Luba Dinkova – Pace Immigration: On May 1, 2017, eligible citizens from Bulgaria, Brazil and Romania have the green light to travel to Canada without obtaining a temporary resident visa (TRV). People from these countries who either have held visas for Canada or United States in the past 10 years, or presently have a valid visitor visa, must still apply for an eTA (electronic Travel Authorization). Travelers who do not meet this criteria will still have to apply for a visitor visa.

Pace Immigration: Legislation that will change Canadian citizenship law is much closer to becoming a reality:

Luba Dinkova – Pace Immigration: As of October 24, 2017, Canada will raise the definition of a dependent child’s age from under 19 to under 22. Principal immigration applicants will have the opportunity to include their children aged 21 and under on an application. From the government’s website:

Jim Metcalfe – Pace Immigration: Immigration Canada recently announced changes to the way spousal sponsorship works in Canada. They have scrapped a rule passed in 2012 by the Conservatives that said a sponsored spouse must live with their Canadian sponsor for a probationary period of two years before they receive permanent residency.

In this interview, Pace immigration lawyer Andy Semotiuk answers questions on Canadian immigration news from the past week.

Can you cross the border if you have a criminal record? In this interview, Canadian and US immigration lawyer Andy Semotiuk tells you what you need to know if you have a criminal record and want to come to Canada or the United States. Watch the video or read the transcript below.

The latest Express Entry draw has been announced. Invitations to apply for permanent residence have been extended to people with a record low score of 415 points.

A foreign buyer’s tax similar to that introduced in Vancouver last year will be coming to Ontario soon, as the government hopes to cool a red hot housing market. New rent control rules will also be put into effect. The Toronto Star reports:

Klaudios Mustakas – Pace Law Firm: On my recent trip to Saudi Arabia, I had many questions from clients about maintaining permanent residence (PR) status if they chose to work outside of Canada.

Jim Metcalfe – Pace Immigration: Over the past few weeks, we have received several inquiries from individuals outside of Canada who have lived in Canada as permanent residents, filed for Canadian citizenship, and then left Canada while waiting for citizenship to come through. Many are now complaining to us that they have been waiting for as long as 6 years and have had no decision on their citizenship application.