The situation
The government has updated the list of countries whose residents are required to obtain a medical examination (IME) when seeking temporary residence in Canada for more than six months.

A closer look

• Additions. Temporary residence applicants who have lived in Fiji, Singapore, or Tunisia in the past year for six consecutive months or more now require an IME.
• Deletions. Temporary residence applicants from Argentina, Bahrain, Belize, Colombia, Portugal, the Seychelles, Surinam, or Venezuela no longer require the IME, unless immigration authorities specifically request one. 

Foreign nationals who submitted a temporary residence application to visa posts abroad before November 23, 2017 will not be penalized if they followed the guidelines that existed at the time the government received the application. However, the Canadian immigration authorities may request that these applicants undergo an IME.

Background
IMEs are required for:

• Temporary residents (workers, students, and visitors) whose stay will exceed six months in Canada and who were residents for over six months in one of the countries on the list; and
• Residents of all countries if they are working in jobs that bring them into close contact with people, including workers in the health sciences field, clinical laboratory workers and medical students admitted to Canada to attend university, among others. 

The requirement to complete an IME is based on the tuberculosis rate in a particular country, according to the World Health Organization.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to canada@fragomen.com.

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