Visitor Visa Exemption - Visiting Canada

There are certain group of people who are exempted from visa requirement in visiting Canada. Unlike Filipino Citizens visiting Canada, the following people are no longer required to apply for visitor visa.

citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Latvia (Republic of), Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa;

persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (Green card) or can provide other evidence of permanent residence;

British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;

citizens of British dependent territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;

persons holding a British National (Overseas) Passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom to persons born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;

persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China;

persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See.

The above list of Visitor Visa Exemptions may be updated from time to time. Just recently, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced that Visitors from Croatia no longer require visa to come to Canada. So to get the updated list, please refer to Citizneship and Immigration Canada official website: http://cic.gc.ca

UPDATES
July 13, 2009 - Canada imposes a visa on the Czech Republic and Mexico
Nov 23, 2010 - Canada lifts visa requirement for visitors from Taiwan

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Social Security System (SSS) Static Information

If you're a Filipino worker applying under Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program or Live-in Caregiver Program to work in Canada, you may be required by the Canadian Visa Office to submit a Social Security System (SSS) Static Information. This is not a standard document that you will find in the application kit, but may be required in the middle of the process. This is their way to make sure that the employment history you declared are indeed true.



You can get your Social Security System (SSS) Static Information through a web inquiry at www.sss.gov.ph.

In the past, anybody can access your static information from the SSS website as long as they have your SSS number, birth date and surname. This means that the Visa Office may in fact access your Static Information even without you knowing it. However, this system was already changed. You need to be registered first before you can access your SSS Static Information.

You need to complete the registration process by providing accurate information before you can use the SSS Web Inquiry. If the information you have provided does not match the information stored in the SSS database, it may delay the registration process. Since it may take time before you could actually access your SSS Static Information, it is best that you start the registration as early as now. Do not wait until the Visa Office requires it. In fact, you may submit your SSS Static Information together with your application forms.

Click here to start the registration process to get your Social Security System (SSS) Static Information through web inquiry.

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Combating Immigration Fraud

Here's an advertising campaign launched by Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada to help potential immigrants know how to protect themselves against false claims from dishonest immigration consultant.

click here for the transcript. Avoid scammers, deal only with legitimate consulting firms!

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Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO)

The Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) is part of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It was created to help foreign-trained workers succeed in Canada. FCRO provides information, path-finding and referral services to help foreign-trained workers succeed and put their skills to work in Canada more quickly.

Remember that the approval of your permanent resident visa application and eventual entry in Canada does not guarantee you employment in your preferred profession or any other profession.

If you are planning to live and work in Canada, gathering information about living and working in Canada will help you prepare for employment in your chosen profession. The Foreign Credential Referral Office created a workbook specifically for this purpose.



Planning to work in Canada? An essential workbook for newcomers was created by FCRO for internationally trained individuals who are considering moving to Canada. It will help you learn how to put your skills, education and experience to work. The workbook is composed of 5 sections:

Living in Canada
The more you learn about Canada, the faster you will be able to adapt to the Canadian work environment. Taking the time to ask questions, to read and research, to watch videos on the Web or elsewhere, can all greatly help your transition from new immigrant to an established and comfortable member of Canadian society. This section is designed to help you learn more about life in Canada, and to guide you in taking a few essential steps as an immigrant.

Canada's Official Languages
Language skills are extremely important to your professional future in Canada. This section will help you learn more about Canada’s two official languages – English and French – as well as assess your language skills and identify opportunities for language training.

Finding a job in Canada
This section is designed to help you understand all you need to do to obtain work in Canada. It provides you with a series of essential steps that will help you learn how to find and get a job in your preferred profession. This process will take time, but completing each task below as thoroughly as possible will give you and your family members the best possible chance to succeed professionally in Canada.

Work Related Documents
This section of the workbook is designed to help you identify and locate documents that may be of importance to you in Canada before you come to Canada. It will also help you to assess the value, in Canada, of documents in your chosen field.

Education Academic Credentials
Education is an asset when searching for work in Canada, but your education may not automatically be recognized in Canada. Demonstrating your education and academic credentials is, therefore, important. Understanding educational equivalencies between your country of origin and Canada will also help you to understand the kinds of jobs you will be likely to obtain in Canada.

For more information about Foreign Credentials Referral Office, visit the official website at http://www.credentials.gc.ca.

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Juana Tejada and the Live-in Caregivers' fight in Canada

The story of Juana Tejada may pave the way to the amendment of Canada's Live in Caregiver Program (LCP), particularly the two step medical screening requirement. Under this program, applicant has to pass a medical examination to get a Temporary Resident Visa/Work Permit and another test when applying for permanent residence after two years of service. Persons with medical condition that might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demands on health or social services are considered inadmissible.

On June 2003, Juana Tejada arrived in Canada as a live-in caregiver. Two years after, she filed an application for permanent residence and was granted an open work permit by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada. She was required to undergo medical screening prior to granting the permanent resident status. But it turned out that she had a stage IV colon cancer, thus, her application was refused.

This is where Juana Tejada's battle started.

Juana Tejada made an appeal citing humanitarian and compassionate consideration but was refused again. Citizenship and Immigration Canada later on acknowledged a procedural error on their part and her case was re-opened.

An online petition initiated by Mila and Oswald Magno reached the office of Prime Minister Harper and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.



Migrante - Ontario and the coalition that was formed to demand justice for Juana Tejada organized a picket rally in front of Citizenship and Immigration Canada's office in support of her. More pictures here.

Juana Tejada won the legal battle through the help of lawyer, Rafael Fabregas, and was granted a permanent resident status last year. She continued to advocate for the changes in the live-in caregiver program. Unfortunately, she lost the fight against cancer on March 8, 2009. She is considered a hero by her fellow live-in caregivers and other migrant workers.

The battle of caregivers and other migrant workers in Canada continues.

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Alternative option for displaced Overseas Filipino Workers

Here's a news article regarding the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) displaced due to current global financial crisis.

NINE out of 10 displaced Filipino workers would rather go abroad again than become an entrepreneur here in the country, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Carmelita Dimzon said on Monday.

Dimzon said that during the counseling among the displaced workers, they found out that most of them preferred to be deployed again to a country where companies are not fully affected by the crisis.

“During the counseling, we were telling them some options whether they will be deployed again or they will avail the livelihood program, but most of them chose to go abroad because they have experienced working abroad and earning dollars,” she said.[Business Mirror]

Aside from the livelihood program offered by the Philippine Government, there is another option for displaced OFWs.

Live and work in Canada through immigrant visa application!

It is now easier and faster to apply for Permanent Resident Visa to Canada under the new Federal Skilled Worker program.

To qualify under the new Federal Skilled Worker program, you must have at least one year work experience in one or some of the high demand occupations and must meet the required pass mark of 67 points using the six selection criteria points system.

Find out how if you are eligible, it's FREE! Send your resume to aapuntar@go2canada.com!

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Centralized Intake Office (CIO) Notice of Assessment

Based on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada's bulletin, outlining the procedures in handling the new Federal Skilled Worker program, the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) or Centralized Intake Unit (CIU) in Sydney Nova Scotia will send the assessment result within several weeks.

But just exactly how long is several weeks?

I normally tell my clients that it may take two months before they will receive the assessment from CIO. It turned out that it could even be faster! By the way, here's CIO Mailing Address.

Here's a very interesting case of a Clinical Instructor/Nurse client:

Feb 09, 2009 - Application form was sent to CIO via courier
Feb 13, 2009 - Application form received by CIO
Feb 24, 2009 - Date of letter from CIO
Mar 10, 2009 - Letter received from CIO

The next step after receiving the positive assessment from CIO is the submission of full application (application forms and supporting documents) to the Visa Office. This client was given 120 days to comply.

Here's an excerpt from the actual letter:

You must inform the visa office of any changes in your application (e.g. birth of a child, marriage, new occupation or employer, etc) when submitting your full application. Please include a letter identifying what the changes are.

You have120 days from the date of this letter to prepare and submit forms and supporting documentation. If your full application is not received within this time, we will assume you are no longer interested in immigrating to Canada and we will close your file.

We strongly suggest that you prepare all your supporting documents in advance to save time. Do not wait for assessment result from Centralized Intake Office (CIO) before you start preparing your supporting documents.

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