Canada Immigration Services Improved in Lebanon

Canada's Immigration Minister has announced that the immigration services at The Canadian Embassy located in Beirut, Lebanon. Citizens of Lebanon were previously required to travel to Damascus, Syria in order to attend interviews related to Canadian permanent resident applications. They will now have the option to attend interviews in Beirut or in Damascus. The only exception to this rule was for Family Class applications.

The changes to the services at the visa office in Beirut are effective immediately. “Citizens of Lebanon deserve to have their visa interviews conducted in their own country,” stated Canada's Immigration Minister Diane Finley. “We are upgrading our services at the visa office in Beirut in order to make it easier for people to complete their application process.”

Improvements to Canadian Permanent Resident Card Process

In addition to recent changes to the permanent resident (PR) card process, which allowed residents to keep their valid cards while seeking extension, the government of Canada has announced additional steps to simplify the process. Canada's PR card confirms the holder’s immigration status in Canada. and is needed for boarding commercial transportation (plane, train, boat or bus) to return to Canada.

Applicants for a new or replacement PR card will no longer need to seek the signature of a guarantor or sign a statutory declaration in lieu of a guarantor. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has implemented steps that will allow for secure verification of the identity of applicants without the requirement of a guarantor, which is expected to streamline the process of applying for many.

Rules to Reduce Canadian Immigration Backlogs Approved

Bill C-50 passed a final vote and was approved in a "confidence vote" Monday evening, permitting the minority Conservative government to include the changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by including them in a larger budget implementation. As a minority government, the Conservative Party made the Bill a confidence issue, meaning that defeating it in the House of Commons would have toppled the government, forcing an election shortly afterwards. Although some opposition exists to some of the new rules, as discussed here in earlier posts, NDP and Liberal opponents were not prepared to create an election scenario immediately.

The changes in the rules will help to reduce the backlogs which are causing tremendous delays for those Skilled Workers that the Canadian labour market so desperately needs at this time. Provisions will permit the Minister of Immigration to specify the categories of cases which most benefit the labour market and to facilitate the processing of those cases.

Although no opponents to the changes question the need to reduce the backlogs, which are rapidly approaching 1 million people, its critics question the transparency of the process. Canada's Minister of Immigration and the Conservative government have responded with numerous problems that the rules will be implemented in a fair and transparent fashion.

Amendments to Canadian Immigration Laws Pass Commons

In one stage that is required for Bill C-50 to become part of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Canada's House of Commons has approved the proposals by a vote of 114-83. The Commons voted three times overall: once on the larger budget bill (C-50), and twice more on NDP amendments that would have stalled the legislation.

Bill C-50 includes numerous changes to the Canadian immigration legislation that is intended to help reduce the backlogs which many feel are crippling the immigration system. Some of these changes include the ability to select cases for processing based on Canadian labour market needs. Although the Canadian opposition parties oppose the changes to the laws, they have not voted against the Bill. Doing so would have automatically triggered an election.

The next step will be a vote in Canada's Parliament, which is expected to take place before the summer break.