U.S. travel ban pushes skilled immigrants to Canada | MyConsultant

U.S. travel ban pushes skilled immigrants to Canada

New legislation in the U.S. last week has restricted immigration from Nigeria, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar.

While foreign nationals from these countries can still visit the U.S., they are now restricted from getting U.S. green cards. The ban also makes family reunification for Nigerian-born U.S. citizens difficult. As a result, many skilled Nigerian professionals are immigrating to Canada from both Nigeria and the U.S.

In fact, the number of skilled workers immigrating from Nigeria has tripled since 2016. Nigeria is now the fourth most common origin of Canadian newcomers.

The Express Entry program has made it easier for skilled foreign nationals to immigrate to Canada. Many Nigerians have sought asylum in Canada at the Quebec-New York border.

However, only one-third of these claims are being accepted and there is a large backlog of applications. Skilled professionals would have more certainty applying through the Express Entry program. Canada is also seeing more newcomers from Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Libya, which were included in Trump’s initial travel ban.

The Canadian economy will likely benefit from the latest influx of skilled professionals.

Source: Macleans.ca


 

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