Canada Immigration Policy Latest Update: According to the Ming Pao, the Quebec Immigration (Weibo) Office held a meeting yesterday and decided to conduct a public lottery for investment immigration applications on September 27 (next Friday). Representatives from companies selling Quebec immigration funds and relevant departments will be invited to witness the lottery process on-site. Quebec will draw 1,750 applications from the 5,400 received for processing, resulting in a "selection rate" of only 32.4%.
The Quebec Immigration Office also discussed during the meeting that due to the high demand for investment immigration applications primarily from countries like China, if this lottery process goes smoothly, Quebec plans to reopen investment immigration applications on April 1 next year.
However, the meeting also indicated that if the plan to reopen on April 1 is not feasible, it may be postponed until August next year, effectively maintaining the annual acceptance of applications.
Selection rate of 32.4% with no language requirements currently.
Participants in the meeting pointed out that there was discussion about whether to impose language requirements on applicants, but so far, Quebec has not set any specific plans regarding this. Additionally, Quebec is aware of applicants' concerns regarding the insufficient immigration quota allocated to Quebec for 2013 and the potential processing delays. Quebec stated that it will continue to communicate with the immigration department to address the processing delay issues.
Quebec reopened investment immigration applications on August 1 this year, changing the application method to accept only mailed applications, with those received by August 16 included in the lottery. Since the reopening, Quebec has not increased the investment amount requirement, maintaining it at 800,000, which is lower than the original expectations of Chinese applicants, leading to an unprecedented surge in applications. In the first week alone, the Quebec office in Hong Kong received 2,600 applications, and ultimately, Hong Kong received a total of 4,700 applications, while the Quebec office in Montreal received only 700 applications, totaling 5,400 applications, which is three times the usual volume. Over 90% of the applications received by the Quebec office in Hong Kong came from Chinese applicants.