Immigration Forum / Canada / October 2003

Dear Ben:

In reply:
Regulation 79(1) provides that proficiency may be established through
approved testing or by providing other evidence of proficiency in writing.
Under the new Regulations there is no longer a requirement to interview
applicants. The selection standards are designed to be objective and clearly
defined to allow officers to assess eligibility through the information
provided on the application and supporting documentation. Therefore, having
completed an approved language test is the best assurance that the correct
number of points will be awarded, as the test results are conclusive proof
(Regulation 79(4)).

Applicants who do not take one of the approved tests are subjecting
themselves to one of the few areas of subjectivity in the skilled worker
class. If an applicant provides a written explanation and supporting
documentation in lieu of test results, the officer must assess proficiency
against the Canadian Language Benchmarks. Given the detailed nature of these
Benchmarks and the difficulty of providing objective evidence to establish
high or moderate proficiency, it would be strongly advised to complete the
tests.

The guidelines in Chapter OP6, s. 10.10 indicate, however, that where an
applicant has been raised, educated, and employed in an environment where
one of the official languages is in predominant use, a written explanation
will usually suffice to establish high proficiency in that language.

2.  Your pet can accompany you to Canada.  Just make sure that you have all
of her Veterinary papers with you.
Yours truly,
Lori Roberts
Customer Service
________________________
Webimmigration.com
Main Floor, 137 Bannatyne Avenue East
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Canada     R3B 0R3
Tel:  1-204-943-3303
Fax: 1-204-943-2625
Email:  info@webimmigration.com
Visit our website at www.webimmigration.com