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Canada culls Immigrant Investor program

The Citizenship and Immigration department of Canada has decided to government’s terminate its Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) and Federal Entrepreneur (EN) Program.

Under the IIP, an immigrant is guaranteed permanent residence in Canada in exchange for a guaranteed $800,000 loan (before 2010, the amount was only $400,000). In comparison, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require $5 million to $10 million, and do not offer up-front permanent residency.

However, the IIP provides limited economic benefit to Canada, says The Citizenship and Immigration department of Canada in a statement.

The department believes that an immigrant investor pays about $200,000 less in income taxes than a federal skilled worker over a 20-year career, and almost $100,000 less in taxes than one live-in caregiver.

“Research shows that immigrant investors pay less in taxes than other economic immigrants, are less likely to stay in Canada over the medium- to long-term and often lack the skills, including official language proficiency, to integrate as well as other immigrants from the same countries,” the statement says.

Canada visa

The termination of IIP will also help the immigration department in getting rid of pending applications. The IIP has a backlog more than 65,000 persons, larger than any other economic immigration program in Canada. “At current levels, it would take more than six years to process this inventory,” the department says.

The measures announced in the Economic Action Plan (EAP) 2014 will help “build a faster, more flexible immigration system”, says Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander.

This will also allow the government to launch programs that will meet Canada’s labour market and economic needs.

Eliminating the IIP and EN programs will allow the government to focus on attracting experienced business people and raising investment capital.

The government revealed its plans to replace these programs with more focused programs that will ensure that “immigrants who come to Canada deliver meaningful benefits to our economy.

“This will complement CIC’s Start-Up Visa, enabling Canada to remain competitive in the global economy.

The new programs will be launched later this year.

What is IIP

Under the Immigrant Investor Program, Canada offers guaranteed permanent residence in exchange for a guaranteed $800,000 loan (before 2010, the amount was only $400,000). The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require as much as $5 to $10 million, and do not offer up-front permanent residency.

Over a 20-year career, an immigrant investor pays about $200,000 less in income taxes than a federal skilled worker and almost $100,000 less in taxes than one live-in caregiver.

The current IIP has an inventory of more than 65,000 persons, larger than any other economic immigration program. At current levels, it would take more than six years to process this inventory.

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TCS to strengthen brand with New York Marathon

NewYorkMarathon

NewYorkMarathon

The world’s most popular marathon will now be known as TCS New York Marathon from this year.

India’s largest technology solutions company – Tata Consultancy Services (popularly known as TCS) – has become the title sponsor of the premium running event which attracts 50,000 runners. The race dates back to 1970 when 127 runners raced four laps of Central Park.

The New York City Marathon offers advertisers an opportunity to reach affluent professionals, as the event attracts 2 million live spectators and 330 million viewers on television.

The previous sponsors, ING, did not renew the contract, as the American banking and insurance giant re-organised their business. “As part of our rebranding effort, we will be focusing our sponsorship and philanthropic efforts more directly on supporting financial literacy,” an ING spokesperson told the New York Times.

The New York Road Runners (NYRR) – the organisers of the racing event, signed TCS as the title sponsor for the next eight years beginning 2014.

This year’s race will be held on Sunday 2 November, and the registration for runners close as early as 18 March. The event is expected to attract more than 100,000 applications from runners.

It’s not just the runners and viewers that TCS wishes to target. The US$11.6 billion tech giant has a very young workforce – the average age of its 300,000 staff is 27-28 years. TCS runs Fit for Life programme in 44 countries for its employees – the fitness programme has every employee registered already. TCS expects its employees to complete 5 million kilometers this year.

The Indian tech giant has a commitment to investing in the health and wellbeing. “We think that that is fundamentally important even for students to study well and have a better career and so on. This is the theme we have taken,” N Chandrasekaran, chief executive of TCS, said in a television interview.

However, building brand recognition is at the core of this relationship. “As we become larger and larger, it is very important for people to know what we stand for, because people come across TCS all the time.”

On its part, the New York Road Runners is keen to strengthen the technology tools used for the event, with the help of TCS.

TCS is creating mobile training and runner tracking apps and software for real-time race results and on-site information. TCS has been a technology consulting partner for NYRR since 2010.

“There is a lot of technology that goes into running a major marathon and in getting people healthier and fitter all year round and what a difference it will make for TCS when people see that we become the most technologically advanced marathon in the world and that we have a lot more people running,” said Mary Wittenberg, chief executive of New York Road Runners.

The new TCS New York City Marathon website is designed to help runners plan their race day, and use tailored coaching plans through the online training programme and information about how to participate as part of a charity team, such as NYRR’s Team for Kids.

TCS has also sponsored similar Marathon events around the world including Amsterdam, Berlin, and Mumbai – the Tata Group‘s home city.

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Satya Nadella’s first interview as Microsoft CEO

 

Software giant Microsoft has appointed Satya Nadella as its next chief executive.

Working with Microsoft for the last 22 years, Satya is Microsoft’s third chief executive in the company’s nearly four-decade history. Founder Bill Gates was the longest-serving head of Microsoft, who was replaced by Steve Ballmer.

The 1967-born Satya will take charge of the new role immediately and will also become a part of the Board of Directors. Satya was promoted from the position of executive vice president of cloud and Enterprise group.

“During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft’s Founder and Member of the Board of Directors.

Satya’s claim to the top job lies in his blend of technical and people skills. “Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together.”

He is also expected to draw on product innovation skills in his new role. “His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

Born and educated in India’s tech city of Hyderabad, Satya came to the US for post-graduate studies, and after a stint with Sun Microsystems, he joined Microsoft in 1992, where he led strategy and technical shifts, including Microsoft’s move to the cloud and the development of one of the largest cloud infrastructures in the world supporting Bing, Xbox, Office and other services.

Satya is looking forward to the challenge and understands the need for speed. The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, says Satya. “But to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”

“Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft,” says Steve Ballmer, who announced on 23 August 2013 that he would retire once a successor was named.

In his first email as the chief executive, Satya expressed his emotions openly to the employees. “Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world.”

Satya has made his priorities clear – breaking the rules of the game. “Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world.”

He acknowledges the role of family in his work. “A lot of what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experiences.”

Being a little philosophical, Satya paraphrased Oscar Wilde: “We need to believe in the impossible and remove the improbable.”

A keen learner, Satya admits that he loves to buy books. “I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.”

His vision for future is of a “software-powered” world. “It will better connect us to our friends and families and help us see, express, and share our world in ways never before possible. It will enable businesses to engage customers in more meaningful ways.”

Bill Gates, previously Chairman of the Board of Directors, will stay on the board as technology advisor, and will support Nadella in shaping technology and product direction. John Thompson, lead independent director, will become the chairman.