Annual quota met for Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program streams

IMPACT – MEDIUM

What is the change? The province of Ontario has announced that the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) has met its 2016 federal quota of applications and has temporarily paused intake of applications for high-volume streams.

What does the change mean? New applications under the Employer Pre-screen and International Student (masters and Ph.D. graduate) streams will not be accepted and will be returned with their filing fees. Lower-volume streams continue to be available.

• Implementation time frame: Immediate.
• Visas/permits affected: OINP.
• Who is affected: Foreign nationals seeking permanent residence through certain OINP streams.
• Business impact: Foreign nationals in closed streams who cannot find alternative routes will have to wait until new federal quotas are allocated near the end of 2016.

Background: Ontario announced that applications in affected OINP streams that were not received by 5 p.m. EDT May 9 will be rejected.

The OINP will continue to accept applications in the Foreign Worker and International Student with a Job Offer stream, but only those whose job offer has been approved through the Employer Pre-screen application process may apply to the OINP within 60 days of the approval letter. Additionally, the OINP will continue to accept applications in the French-Speaking Skilled Worker, Corporate and Entrepreneur streams.

BAL Analysis: This indicates the strong demand for applications under the OINP, and foreign nationals may need to adjust their plans accordingly.

This alert has been provided by the BAL Global Practice group and our network provider located in Canada. For additional information, please contact your BAL attorney.

Copyright © 2016 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries please contact copyright@bal.com.