BC Provincial Nominee Program

What is the Provincial Nominee Program?

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) encourages Workers with specialized skills, experience, and education to apply for Permanent Residency in Canada. The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) was set up to accelerate the processing of applications for people who would be ideally suited for our province! Being nominated by the province of BC will allow you, your spouse and dependent children to become permanent resident of Canada. There are different categories within the BC PNP and our certified immigration consultants' work with you to ensure your application has the best opportunity to be successful. We can do this with sound provincial economic reasoning and evidence that will support your ability to become economically and socially established within a BC community.

Who can qualify?

There are a number of categories, known as 'streams' within each Provincial Nominee class and the criteria varies across the provinces. A few examples of these streams are the Skilled Worker, Family Business Worker, International Student, or Strategic Operations and Business. If you have a valid job offer from a Canadian employer or you have an approved business plan that can contribute to the economic health of the province, then you may qualify.

The advantage of being nominated by a province is that it allows you to qualify for permanent immigration to Canada without the 67 points that is required for the Federal Skilled Worker program. Provincial programs focus more on your ability to effectively work in a specific occupation.

How Does it Work?

Applying for nomination with a province to become a Permanent Residency in Canada is a two step process. First, you apply to the province for nomination, then, after being nominated, you apply for permanent residency through the Federal application system.

Once you decide which province that you would like to settle in, you should review the Provincial Nominee Program in that province to see if you are eligible. If you are, and you choose to apply, you must complete the required application forms, attach all supporting documentation and forward the complete application package to the Provincial Office of Immigration for assessment.

When you are approved by the Provincial Office of Immigration you will receive a Letter of Nomination. A Certificate of Nomination will be issued by the Office of Immigration directly to the appropriate CIC visa office. Processing times vary among provinces. For example, an application submitted to the BC PNP in Vancouver can be processed as little as two to three weeks. A nomination by the province does not guarantee that you will be granted permanent residency. This final decision rests solely with CIC, which leads to step two.

If you are nominated by the province, you must then submit your Permanent Resident and federal immigration application package directly to the appropriate CIC visa office within a set amount of time after your certificate of nomination is issued.

CIC will conduct criminal, security and health checks on you and your family members.. They may also request an interview or additional information. CIC will make the final selection decision on whether you will be issued a permanent resident visa. The processing times for these applications take 6-10 months depending on the application.

We can help!

If you are interested in exploring your options as a provincial nominee, our office can help you! For a number of years we have been helping clients and their families from all around the world relocate and settle in Canada. Our team of Certified Canadian Immigration Consultants offers honest and professional tailored immigration plans. Red Seal Immigration is an established company in Victoria, BC and operates lawfully within Canada's regulated immigration industry. Red Seal has experience with Permanent Resident applications, Temporary Work Permits, Visitor Visas and other immigration applications.

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