Hong Kongers seeking work in Canada could face hurdles as permit program set to expire – National | 24CA News

For Hong Kong resident Anthony Yip, his street to making use of for everlasting residency in Canada has been bumpy.

Yip stated he utilized for a short lived three-year open work allow as quickly as he heard concerning the choice in February 2021. But with this system set to run out on Feb. 7 this yr, some at the moment are calling on the federal authorities to increase it so a brand new crop of current graduates can qualify.

The program grants sure exemptions for Hong Kong residents who graduated from a post-secondary establishment previously 5 years and wish to come work in Canada within the wake of a controversial crackdown on dissent put in place by China.

But shortly after his work allow was authorised and Yip landed in Canada, the federal authorities introduced two new pathways to everlasting residency for Hong Kongers in June 2021.

The two pathways are generally often called stream A and stream B and permit Hong Kong residents to use for everlasting residence.

With stream A, candidates will need to have graduated from a Canadian post-secondary establishment throughout the final three years. For  stream B, they will need to have labored on this nation for no less than a yr and have graduated throughout the final 5 from both a Canadian post-secondary establishment, or a overseas equal.

Those who utilized for an open work allow are directed to undergo stream B, however the requirement for candidates to have graduated throughout the final 5 years means by the point somebody on the open work allow applies for that everlasting residency choice, they might have aged out of that standards.

That’s what Yip says occurred to him as a 2016 graduate.

“I found out later that the five-year graduation limit for the work permit and permanent residence is not the same, they don’t belong in the same timeline,” stated Yip.

He stated he’s now engaged on getting a diploma in Canada so he can apply beneath stream A as an alternative.

But one advocate says they fear the open work allow expiration will imply others who nonetheless wish to come to Canada or who part immigration snarls received’t be capable to.

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Human rights advocates and Hong Kongers residing in Canada at the moment are asking the federal authorities to increase and lengthen Canada’s particular everlasting residence pathways for Hong Kong residents.

This not solely contains eliminating the five-year commencement restrict for staff, but in addition extending the deadline for Ottawa’s particular open work allow program — which can expire on Feb. 7 — so extra Hong Kong residents can come to Canada.

Katherine Leung, Canadian coverage adviser for U.Ok.-based NGO Hong Kong Watch, informed Global News that the five-year commencement restrict “is a very technical bug in the policy.”

“Let’s say someone graduated between 2016 to 2017, they get the open work permit, come to Canada, work for a year, and if we add in the amount of time it takes to get settled to find work and complete paperwork, it’s going to exceed the five-year limit for stream B,” stated Leung.

In the summer time of 2019, protests erupted in Hong Kong over a now-axed invoice that extradited suspects to China, which undermines Hong Kong’s judicial independence. What adopted was the introduction of what Beijing calls a nationwide safety legislation in June 2020 that led to the arrest of political dissidents, legal professionals and journalists.

The nationwide safety legislation in Hong Kong, which remains to be in impact in the present day, has very broad definitions that criminalize “secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.”

As Beijing tightened its grip over Hong Kong, Ottawa introduced its dedication to arrange an immigration program for Hong Kongers to settle in Canada in November 2020.

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However, Leung stated the five-year commencement restrict additionally has excluded youthful Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters who haven’t but graduated however wish to come to Canada.

“A solution to that would be the extension for the deadline for the open work permit application past February of this year, which would include a lot more young people as those people will grow up and graduate,” stated Leung.

Yip stated quite a lot of younger protesters additionally don’t have the monetary stability or household help to come back to Canada.

“They don’t really have any options,” stated Yip. “They have sacrificed so much for Hong Kong, so I am wondering if it is possible for Canada to come up with other immigration programs to help them.”

When requested about the opportunity of extending and increasing the particular immigration pathway for Hong Kong residents, a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada stated the federal government stays “concerned” concerning the state of affairs.

The division stated Hong Kong residents now not capable of apply by way of the expiring program could possibly apply by way of completely different avenue, together with beneath one of many financial immigration packages or by making use of to reunite with a member of the family by way of household sponsorship.

“Human rights advocates in Hong Kong may qualify for the new open work permit launched in February 2021,” the division stated, however didn’t reply whether or not the open work allow program will probably be prolonged.

“IRCC continues engage with stakeholders on this issue and monitor the situation actively,” the division stated. “We cannot speculate on future policy decisions.”

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