Today, on December 3rd, the United States surprised everyone again, and unfortunately, not in a good way. Without any warning, citizens of 19 countries were banned from applying for all types of immigration to the United States.
This means their applications will not be processed at all: not for visitor visas, not for student visas, not for business visas, not for green cards, not for any other immigration categories.
Furthermore, applications from citizens of these countries who are already in the United States will be re-evaluated, and those pending will be frozen. This even affects those who should have already been in the process of obtaining permanent residence or citizenship.
Which countries we are talking about? These are:
- Afghanistan,
- Burma (Myanmar),
- Republic of Chad,
- Republic of the Congo,
- Guinea,
- Eritrea,
- Haiti,
- Iran,
- Libya,
- Somalia,
- Sudan,
- Yemen,
- Burundi,
- Cuba,
- Laos,
- Sierra Leone,
- Togo,
- Venezuela,
- Turkmenistan.
How this might affect Canadian immigration?
I've been preparing some material about it for a long time. But the publication is still being processed. Based on the situation in the United States, many people who have been there for years
(some legally, some illegally) have lived there peacefully for a long time and haven't considered moving to third countries. Many have lived in the United States for decades,20 , 30, or more years.
But due to the current president's aggressive immigration policies, a huge number of people today:
- are already subject to forced deportation,
- fear deportation in the near future,
- are beginning to look for ways to move.
And the first country people think of is Canada.
Already today we notice:
- The number of search queries for Canadian immigration has increased sharply,
- Many companies and consultants have received a flurry of inquiries from those living in the US and wanting to enter Canada.
What conclusions can we draw from this?
Those who lived in the US illegally
Currently, they have no legal way to enter Canada.
This was possible before, but not anymore. There are SOME exceptions, but these should be discussed in a private consultation. You can contact us.
Those who live in the US legally and want to enter Canada
They can apply for temporary visas:
- tourist,
- visitor,
- student.
And we are already starting to receive such requests in large numbers. Preparing these documents is a COMPLEX process! In theory, people are requesting a temporary visa from a country with temporary residence. These applications should be handled by specialists. Again, you can book a consultation on our website.
Those in the process of obtaining US citizenship, a green card, or other statuses
If such people apply for Canadian visas, their applications will be reviewed very thoroughly.
Another and very important category is those who applied for asylum in the US or lived there without documents.
These people need to understand the following:
For a year and a half, a law has been in effect that prohibits them from coming to the Canadian border and requesting asylum.
You may be:
- turned away within 14 days,
- placed in a detention center,
- and returned back to the US.
Under no circumstances should you attempt this?
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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