Which country is welcoming of immigrants in 2019-2020?
Which country is welcoming of immigrants in 2019-2020?
BY THE MANILA TIMES
APRIL 02, 2018
- WHICH COUNTRY IS WELCOMING OF IMMIGRANTS IN 2019-2020?
CRISPIN R. ARANDAWHICH of the five countries with permanent migration programs would be the most welcoming to migrants for the next two years: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK or the US?
We can take the UK out of the running.
With Brexit and Britain leaving the European Union, the UK’s migrant selection is tenuous at best. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recently concluded that “restricting immigration from Europe after Brexit is very likely to lead to lower growth in total jobs and in the output of the UK economy.”
Although the emergent restrictions to skilled workers and professionals from Europe should be a boon to applicants from other regions (for example, Asia, including the Philippines), getting to the first step of qualifying for permanent residency in the UK—called indefinite leave to remain (ILR)—requires a five-year legal employment as basis for eligibility.
Add the fact that the UK has set limits to how long a foreign worker may remain onshore, and pursuing residency requires the worker to leave the UK first and then apply for the ILR in his or her home country.
New Zealand and the US allow change of status from temporary to permanent. Canada allows a border turnaround application.
Australia provides a “bridging visa” route allowing the worker to be in legal status while waiting for the permanent residency application.
Essential requirement for all skilled workers or professionals applying for permanent residency in any of these five countries is language/English proficiency.
And as a rule of thumb, younger applicants with proficiency in English get to the front of the queue.
Selection system
First, the manner of selection by categories, streams of preferences and the applicant or candidate selection system. Australia has SkillSelect; Canada, Express Entry; New Zealand, Expression of Interest, the UK a five-level Tier Categories.
All four except for the US, rely on a points-based system of selection. While the Trump administration is toying with the idea of a points-based or merit-based skilled migration, the current system consists only of two main categories—the family and employment-based preference.
Australia, New Zealand and the UK publish a list of occupations that the countries need or prefer, Canada does not.
Occupations list
The US has the Schedule A Occupations list which at the time of writing are divided into Group I (physical therapists and professional nurses), and Group II, applicants with exceptional ability in the sciences or arts, including college and university teachers who intend to practice their profession in the US. Applicants in these two groups must first obtain permanent certification of the need from the US Department of Labor.
Australia recently changed its Skilled Occupations List (SOL) to the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL), Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) or Regional Occupation List (ROL).
New Zealand has the Long-Term Skills Shortage List (LTSSL).
Canada has eliminated the occupations list that was the primary basis to qualify for the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program. Instead, all applicants – regardless of occupation – must be able to earn points essentially based on age, language proficiency, education, experience, marital status.
The UK has a list of Shortage Occupations for the UK and Scotland.
Processing times
The processing times (based on the current selection system) show that the UK and Canada has almost an equal range of waiting period: the published standard waiting period for those applying from outside the UK – 12 to 24 weeks (UK); New Zealand – between 4 to 6 months; Canada – 6 months from being issued an invitation to apply (ITA) for permanent residency.
Australia’s global visa and citizenship processing times vary from nine months for the independent applicant, Subclass 189; 12 months for an applicant nominated by a state or territory and 19 months for the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme.
For professionals with exceptional skills and talents in the 1st and 2nd employment-based categories the wait is 6 to 8 months from visa approval. Applicants in the EB3 (skilled workers professionals) could wait for less than two years.
It should be mentioned that the published, intended processing time are usually longer. The processing standards also assume that the applicant submitted complete documents that have been verified to be true, legal and valid.
Submitting an application and qualifying through the current selection system is done online and a pre-qualified assessment made to inform the applicant that he or she meets the required points for the specific subclass or migration stream.
Settlement funds
Applicants invited to apply for permanent residency must provide evidence of financial capability to settle whether as an individual or with qualified family members. In the US, an applicant who qualifies for an employment-based preference category with an arranged offer of employment does not have to provide such evidence. Those in the family-based categories need to meet the income requirements under the current federal poverty guidelines.
Canada publishes the required settlement funds for an applicant (through the Federal Skilled Worker Program) or the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The settlement amount increases depending on the number of dependants (spouse and/or minor children). (See chart.)
A skilled migrant to Australia would have to submit documents establishing available funds to settle ranging from A$30,000 to A$60,000.
Profile of successful applicant, Canada
All Express Entry candidates could get a maximum score of more than 1,000, based on the four parts of the Comprehensive Ranking System formula. In reality, no one has yet obtained that maximum score.
However, candidates with the highest-ranking candidates from the pool are invited to apply as a permanent resident through regular “rounds of invitations.”
For this sample, the principal applicant is 29 years old, has a common-law partner; both have a bachelor’s degree or the Canadian equivalent; similar IELTS scores and the principal applicant had completed a full one-year academic course and has completed at least a one-year diploma or certificate academic program in a designated learning institution.
Points per criteria:
Age of principal applicant, 29 = 100
Level of education (bachelor’s degree or Canadian equivalent) = 112
Study in Canada (1- to 2-year diploma/certificate) = 15
Official Languages English, IELTS Scores — Speaking, 7.0; Reading, 7.0-7.5; Writing, 7.0, Listening, 8.0 for a total of = 116
Spouse level of education, same as applicant = 8
Spouse English proficiency, same as applicant = 18
Bonus points for the combined English proficiency, education and experience = 50
Job offer (obtained after completing 1-year course) = 50
To confirm or validate the potential qualifying points or scores, you may input the same answers in the official CRS criteria assessment by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) by logging to this web page – http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigra...d/crs-tool.asp
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