By Ali Mokhtari
Since the investment program of Quebec is currently closed, the applicants for that program will have to wait for the second edition of the law ratified in June 26, 2010. With the issuance of this law - which was supposed to be issued on October 26 but is said to be planned for the late fall - both the government of Quebec and the federal government will open their investment programs.
As previously announced, the conditions of the new program have been adjusted as follows; applicant must have:
1- An asset of at least one million and six hundred thousand dollars
2- At least two years of experience in business management
3- Five-year passive investment of eight hundred thousand dollars or pay an amount in order to receive a loan from financial institutions. This amount has not yet been exactly specified and is said to be between 180 to 220 thousand dollars
The reason for the delay of the federal program from June to late fall is due to the fact that the systems need to be prepared and ready for new cases as well as the fact that the underlying legal processes need to be completed. Since it has been promised that the cases of the new program are to be examined very quickly, it is predicted that these applicants will get their visas within one year.
One of the major questions and concerns that have been brought to our attention are about the differences between the two programs, therefore here we will discuss the differences between the Quebec program and the federal program:
- The first difference is related to the classification of business and management. Those who are involved in professional jobs, such as lawyers and doctors, can only apply through Quebec and governmental managers. Managers of international organizations are also not able to apply through Federal.
- The second difference is related to the time of examination. The federal government intends to examine the cases as soon as possible and since they possess control over the whole process, it is not unlikely for them to keep their promise. The Quebec government may also claim that they will do the same, but the point is that the most they can do is to accelerate the process of examining CQ requests. From that point on, the ball is in the federal field and if there is not a serious agreement with the federal government there will not be a significant difference with the examination time, which is currently 18 to 24 months.
What we recommend:
Those who are qualified and want to apply are best to go to immigration consulting offices and begin to complete the required documents in order to get their cases ready. This way as soon as the programs of the federal government or the Quebec government (only for those who cannot apply through federal) are open, they can be among the first cases which will be examined. Our colleagues in Canpars offices in Iran and Canada are ready to help you.