FAQs

You and your dependants must satisfy the visa officer that you meet the requirements
of the Canadian Immigration Act and Regulations. You must:

• be law abiding;
• not be a risk to the security of Canada;
• meet the health requirements;
• have a valid passport or travel document;
• have enough money to look after yourself and your dependants in Canada until you
  become self-supporting;
• produce all documents requested by the visa officer to establish your admissibility;
  and
• pay the processing fee to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
• in addition, you must score sufficient points under the selection system.

Traditionally, concurrent applications for permanent residence and temporary entry
have been viewed by visa officers as being incompatible with each other because
an impression that an applicant does not intend to leave Canada upon the expiration
of Non-immigrant visa (dual intent). While the applicants are not requiring visiting
Canada as part of the application process, under current immigration policy, they
are encouraged to become familiar with Canada, which assumed will help successfully
integrate into Canadian society. However, the applicants who wish to apply for the
temporary entry into Canada and who have an application for permanent residence
pending, will be required to demonstrate sufficient ties to their current country
of residence prior to the issuing of a temporary visitor’s visa by the Canadian
visa office.

The validity date is based upon the earlier of: your or your dependents’ passport
validity date(s); or the medical validity date(s). Medical examination results are
valid for 12 months after the initial medical examination. Immigrant visas cannot
be extended once issued. If applicants do not use the visas within their validity,
they must reapply for immigration to Canada.

The Government of the Province of Quebec selects its own immigrants in co-operation
with the Government of Canada. If you wish to settle in Quebec you should submit
your application to the nearest office of the Quebec Immigration Service or Contact
your authorized representative.

The Canada-Quebec Accord recognizes that the province of Quebec is solely responsible
for the selection of independent applicants destined to the province of Quebec.
However, it should be understood that federal immigration authorities are solely
responsible for assessing an applicant’s admissibility and are those who can issue
immigrant visas. The situation, therefore, possible when applicants may be refused
even if they have already been accepted by Quebec. At the same time, federal immigration
authorities will not issue an immigrant visa to an immigrant destined to the province
of Quebec, who has not met Quebec’s selection criteria.

Permanent Resident visas are issued to the three classes of applicants:

• Skilled Worker Class: A person with specific occupational skills and experience
  may qualify as an Skilled Worker immigrant. These skills must be readily transferable
  to the Canadian labour market;
• Business Class: successful business people who have abilities and resources
  to invest or establish businesses in Canada; and
• Family Class: members of the families of Canadian citizens and permanent
  residents.

Applications for permanent residence will include the principal applicant and all
of his/her dependants. This means the applicant must include his/her spouse and
all dependent children. The applicant and all dependants must be determined to be
admissible, even if they have no intention of accompanying the principal applicant,
in order for visas to be issued to the principal applicant or any dependants. Generally,
parents are not included as accompanying dependants of the principal applicant.
Parents can be sponsored after the applicant becomes a Canadian permanent resident.
In exceptional cases, an elderly parent can be included as an accompanying dependant
pursuant to the “Last Surviving Member” policy.

The Canadian immigration law define spouse as someone of the opposite sex to whom
an individual is joined in marriage. Therefore, common-law spouses and same-sex
partners are not considered spouses for immigration purposes and will be processed
as Independent Class immigrants. Where the common-law spouse or same-sex partner
does not qualify as an Independent immigrant, a Permanent Resident visa may still
be issued on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, due hardship which would often
result from separating of a bona fide same sex or common law couple

If you are carrying more than C$10,000, tell a Canadian official when you arrive in Canada. If you do not tell an official, you may be fined or put in prison. These funds could be in the form of:

• cash
• securities in bearer form (for example, stocks, bonds, debentures, treasury bills) or
• negotiable instruments in bearer form (for example, bankers’ drafts, cheques, travellers’ cheques or money orders).