Alberta expands immigrant nominee program

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) is an immigration program operated on behalf of the Government of Alberta by the Ministry of Employment and Immigration in conjunction with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to expedite the processing of an application for permanent residence. The AINP is designed to support Alberta’s economic growth by attracting labour-market-destined immigrants to the province.

Individuals nominated by the Province of Alberta, together with their spouse and dependent children, are eligible to apply for a permanent resident visa through CIC as a provincial nominee. CIC expedites permanent resident applications from provincial nominees and makes final decisions on the permanent resident applications. The program also enables qualified Alberta companies to hire and retain foreign workers, and nominate an employee to become a Provincial Nominee. This program is designed to fast-track permanent residency, and enables foreign workers  to become permanent residents in six to 18 months, compared to two to six years through traditional permanent residency streams.

In an effort to build the province’s workforce, the government recently expanded its (AINP) to include family members. Eligible Albertans may sponsor a parent, child, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew for provincial nomination.  The family members coming to Alberta will have to meet provincial eligibility criteria  and be able to join Alberta’s labour market. They must have post-secondary education, work experience, and be between 21 and 45 years old. Applicants do not need to have a job before they apply. The sponsoring family member living in Alberta will  act as a vital support system to help the newcomers while they settle in.

The process for applying to the AINP is different, depending on the stream and category the potential immigrant is applying under. More information is available by visiting www.albertacanada.com/immigration/immigrate/index.html.

This is just one of many programs designed to attract immigrants to the worker-starved province, including an online immigration web portal (www.albertacanada.com/immigration), a “one-stop destination for information on opportunities in Alberta, the immigration process and getting settled in the province.”