Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced that, effective April 10, 2010, visa officers will only consider the evidence of language proficiency provided at the time of application.
It used to be that applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker Class and Canadian Experience Class could file any kind of documentary proof to substantiate their language abilities in English and/or French. If a visa officer was not satisfied that the documentary proof substantiated the level of language abilities claimed, the visa officer would offer the applicant the opportunity to undergo and submit the results of a designated language test. As of April 10, 2010, however, that “offer” will no longer be an option.
While the downside to this policy change is that (i) applicants cannot buy themselves time to improve their language abilities and (ii) applicants must bear the cost and inconvenience of formal language testing, the upside to this policy change is that processing times will be improved as an intermediate step will be removed from the application process.
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