Abrams & Krochak, Canadian Immigration Lawyers

Join Abrams & Krochak in celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. To celebrate, we are offering a discount on our legal fees for Express Entry Applications from 1,980 USD to 1,500 USD. That is a greater than 20% savings and we would like to pass the savings along to you! This limited time offer is our way of saying "thank you" to the tens of thousands of individuals from every part of the globe whom we have helped to relocate to Canada since 1996. We hope that you, too,...Continue reading

Join Abrams & Krochak in celebrating our 20th anniversary this year. To celebrate, we are offering a discount on our legal fees for Express Entry Applications from 1,980 USD to 1,500 USD. That is a greater than 20% savings and we would like to pass the savings along to you! This limited time offer is our way of saying "thank you" to the tens of thousands of individuals from every part of the globe whom we have helped to relocate to Canada since 1996. We hope that you, too,...Continue reading

We are pleased to announce that we have revamped our website to deliver a comprehensive and user-friendly experience! Please visit us at: www.akcanada.com

POSSIBLY INCREASING YOUR CHANCES WITH EXPRESS ENTRY-For CLIENTS of Abrams & Krochak We are writing to you, today, for three (3) reasons: firstly, to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy New Year; (ii) secondly, to thank you for your patronage in the past; and (iii) lastly, and most importantly, to provide you with valuable information, regarding Citizenship and Immigration Canada's new Express Entry system, which could prove beneficial to you. I. YOUR APPLICATION U...Continue reading

Creating Your Express Entry Online Profile-For Abrams & Krochak Clients Only We are writing to provide you with a roadmap as to how we will be proceeding with your proposed Canadian Immigration plans under the new Express Entry Processing System. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY! ACTION IS REQUIRED ON YOUR PART REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU ARE IN TERMS OF PROCESSING....Continue reading

Express Entry to Launch on January 1, 2015 EXPRESS ENTRY Citizenship and Immigration Canada has implemented a new method of processing candidates for Immigration to Canada in the Federal Skilled Worker Class, the Federal Skilled Trades Class, the Canadian Experience Class and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program called Express Entry, which will take effect on January 1, 2015. The Express Entry system involves two (2) steps:...Continue reading

Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program to Reopen Citizenship and Immigration Canada will resume accepting applications of Canadian citizens/permanent residents, wishing to sponsor their parents and grandparents to immigrate to Canada, on January 2, 2015. Application forms, guides and information on how to apply to the Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program became available this week.... Highlights of the Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program include: 1. The sponsorship undertaking period is twenty (20) years. 2. Sponsors must meet or exceed a minimum necessary income threshold for three (3) consecutive years prior to the date of Sponsorship. 3. Income evidence is limited to official documentation from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). 4. Immigration officials have the authority to request updated evidence of income. 5. A maximum of 5,000 new complete Applications for the sponsorship of parents and grandparents will be accepted, beginning January 2, 2015. Because of the quota and the high demand for this category (it was filled, last year, in just THREE (3) WEEKS), individuals who are interested in sponsoring their parents and grandparents to immigrate to Canada with Abrams & Krochak’s assistance are encouraged to contact the law firm at: http://www.akcanada.com/contact.cfm with a request for assistance as soon as they can, or to complete Abrams & Krochak’s Parent Grandparent Sponsorship Program Online Eligibility Assessment Questionnaire at: http://www.akcanada.com/assessment4.cfm

DEADLINE FOR FILING FEDERAL SKILLED WORKER APPLICATIONS Citizenship and Immigration Canada has just amended its website and has confirmed that, in order for a Federal Skilled Worker Application to be assessed under CURRENT eligibility and selection criteria (i.e. May 1, 2014 General Occupations (Demand) List and 67 point pass mark), the Application MUST be received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada BEFORE January 1, 2015. What does this mean?...Continue reading

Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (Regional Labour Market Demand Stream) NOW CLOSED On Monday, April 28, 2014, the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration announced that the Regional Labour Market Demand Stream is now closed and will not be accepting any Applications that are not received in the office and/or post-marked by end-of-day April 28, 2014. The Nova Scotia Office of Immigration is processing Applications to reach the 150 nominations. Applications are being dealt with... on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the 150 nominees are identified, any Applications that are not processed will be returned to applicants. The Stream will open again on January 1st, 2015. Anyone whose Application was returned is encouraged to re-apply at that time. If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have already had your Application filed with the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration on or before April 28, 2014, you can disregard this message as you wait to see whether you have been nominated by Nova Scotia. If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have not yet had your Application filed with the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration on or before April 28, 2014, you have two (2) options: (i) You can send an e-mail to our office at [email protected] and ask to have your eligibility to immigrate to Canada reassessed in the Federal Skilled Worker Class; and/or (ii) You can wait until the new Stream is announced around January 1, 2015 to see whether you still qualify and, if so, apply then. Any correspondence on this issue from EXISTING, paid clients should be sent to [email protected], only.

New Federal Skilled Worker General Occupations (Demand) List and Quotas On Wednesday, April 23, 2014, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced new eligibility criteria for the Federal Skilled Worker Class. A maximum of twenty-five thousand (25,000) Federal Skilled Worker Applications will be considered for processing from May 1, 2014 until April 30, 2015. Within the twenty-five thousand (25,000) cap, a maximum of one thousand (1,000) Federal Skilled Worker Applications pe...Continue reading

IMPORTANT Further Information Regarding the Nova Scotia Provincial Nominee Program (Regional Labour Market Demand Stream) On Thursday, March 20, 2014, the Nova Scotia Office of Immigration published new information, regarding the Provincial Nominee Program (Regional Labour Market Demand Stream). Nova Scotia continues to accept Applications from interested candidates. Although Nova Scotia will only be nominating 150 applicants in 2014, those who are not chosen will be given th...e option of keeping their Application in the queue for reconsideration next year. The applicants with the best chance of being nominated are those who file a complete Application (i.e. include all of the information and documents that are required) and show a sincere intention to live in Nova Scotia. Once an Application is filed, supplementary documentation will NOT be accepted. Because of the large number of Applications that Nova Scotia is receiving, selection decisions will be made within a period of three (3) months or less from the date of receipt.

NEW IMMIGRATION PROGRAM-NOVA SCOTIA NOMINEE PROGRAM-REGIONAL LABOUR MARKET DEMAND STREAM Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s three Maritime provinces and constitutes one of the four Atlantic Canada provinces. It is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of 55,284 square kilometres (21,300 sq mi), including Cape Breton Island and another 3,800 coastal islands. As of 2011, the population was 921,727, making Nova Scotia the second-most-densely populated province in Canad...Continue reading

Canada to Eliminate Investor and Entrepreneur Categories of Business Class On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, the Government of Canada delivered its Budget, wherein it announced its intent to eliminate both the Federal Immigrant Investor Program and Federal Entrepreneur Program. By doing so, the Government of Canada’s goal is to eradicate a large and longstanding backlog of applications, and pave the way for new pilot programs that it claims will actually meet Canada’s labour mar...ket and economic needs. According to the Government of Canada, the current Immigrant Investor Program provides limited economic benefit to Canada. The Government states that research has shown that immigrant investors pay less in taxes than other economic immigrants, are less likely to stay in Canada over the medium- to long-term and often lack the skills, including official language proficiency, to integrate as well as other immigrants from the same countries. By eliminating both the Federal Immigrant Investor Program and Federal Entrepreneur Program and the associated backlog of applications the Government states that it will be able to focus on attracting experienced business people and raising investment capital that is of maximum benefit to Canada’s economy. The Government of Canada states that it will replace these programs with more focused and effective pilot programs that will ensure that immigrants who come to Canada deliver meaningful benefits to our economy. Details of the new pilots will be announced in the coming months. If you are an existing client of Abrams & Krochak and have applied for Permanent Residence in Canada as either an Investor or Entrepreneur and your case is still in process, please monitor this blog as Abrams & Krochak will post further information about the elimination of the Investor and Entrepreneur categories (and how it will affect your Application in process) once further information becomes available from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Quota for 2014 Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Program Full On February 3, 2014, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced that the 2014 quota of 5,000 new Parent/Grandparent Sponsorship Applications had been met. No new Applications will be accepted for processing until January 2015, at which time it is anticipated that the quota will be raised from 5,000 new Applications to 20,000 new Applications. Further details will be released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada clo...ser to that date. In the interim, and as an alternative to being sponsored, parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens/permanent residents still have the option of applying for a Parent and Grandparent Super Visa, which will be valid for up to ten (10) years. The multiple-entry visa allows an applicant to remain in Canada for up to twenty-four (24) months at a time without the need for renewal of their status. The Parent and Grandparent Super Visa came into effect on December 1, 2011, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada will be able to issue the visas, on average, within eight (8) weeks of the application.