SUPPORTING AFGHAN NATIONALS To help address the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the Government of Canada has announced two special immigration programs to help resettle Afghans to Canada. You may be eligible for one of two special programs: Immigration program for Afghan nationals, and their families, who assisted the Government of Canada Humanitarian
What role does a pending refugee claim play in family law proceedings? In the case of M.A.A. v. D.E.M.E 2020 ONCA 486, the appellant mother brought her three minor children from Kuwait to Canada without the respondent father’s consent. On arrival in Canada, she sought refugee status for herself and the children. She claims she
There is a big difference between immigration litigation and completing and filing immigration applications. In the UK, there is a distinction between litigators (or barristers) and solicitors. Both of course are important but require different skills sets. Immigration hearings and appeals (and judicial review matters before the Federal Court) requires counsel that can effectively advocate
At long last, the parent/grandparent sponsorship is re-opening. Additional details can be found on the IRCC website, and here. It’s a relatively large draw and may help to assuage the sentiments of families that have been separated by international borders and of course, the ravages of COVID-19.
It was an honour to contribute to the study by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM) on the impact of COVID-19 on the immigration system. The final report can be found here; Download Immigration in the time of COVID-19 Report of the Standing Committee. There has been massive disruption to our immigration system.
Firm founder Raj Sharma was interviewed on CBC last week and asked to share his thoughts on citizenship delay and the backlog. Immigration Officers have had to scramble this past year, and the near 20% increase in citizenship backlog was, to be honest, almost welcome news after a year of incredible frustration and delays in
More good news from IRCC. There is a new pathway for international graduates for those that work in essential occupations. The foreign national must: Have accumulated at least one (1) year of full-time work experience, or the equivalent in part-time experience (1,560 hours), in Canada, in an eligible occupation listed in Annex A or Annex
It was a pleasure appearing before Justice Mosley of the Federal Court this last Monday. We challenged a decision of the Refugee Appeal Division that excluded our client from Refugee protection because of his permanent residence status in Italy. Like all exclusion clauses Article 1E is a complicated analysis and one that lends itself to
Borderlines · #48 – Responding to Procedural Fairness Letters, with Raj Sharma Firm founder Raj Sharma joined Steven Meurrens and Deana Okun-Nachoff on their excellent podcast, Borderlines. The discussion started with the Procedural Fairness Letter and went on to talk about Officer bias/tunnel vision among other interesting topics. Transcript follows: Steven Meurrens: Hello,
Record Suspension A criminal record can have severe adverse consequences on parts of your life such as your employment prospects and your ability to volunteer with vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly. It can also limit your immigration opportunities. Your record may prevent you from many opportunities that would otherwise be available
Danielle Smith: Get to that though, we have another topic that we want to deal with. I feel I’m going to be off side was you guys all day today because I was sort of talking this over with my producers and there’s a story in the news about the Humboldt Broncos crash truck driver
It was a pleasure talking to CTV’s veteran reporter Kevin Green yesterday on the impact of the US election on Canada’s immigration system. Immigration benefits One group that would benefit from a Trump win are those helping people immigrate to Canada. . Raj Sharma, a Calgary Immigration lawyer, said a Trump win would drive
It was a pleasure appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration today (Friday, November 6, 2020) regarding its study of the impact of COVID-19 on the immigration system. My opening statement follows the video embed: Thank you Madam Chair; committee members. It’s my pleasure to appear before this Committee again
On November 6, 2020 I appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on the impact of COVID-19 on our immigration system. I made an opening statement and took questions regarding a pathway to permanent residency for so-called low skilled workers (revealed as front-line and essential workers by this pandemic). I
IRCC has announced the new family class based on a lottery system with the sponsor expressing their interest during a window. To sponsor, you will need to establish that you are eligible to sponsor and that the family member falls within the family class according to the Regulations. You can’t be on social assistance (CERB
Foreign nationals can be denied admission into Canada pursuant to s.39 of the Act –if there are concerns that they will rely on social assistance. After all, the objectives of the IRPA include the pursuit of the maximum economic benefits of immigration as well as the support and development of “a strong and prosperous Canadian economy” According to the relevant Manual, the provision is “designed to
Judy Aldous: The challenges of trying to help your family immigrate in the middle of a pandemic. This is Alberta at Noon, I’m Judy Aldous. The next two weeks will be stressful ones for Albertans who want to sponsor your parents, your grandparents to immigrate. The first step in this sponsorship system is a lottery
I discussed the new (but old) immigration lottery process for Parents and Grandparents with Danielle Smith on CHQR AM770 on October 14, 2020. It’s been a bit of a merry go round with this non-economic, family class program. Parents/grand-parents are still subject to medical assessment; the sponsor is still required to meet minimum necessary income
