Dubai: New immigration rules will make it tougher for older immigrants to get into Canada next year as Ottawa is looking for younger professionals with high language proficiency skills, consultants said.

The new rules, which will come into force in January next year, will benefit those in the age group of 18 to 35 years of age as the tougher points system is put in place.

In the new point system the 18 to 35 age group can score 12 points. “If you are 36 years old you will lose one point for each year, and so on,’ said Sohail Saleem, general manager at Premiers, a Dubai-based immigration firm.

“Earlier, if you are 49 years of age you could get 10 points, now if you are 47 years, you will get zero points,” he said.

Many of the applicants from this region are usually in their late 30s or mid-40s.

The other change is that your educational qualifications will have to be evaluated by a competent authority back in Canada, immigration consultants said. “That will take about between 30 to 45 days,” said Saleem.
 
The good news for emigrants is that Ottawa is opening up more categories in the special occupation list, said Jalil Parker, immigration consultant with Vision Consultancy Services in Dubai.

Earlier the job category was limited to 29, but now it will include many more occupations including managerial jobs and in trade and services.

Under the new rules, you will get 15 points if you have six years of work experience. This has been dropped from the earlier 21 points if you had four years of work experience, said Saleem. 

The language skills are also being given high importance and applicants have to undergo the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). More points will be given to applicants with high proficiency in the first language (English). The test is held at the British Council.

Consultants hinted that while the large number of applicants from here are professionals, language proficiency is not at par and some may require training before they pass this test. Others said this may be limit the number of applicants from China and Asia.

The largest number of emigrants to Canada are from China, India, Philippines and Pakistan. No figures are available as to how many immigrants go from the Middle East every year, but consultants said a “considerable” number are processed every year.

Nurses are one the leading professionals needed in Canada as the population grows older and needs more healthcare workers.

Under the new rules the application processing time is expected to be speeded up and could take between eight to 12 months.

Earlier, the backlog of applications reached 900,000 and it took anything between three to four years if your applied from the UAE,” said Saleem.

It would take anything from six to eight years if the application was sent from India or China, he said.

He said the sad part is that Canada has “ruthlessly” rejected the applications of 280,000 applicants who had applied before 2008. “This was done to speed up the application process,” he said.

Parker hinted that many applicants from the UAE see immigration as an “option” to advance their career.