Canadian immigration process often challenges newcomers

A permanent residency stamp. How hard can it be to get? Courtesy of Flickr

Lily Boisson, a third-year journalism student at St. Thomas University (STU) got her Canadian permanent residency in 2003.

She said she still remembers going to the Canadian embassy and being interviewed as a family.

The Haiti-born moved to Canada with her family six years ago. Her family prepared and applied for a permanent residency when they were still living in Haiti.

She said permanent residency, in her case, happened right away when they came to Canada.

“It’s sort of you apply in your home country. So I think the whole application process was a year. It was very fast.”

Boisson added that when her family applied for the residency she was still a teenager, so her parents took care of a lot of the applying process.

Yet, she recalled the whole process was not that difficult as far as she can remember. Her parents took care of the process, but she said she doesn’t remember them talking about the process being difficult.

But Ian Gordon, a STU graduate, has a different story.

There are a few ways to apply for Canadian permanent residency, yet, Gordon decided to apply for a post-graduation work permit first.

Gordon, who is originally from Maine, the United States, graduated from STU last May and applied for a post-graduation work permit, yet he said it was a difficult and confusing process.

Post-Graduation Work Permit Program allows students who graduate from a Canadian post-secondary institution to work in Canada for a certain length of time.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada states that a work permit under the program can be valid within the length of the student’s study program. If you graduate from a four-year university, you will be eligible for a three-year work permit, if you meet the criteria.

It also says the program is to let the students have a valuable work experience in Canada.

Gordon, who is now working in Canada, said when he applied for the post-graduation work permit, it was a complicated process for him and apparently for many immigration Canada agents he met.

When he went to an immigration office at the border of St. Stephen, many immigration agents didn’t seem to understand how the post-graduation work permit work, such as who is eligible, he added.

“That was kind of scary to me. I went in and had all my paper works with me. And I explained I was trying to apply for the post-graduation work permit,” he said. “Then, they went to Citizenship and Immigration Canada website to determine what the post-graduation work permit was and who can get it. They ask each other questions about it. They don’t seem to understand the terms.”

He added that that was where a lot of frustration came from.

“So many people from different countries are studying in Canada and maybe they would have different agents saying different answers, contradictory answers. It must be hard when you are trying to get help to figure it out.”

A letter of acceptance. A lot of people are waiting for this letter. Courtesy of flickr

Judy Coates, an international student advisor at STU, said it’s important to start to think about the process beforehand so you can be aware of what’s required and how your life fits in because the process can be complicated.

She added that a minor thing such as driving under the influence or if you don’t have a permanent place to live, that can be a reason to deny your application.

“If the student has been picked up for driving under the influence, that can prevent you from giving you a permanent residency or even probably a work permit because you are not being trustworthy,” she said.

Boisson said it’s not necessarily a bad thing that Canada has a strict standard for immigrants so that Canadians don’t characterize the whole immigrant population as being criminal and uneducated.

“You should be allowed to be in Canada if you want to make a better life for yourself,” she said. “It’s normal that you should be under your best behaviour when you are trying to integrate into another society. You should try your best to follow their laws, adopt you to their expectations of you as a citizen.

Short URL: http://www.newbrunswickbeacon.ca/?p=3717

Posted by Maiko Tanabe on Dec 30, 2009. Filed under News, This Week's Edition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.