(Below is a transcription of this video)
Hi, this is Michael Niren, Immigration Lawyer and Founder of visaplace.com. There’s been some serious controversy surrounding Canadian Experienced Class applications for permanent residence or CEC, we call them.
Canadian Experienced Class Applications cap Reached
What has happened is that the government has recently announced, I think it was February 3rd of 2015 that the 8,000 cap has been reached. So the government accepts 8,000 applications per year under the CEC category. Now that’s all fine and good. However, it turned out that the actual cap was reached in October 20th of 2014. But the government only announced this on February 3rd, 2015. Which means that well-meaning applicants, perhaps thousands, have filed their applications from October to February thinking that the cap has not been reached, only to find out by the government that, “Sorry, your application will not be processed and will be returned to you with your processing fees.”
What This Means for CEC Applicants
This is very unfortunate and could even result in a possible class action lawsuit because if the government is going to impose caps on application categories or immigration categories, they have a corresponding obligation to notify people when the cap is reached. Typically, they notify applicants on their CIC website, on their immigration website, and they always encourage people to go on that website to find out what the latest information is. And people do that, and they rely on that.
I was interviewed on CBC television about this, and I said basically what I’m saying to you. That it is unfair and it could cause and will cause a lot of problems for these well-meaning applicants who felt that their application should be processed because they were not informed that a cap was reached.
This has happened in different ways before, a lot of systemic problems. I’m not sure what happened in this case. Perhaps the person in charge of posting updates on the website failed to do so, or there was some internet problem. I have no idea. But I feel that the government should give some of these applicants or all of these applicants who filed from October 20th to February 3rd some form of relief. It is just not fair that these applications will not be processed because the government failed to announce the cap on time.
Immigration Options for CEC Applicants
Now basically if your application is going to be sent back, you still have options. You still can apply for permanent residence under different categories, for example, the Express Entry category could be an option. But that’s essentially a lottery scenario, and it’s a possibility that you can go that route. Another possibility is that well look, you may be out of status. You may be in a situation where your application is going to be returned and you don’t have any status, so you may have to apply for a temporary resident visa just to maintain your status pending another application. So it puts applicants in a very precarious situation.
I’ll update you as I find out more information about what’s going on here. This was just breaking news because the announcement was made on February 3rd and we’ll find out more. If you like this video, click “like” and always visit us at www.visaplace.com.
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President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
