On the CBC there is an article about Immigrant visas to drop 5 per cent The basic synopsis is that the government is reducing the number of visas offered to parents and grandparents of immigrants – these are known as family reunification visas. The change is being done to give priority to children and spouses, which will hopefully mean that our visa application currently underway gets processed a little faster.
Some quotes on the parents and grandparents from the article:
Parents and grandparents often aren’t viewed as a help to the economy. But Aiken said many immigrants entering the workforce rely on parents and grandparents for child care and help around the home.
Kurland told CBC News the slashed rate and the 140,000 applicants already in the queue mean a parent could wait 13 years for a visa if he or she were to apply today.
“Frankly, there’s a better chance of the parents seeing a coffin before a Canadian visa,” he said.
Interestingly everytime I see an article on the CBC about immigration it’s filled with tons of anti-immigration comments. Most of the comments are ignorant emotional responses to the article and not based on fact. This one is no different including several comments saying that parents/grandparents arrive and are an economic leech to the taxpaying Canadian. What they don’t realize is that their sponsor (that would be their children) has to meet strict financial requirements to qualify as a sponsor and further more agrees that the immigrant will not receive any sort of government support for a certain number of years. In the case of a spousal visa it’s three years, but I don’t know off hand what the minimum time is for parents or grandparents.
And another article in the Toronto Star on the same subject with the same kind of comments.
On an unrelated note, happy Valentines day.
- UPDATE ****
Seen on facebook
Your car is German. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers are Arabic & your letters Latin, & you complain your neighbour is an immigrant? Pull yourself together! Copy if you’re against racism.
Today we received the next letter from immigration. Actually this one is from the Embassy in Seoul and is to acknowledge receipt of your application for permanent residence in Canada We are also instructed to check this web site for processing times, but the real page is here. I found out the processing time is 6 months, which hasn’t changed in a real long time.
I then logged in to check when our application had been officially received, The third week of January. This means we should be finished processed around the third week of July. Unfortunately for us, we’ve booked the wife’s & kids flights to Toronto one week earlier than that. Hopefully we can get everything processed a little early.
As I mentioned in this entry we’ve been instructed to not contact the embassy about our application until the stated processing time has passed. If we do they will not respond. The only thing that we can do is send a fax or post (not email) if we wish to submit additional information or change our mailing address.
This past weekend was a 5 day weekend here in Korea and most of Asia due to it being the Lunar New Year. I believe most people in Canada refer to it as Chinese New Year. In any case this is the second biggest holiday in Korea following Chusok and the driving is usually just as horrendous – see this post for details. This year we had the best traffic we ever did and that includes regular weekends. Both ways the drive was about 3 hours and very stress free. Lucky us.
We haven’t done much regarding the move to Canada lately, but I’ve been thinking about it alot. One thing that I’m not too keen on is arriving without a credit card as I’ll have to cancel my Korean card before i go and I don’t have a Canadian one. Don’t really want to walk around with wads of cash as I go and buy things like a cellphone, TV, car, and other various big ticket items. Actually one thing I’m wondering is whether it’s possible to rent a car without a credit card. I’ll be landing at 10am and would like to rent a car to drive to whatever accomadations I’ve arranged and then be able to get around for the first couple of days until I buy a car.
Also keep thinking about employment and my less than spectacular business. Do have a couple of contacts that will potentially lead to some p/t outsourcing work for agencies but the thing is nothing is guaranteed. Queue worried look as I contemplate hemmoraging my savings while looking for work.
In other news I’m really enjoying photography a lot and have been keeping up with my photo a day at my photoblog site. More pictures can be seen at my flickr page I’ll also add a few shots from my recent trip to the countryside below or you can view the complete Chungchungbuk do set.
Foggy Road
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