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I find US proposal exact same as Canadian one. Under Canadian system, a person without any family is able to gain more points than one with spouse. Because the spouses gets judged on their own qualifications like degree, English language ability etc.

I think that article is incorrect. Try the points here yourself:- http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/crs-tool.asp

It's correct. Canada includes spouses in the comparison, like you say, but with far less weighting than the principal applicant.

Usually the numbers don't work out to penalize the couple for the less qualified spouse in all but the most extreme Canadian immigration examples. A spouse having the opposite impact (helping the numbers) is far more common.

Under Trump's proposal, having a modestly less qualified spouse would hurt the principal applicant, unlike the normal Canadian immigration outcome.

I should note that the link you gave is not the points system used for approval, just the one that affects who can apply when, using certain of the many application pathways. A different points system is used for approval.

Source: immigrated to Canada myself. I don't have a spouse but I had reason to study the rules closely.

You score lower points in Canadian system too, if your spouse is less qualified. But the point impact is maximum 40 points. It can absolutely hurt some people. Here's the spousal impact:- https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/se...

Source: Immigrant to Canada and Australia. Helped at least 10 people immigrate through provincial nominee and Express Entry programs.

Edit:- Your Quebec reply. My brother immigrated through Quebec route too. Also, the spousal changes happened very very recently August 2nd. And Quebec is not the route that most immigrants to Canada take, it is Express Entry.

Updated my comment. It's possible for it to hurt, but that's an unusual outcome. The marriage usually helps in Canada even when the spouse is less qualified, unlike Trump's proposal.

[Edited to remove inaccurate info about the 40 points]

You may also be interested in Quebec's system, which as of August 2 makes children purely positive to the skilled worker points system there, and never removes points for spouses.

(The marriage only mildly raises Quebec's approval threshold, usually outweighed by the spouse's qualifications even if far lesser than the principal applicant.)

Source for the Quebec comments: the specific way I immigrated to Canada was via Quebec. I have friends who want to immigrate on both sides of the provincial border, so I continue to pay close attention to both systems.

Those 40 points come out of your own points if you have a spouse. You score more without a spouse than with a spouse. Trump's proposal is exactly the same as Canada's in principle, except we don't the points being assigned under Trump's program.

Also, under Quebec's new proposal if single you need to score 50 points, and with spouse you need 59 points. Spousal qualifications are absolutely weighted in. This is not the case with other provincial nominee programs though, Alberta, BC or Ontario.

For Quebec's system, the spousal increase to the threshold is not a change from the system before August 2, and as I noted it's a slight impact. Everything is weighed less for the spouse. A less qualified spouse will still not usually hurt. I mentioned August 2 since I don't remember whether children helped in the old system under which I applied; I did remember how spouses affected things, i.e. no significant change.

You're right that I misread the Express Entry table you linked on where the 40 points come from, although I still think the situation would already have to be a borderline case indeed with a very particular set of characteristics for that to matter to the outcome.

In particular, people with a provincial nomination certificate get 600 points just for that, and most CRS draws lately have been something like 441. An entirely unqualified spouse won't hurt that.

And for Federal Skilled Worker Program applicants, the Express Entry table does not determine the outcome, anyway. Just who can apply in which order.

There is a different points grid for FSWP applications after the Invitation to Apply. Yes, the one with a version of the same 67-point pass mark that has long existed. With spouses only able to help, not hurt.

I guess that if you've mostly done provincial nomination programs, and I had only seriously considered FSWP + Quebec for myself, that explains part of our differing perspectives about Canada's systems. :)

vmlinuz 2876 days ago

I have direct personal experience of Hong Kong's points-based scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme - which, it should be noted, is a very niche scheme, largely unknown even amongst expats. The vast majority of skilled immigration comes on a simple sponsored work visa...

QMAS gives you a few extra points (5) if you are applying alongside a degree-level-educated spouse, and a few more if you're bringing children (5 or 10 for 1 or 2 children). Given that the 'pass mark' is 80 - which doesn't guarantee a visa, just allows you to apply - it's neither a trivial amount nor a particularly significant one.

The article is absolutely wrong. It states Canadian immigration scores you out of 67 points, that system has been phased out in 2017, before this article was written.

Also, Canada absolutely gives weightage to your spouse's age, English/French skills, education etc. up to 40 points.

The system with the 67-point pass mark very much still exists: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=692&...

The Express Entry system introduced in 2015 (not 2017) is just a change to who can apply to the system indicated above and the other systems integrated with Express Entry, rather than being first come first served. It doesn't determine approval. (Though for the provincial nomination programs, some of the other hard parts happen before Express Entry, not after.)

Yes, it was 2015, typo.

Express Entry amalgamated FSW/T and CEC streams and digitized the process, for which you used to have to send paper applications before. The Quartz link made 67 points the centrepoint of the article, which that is the first step, you still have to enter yourself into Express Entry pool, where spousal points are calculated separately and in fact does impact your final points tally.

Yeah, I think we're mostly agreeing now except for various minor semantic things that aren't worth discussing further. :)

sonnyblarney 2876 days ago

I understand the various points-based systems will have differences but I don't think it's worth splitting hairs over. Generally a points-based system will move the needle towards those who are more qualified.