This is an opinion that relates to the Federal Skilled Workers Programme for Permanent Residence Status in Canada. I will address a matter of principle in this article.
Adaptability and first-degree relatives of the applicant who reside in Quebec.
The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (R83 (1) (d) and 83 (5)) defines adaptability as the:
”for being related to, or for having an accompanying spouse or accompanying common-law partner who is related to, a person living in Canada who is described in subsection (5), 5 points”
“ the skilled worker or the skilled worker’s accompanying spouse or accompanying common-law partner is related by blood, marriage, common-law partnership or adoption to a person who is 18 years or older, a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada and who is
If an applicant has a first degree relative who resides in Quebec, and where the applicant went ahead and awarded him/herself the relevant immigration or Comprehensive Ranking System “CRS” points for this assumed adaptability, a risk of devaluation of the profile / application points exists and must be carefully considered.
I will first table the paradox; and then propose a solution. An applicant under the Federal Skilled Workers Programme may not select Quebec as the province s/he intend to live in. This is one of the first declarations an applicant makes when building his/her profile, in fact it is an eligibility requirement.
The Express Entry system asks the question to applicants if they have relatives in Canada, the nature of the blood relationship and finally the province where they reside. The eligibility and Express Entry systems allow for Quebec as a choice.
If an applicant declares, on their express entry profile, that they have relatives living in Canada, the system will automatically add CRS points to the profile.
When an invitation to apply is issued for an applicant who claimed adaptability points/CRS points, S/he are required to substantiate all claims made on the express entry profile, including the adaptability claims.
When an officer assesses the application for Permanent Residence and the documentation submitted, the officer will have two matters to whey, the declaration of the applicant that he does not wish to reside in Quebec and the “Adaptability Provider” who is a first degree relative residing in Quebec.
The officer may use his/her discretion in removing the adaptability points/CRS points, as the relative who resides in Quebec will not be able to provide the settlement support to an immigrant who lives in a different province.
If the adaptability points or CRS points were removed, the application may face two fates, the first being, a complete refusal, if the removal of the CRS points would bring the applicant’s CRS points below the threshold of the points cutoff at the round of invitation where s/he where invited to apply, or, if the applicant had sufficient CRS points, the officer may continue to process the profile but would go ahead and remove the 5 immigration points that are necessary to the bring the file to a minimum of 67 points.
Applicants through the Federal Skilled Workers programme, who have relatives living in Quebec, should practice caution when claiming adaptability points through this relative.
