Operational Bulletin 302 - April 13, 2011

Regulatory Change: Certificat de sélection du Québec Validity for Economic Class Applicants Selected by Québec

Issue

On April 1, 2011, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration implemented a regulatory change to section 15.1 of the Règlement sur la sélection des ressortissants étrangers affecting the validity of CSQs for ecomomic immigrants selected by the province of Québec.

Background

Before this regulatory change, economic immigrants who had applied for and received a CSQ were required to submit an application for permanent residence to a visa office overseas within the 12 month period following the date of CSQ issuance. If an economic immigrant selected by Québec failed to apply for permanent residence within that 12 month period, the CSQ would become null and void.

However, under this regulatory change, effective April 1, 2011, economic immigrants who have been selected by Québec and received a CSQ are no longer obliged to submit an application for permanent residence within 12 months of the date of CSQ issuance. Therefore, the CSQ no longer becomes null and void simply because an economic immigrant did not submit an application for permanent residence within the 12 month period following the date of CSQ issuance.

Processing Instructions

Effective April 1, 2011, visa offices are to disregard the expiry date noted in the “Remarks” field of CSQs only as it relates to an economic immigrant submitting their application for permanent residence within 12 months of CSQ issuance. Please note that the validity date on the CSQ remains 3 years, which will continue to be seen on all CSQs.

If, however, the CSQ expiry date is based on factors apart from just the submission of an application for permanent residence within 12 months of CSQ issuance, visa offices should act accordingly and request the applicant to submit a new CSQ if necessary.