The Canadian government announced Thursday that it will open up work visas for Hong Kong people starting Feb. 8. Eligible applicants are Hong Kong students who have graduated with a post-secondary diploma or degree in the country in the past five years, or who hold an equivalent foreign certificate, and are eligible for a three-year work visa. But Canadian pro-democracy groups say Ottawa’s policy is not enough, and that many people in Hong Kong who are oppressed by the Chinese Communist authorities need active assistance from Canada.
The new policy was part of Immigration Canada’s announcement last November that all Hong Kong residents who had completed their studies at a post-secondary institution within five years could apply for a newly created three-year work visa. The government will also expedite the application of student visas for Hong Kong residents who plan to study in Canada, and will waive the application fee for Hong Kong residents who are already in Canada when applying and renewing their residence documents. At the Time, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said, “We will attract talented people who have recently graduated or worked in Hong Kong to help Canada’s economy, and we will also assist Hong Kong people to become immigrants to Canada as soon as possible through reunion immigration and work visas, and will provide assistance to Hong Kong refugee applications.”
After a gap of three months, Canada has decided to open applications for three-year work visas from February 8, but the obvious beneficiaries are those who have been in Canada and have received a Canadian or equivalent foreign accredited post-secondary diploma or degree within the last five years, and the diploma program must last at least two years.
The Department of Immigration statement mentions that Hong Kong residents currently in Canada, including visitors, students and workers, can submit their applications online, while overseas applicants will remain subject to the current travel restrictions or inadmissible unless they are successful in obtaining a job offer in Canada and meet the travel exemption and public health requirements.
Cherie Wong, executive director of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, said that because of the border closure caused by the Epidemic, Hong Kong people are not allowed to enter Canada at all, and the travel documents of those involved in the demonstration may have been confiscated by the authorities, and that the current supportive policy in Ottawa is too little and requires more aggressive action. “Hong Kong people should be allowed to apply for visas overseas and be able to enjoy a waiver and enter Canada; the Family reunion immigration program should be relaxed to allow siblings to act as sponsors; in the past, when Canada helped refugees in Syria, it allowed mixed sponsorship, allowing multiple unrelated Canadian citizens to sponsor a refugee for settlement together, and I hope the same arrangement can be applied to Hong Kong people. “
China has tightened its grip on Hong Kong, and authorities have recently begun pressuring Hong Kong residents with dual citizenship to choose between them. Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday that a Hong Kong prisoner with Canadian and Chinese citizenship was asked to make a declaration of nationality on Jan. 18, saying Ottawa has expressed concern to the Hong Kong government and wants more information from local authorities in Hong Kong about changes to dual citizenship treatment.
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