Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney today welcomed Olympic hopeful Kaitlyn Weaver as a Canadian citizen at a ceremony in Kitchener, Ontario.  “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I am proud to welcome Kaitlyn Weaver as a Canadian,” Minister Kenney said. “Our citizenship is one of the most valuable things we can possess. Ms Weaver has made, and will continue to make, an exceptional contribution to Canada, and I am very pleased to be able to honour her commitment.”

The Citizenship Act contains a special provision that allows the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada by issuing a grant of citizenship.

Kaitlyn Weaver (born April 12, 1989 in Houston, Texas and living in Canada since 2006) is an American ice dancer who currently represents Canada internationally. With partner Andrew Poje, she is the 2008 Canadian national silver medalist and 2007 World Junior bronze medalist.

Weaver will now be eligible to represent Canada at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, 2010.

The Metro had an interesting article today about the H1-B visa and it’s dependant accompanying visa, the “dreaded” H-4.

The article discusses the difficulties of Samvita Padukone,  a pregnant H-4 visa holder, and her husband Sanjay Mavinkurve, an H1-B visa holder and Google engineer.

They are currently residing part time in Canada, attempting to fight the law which does not allow the dependants of H1-B visa holders to gain employment in the United States. Sanjay feels he does not have the right to ask his wife to stay at home while he works because of a rule they find unfair. The US only grants a limited amount of H1-B visas and have recently reduced the amount further and added constraints on companies who wish to employ foreign professionals as opposed to American workers.

At the moment they are awaiting the approval of their green card so that Sanjay may return to work in the United States, but the longer the wait, the more inclined they are to stay in Toronto, says the couple.

Should dependants of H1-B visa holders be allowed to work? Should there be limitations on the employment they may gain?

To insure you’re aware of all of your rights and the laws related to the visa you wish to gain, it is important to speak with an experienced lawyer on the matter. It may save you thousands of dollars and years of your time.

Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has come out this weekend condemning the ease with which people with poor language skills in Canada’s official languages gain citizenship in Canada. He cited meeting citizens of 15 years who could not conduct a conversation in either French or English.

Though the language requirements are already in place with respect to Canadian citizenship applications, Kenney says they are not being enforced strictly enough, with judges informing him that some applicants are approved with little evidence of language ability.  Continue Reading »

The American government has been, for quite some time now, putting pressure on Microsoft to reduce its so called dependence on H-1B Visa employees. Iowa Senator Charles Grassley has been attempting to convince Microsoft that it is their moral obligation to engage in protectionist hiring and retention to increase the employment of American citizens.

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Earlier this week, we posted a blog about the film “The Visitor”  which is about the hardships a family involved in US deportation proceedings.  There is now a Canadian version in the form of a CBC documentary called “Seeking Refuge”.

The documentary is about the real life stories of four refugee claimants who escape persecution to find a new life in Canada and their struggles.

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Zeituni Onyango, the half-sister of President Obama’s late father, was instructed to leave the United States four years ago  when her request for asylum from her native Kenya was rejected

Just days before Barack Obama’s election, the Bush administration imposed a  rule called “Fugitive Case File Vetting Prior to Arrest” requiring federal immigrations agents to obtain high-level approval before they can arrest fugitives.

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