Houston Careers Abroad Programs

Canada offers more than 100 immigration and visa programs for foreign nationals to either immigrate, study, or travel to the country. It is important to find the right Canadian visa that best fits your needs. The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a popular program to immigrate through if you know where you want to move to in Canada. This program allows the government and provinces/territories to nominate foreign nationals to move to a particular province permanently based on their labor and immigration needs. Each province and territory has its own list of in-demand occupations. You can apply for a nomination directly to the province of your choice or through the Express Entry system.

Another way to immigrate to Canada is through a Study Permit. Canada is a great place to earn a globally recognized qualification and boost your career. To obtain a study permit, you first need to enrol at a Designated Learning Institute (DLI) with an approved COVID-19 readiness plan. You will also need a study visa and proof of funds to support yourself. The waiting time for a Canadian student visa is around 16 weeks, but if you are from one of the participating countries in the Student Direct Stream, you can receive your permit in as little as 20 calendar days.

Canada is a vast country with 13 provinces, each with its own unique features and requirements. To determine the best province to live in Canada, it is important to consider Provincial Nomination Programs (PNPs). Manitoba is open to international students, offering three primary pathways to gaining a provincial nomination: the Career Employment Pathway, Graduate Internship Pathway, and International Student Entrepreneur Pilot. Saskatchewan has four PNPs: the International Skilled worker Category, Saskatchewan Work Experience Category, Entrepreneur Category, and Farm Owner and Operator Category. New Brunswick falls under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot and also has its own Express Entry Stream, Skilled Workers’ Stream, and Entrepreneurial stream. Newfoundland and Labrador has many of the same PNP categories as New Brunswick and also has an International Graduate Category and an International Graduate Entrepreneur Category. Prince Edward Island also falls under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program and has its own Express Entry, Skilled Workers, International Graduate, and Entrepreneurship streams, as well as the Prince Edward Island Critical Workers Stream and the Skilled Workers Outside Canada Stream. Nova Scotia has the most PNP categories, including an entrepreneur, International Graduate, International Graduate Entrepreneur, Skilled Worker Streams, and two Express Entry Streams. The Nova Scotia Labour Market Priorities Stream exclusively picks candidates from the national express entry pool if their skills fill the needs of the Nova Scotia job market.

Until further notice, the requirement for a re-entry visa for minors who are resident in Ireland has been suspended. Children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who has legal permission to live in Ireland, and the accompanying adult must provide appropriate documentation to prove their legal guardianship. Individuals wishing to travel under this new policy should contact their airline to confirm that they will be allowed to board, as some airlines may not allow a minor to board without a visa. It is recommended that minors apply for an entry visa, which will be processed free of charge.

UK nationals living in Ireland will not face any changes after Brexit, as they are protected by the Common Travel Area. They will still have the freedom to travel, live, work and access education, healthcare, and social services. They do not need any documentation under the Withdrawal Agreement to continue their lives in Ireland.

Non-EEA family members and dependents of UK nationals will have separate arrangements, and they can exercise EU Treaty Rights under the EU Free Movement Directive to hold a valid Irish Resident Permit. They will have the same residence rights in Ireland as the UK national and can continue to live, work, or study in Ireland. However, they will need to exchange their current valid Irish Resident Permit card for a new one, which can be done through an online renewal system administered by the Immigration Service of the Department of Justice.

Non-EEA family members of UK nationals living in Ireland will be required to confirm that they have been exercising EU Treaty Rights to reside in the State on or before Brexit and continue to do so. They will also have until New Year’s Eve to apply for a new Irish Residence Permit card, and the Department of Justice will continue to process applications received before the end of the transition period.

For UK nationals who wish to live in Ireland after Brexit, there will be no changes as they will still be protected by the Common Travel Area. However, a new scheme will be introduced for UK nationals who come to Ireland after Brexit and want to bring their non-EEA family members.

The Department of Justice in Ireland has announced significant changes to the citizenship application process. These changes include new passport requirements and a scorecard approach for establishing identity and residency.

Under the new passport requirements, new applicants for citizenship are no longer required to submit their original passport with the initial application. Instead, they can provide a certified full-color copy of their entire passport, including all previous passports containing stamps that contribute to the applicant’s period of residency claimed.

The color copy of the passport must be certified by a solicitor, commissioner for oaths, or notary public. This requires checking the original passport’s front and back, comparing the biometric page(s) to the applicant, and initialing and stamping all color copy pages with a short letter confirming its authenticity.

Regarding the scorecard approach, applicants must now accumulate a total of 150 points for establishing identity and a score of 150 points for each year of residency claimed. Applicants can achieve these scores by submitting proofs with predetermined point values until they reach the required score for each year.

In the event that an applicant is unable to achieve 150 points, they should contact the Department of Justice for assistance. These new changes are expected to streamline the citizenship application process and make it more efficient.

The Irish Department of Justice has announced that the five-year multi-entry short-stay visa option will be extended to all countries that require visas. This new visa option allows eligible applicants to make one application and covers a five-year period of travel to Ireland. The visa is particularly useful for individuals who frequently visit Ireland for business or family reasons. Previously, Ireland had offered multi-entry visas for one, two, and three years, as well as a five-year multi-entry visa for Chinese passport holders. However, this extension of eligibility to all visa-required countries is a significant development.

Under certain conditions, business travelers with no previous travel history to Ireland may also be eligible for a multi-entry visa. It’s important to note that the granting of a multi-entry visa is at the discretion of the relevant Visa Officer, and a standard single entry visa option remains available. With the introduction of this new visa option, it’s expected that tourism will increase, and ties between Ireland and other countries will be strengthened.