents and put in care of
aide societies, etc, will now
have the right to apply for
citizneship without seeking
a waiver from the citizenship
minister or parents’
approval. “We want to be
facilitators for people to acquire
citizenship, and not
put barriers.”
The minister said since
citizenship is such a valuable
thing, the new Bill gives
a fair chance to even those
who acquired citizenship
through fraudulent means.
“Earlier, there would be only
judicial review of such cases.
But now a person, who is at
the risk of losing his citizenship,
can go up to the federal
court and have a full review
of the case. We value Canadian
citizenship.”
He said, “In addition to
the Bill C-24, we have made
a lot of changes to the immigration
system for the
better.”
On the processing time
of renewing the PR which
used to stretch from 10 to
18 months, the minister
said his government has
brought the time to just 52
days. “We are not satisfied
with 52 days. My goal is 14
days.”
The minister said spousal
sponsorship used to take
26 months or longer up to 3
years, “but we have now
an industry standard of 12
months to clear such cases.
We have cleared 20,000 cases
from the backlog and 20,000
families are now united
because of our efforts. The
lessons we learnt from the
backlog we are applying to
other backlogs.”
Referring to the high
application rejection rate
at the Chandigarh visa office,
he said under his government
the approval rate
has gone from 40 percent to
60 percent. “People now say
your processing (at Chandigarh)
is much better.”
Other improvements
ushered in by his government,
he said, include the
high skilled category where
someone wishing to bring
in high skilled temporary
people for a short duration
for consultancy purposes.
“We will do the processing
in 10 days for work permit
Greetings from the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
I am pleased to commend the Parvasi Media Group on the publication of its first English
edition of their weekly newspaper entitled The Canadian Parvasi. I would also like to
extend my warmest greetings to the many readers who will benefit from this valuable
resource.
For 15 years, the Parvasi Media Group has served as a bridge by connecting
Canadians and helping newcomers feel welcome. This newspaper is an important
source of information for the South Asian community and other Canadians of South
Asian descent who enjoy the publication as a way of connecting with their own heritage.
This year, Canada celebrates its 150 th birthday. As we reflect on our history and
heritage, we acknowledge that new Canadians, through their hard work and dedication,
have played a crucial role in Canada’s success as a nation. This important milestone
also offers an excellent opportunity for all Canadians and newcomers to rededicate
ourselves to making our neighbourhoods, our communities and our nation ever more
welcoming and inclusive.
As Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, I wish to thank the staff who
helped put this newspaper together.
Please accept my best wishes for future success!
Sincerely,
Those experiences inform me when I talk about
client services in the immigration department.
That’s why client services is a key priority for me. I
want to improve how we treat our clients, not just
reducing the processing time which we have, not just
reducing the backlog which we have, but even how
responsive we are.”
Ahmed Hussen, Immigration minister
The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
and visa. This used to take
months.”
As part of the government’s
global skills strategy,
he said, “If an employer
bringing in a foreign skilled
worker can show that by
bringing in such a worker
he can raise his employees
from 25 to 50, we will look at
them differently and facilitate
such employers.”
Furthermore, any company
seeking to move its
headquarters to Canada
will get “dedicated channels
to facilitate them in
the process, so that they
and their workers and family
move to Canada as fast
as possible,” the minister
said.
“Under the high skills
strategy we are also exempting
high skilled academic
researchers to do shortterm
research -says 120
days a year - at a Canadian
university. We will exempt
them from work permit.”
About the changes to the
Express Entry system, the
minister said under it any
applicant who had studied
in Canada previously and
had a sibling here, will get
additional points to facilitate
their quick entry.