With eased visa requirements: More Pinoys expected to migrate to Canada

CEBU, Philippines - Migration consultancy company Pinoy Care Visa Center expects more Pinoys to migrate to Canada following the recent announcement of the Embassy of  Canada in the Philippines that processing of visa applications from disaster-affected areas will be prioritized and more job opportunities will be offered for the survivors.

Pinoy Care Visa Center, one of the country's largest visa consultancy firms, is now encouraging Filipinos, especially those from the Visayas to take advantage of this rare opportunity to migrate to Canada.

Pinoy Care president and chief executive officer (CEO) Prisca Niña Mabatid said that while immigration guidelines in Canada is erratic, those who have plans of migrating should maximize these opportunities.

Early this month, Mabatid said her office received a memorandum from the Canadian Embassyinforming the agency that visa applications from calamity stricken areas in the Visayas will be prioritized.

This means that from the usual waiting time of six months or more, visa applications from the Visayas will now only take a month.

Moreover, the opening of the Nova Scotia Nominee Program will likewise encourage more Filipinos to acquire a Canadian visa while the requirements are being eased out to encourage highly skilled professionals to work in Nova Scotia.

Under the Provincial Nominee Program of Nova Scotia, one of Canada's three maritime provinces that constitute one of the four Atlantic Canada provinces, now added 40 more categories in the job market. These include engineers, hospitality workers, healthcare professionals, construction workers, computer technicians, mechanics, welders, automotive service providers, crane operators, truck and bus mechanics, industrial electricians, heavy duty equipment mechanics, and machine related operators, among others.

Mabatid said this special program would only require lesser percentage in English proficiency exam or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) from the normal 6.5 score to a requirement of only five passing rate.

  Moreover, these 40 job categories do not require applicants of the traditional "point system" of the normal Visa application to Canada.

"This is the perfect time for Filipinos who have plans to migrate to Canada to hurry up and start processing their papers now," said Mabatid, who operates her visa consultancy firm for 15 years now with presence in different cities across the Philippines.

In an earlier interview with Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (CanCham) president Julian Payne, he said that Canada is not only attractive for immigrants looking for job opportunities, but also for entrepreneurs.

This segment is also an opportunity for non-Canadian nationals to take advantage of the dynamic economy in Canada, while it is hardly affected by economic crisis that hit the United States and Europe.

Mabatid confirmed Paynes statement saying her company has also observed a growing number of Filipino entrepreneurs from Cebu and other areas in the Philippines, and even in other countries (outside Canada) signifying interest to establish businesses in Canada.

Mabatid said most entrepreneurs from the Philippines are signifying interest to open businesses in construction, real estate development, and even food processing and manufacturing in Canada.

To date, the Philippines is the number one supplier of immigrants to Canada, with over 500 thousand Filipinos now residing and working in Canada. (FREEMAN)