21,000 Hongkongers granted Canadian work permits under easier migration pathway but hundreds find permanent residency a step too far
- Graduates from 2016 and 2017 say by the time they fulfil work requirement, they cannot apply for PR
- Those who have studied in Canada get PR faster than those who go with open work permits, data shows
Canadian immigration authorities have approved more than 21,000 applications from Hongkongers for work permits under a special scheme leading to permanent residency but hundreds are finding out they are not eligible for such status and are pushing for the programme to be revamped.
The difficulties some applicants have faced prompted them to set up a group, which now has several hundred members, to lobby Canadian lawmakers.
Britain, Australia and Canada rolled out bespoke migration pathways for Hongkongers after the national security law came into effect in 2020. Of the three, Canada’s policies announced in June 2021 have been the easiest, targeting young people, recent graduates and those who have studied there.
Hong Kong graduates who studied in Canada or those who applied for open work permits – under which they do not have to secure a job first – and worked there for at least a year after attaining postsecondary qualifications within the past five years can apply for permanent residence.
Last month, the work scheme was extended to graduates from the past 10 years. Now some are hoping Canada will tweak the programme further to allow graduates from 2016 and 2017 – beyond the five-year period – to apply for permanent residence if they fulfil the work requirement.
They are caught in a bind as by the time they acquire the work experience, they would not fall under the category of those who “graduated in the past five years”.
Connie Chan, 29, a 2016 graduate from an overseas university was dismayed to find that she did not qualify under the existing rules because applications for an open work permit and permanent residence were treated separately.