As former Refugee Protection Officers and now in private practice with a busy refugee practice, and now of course with the dramatic increase in in-Canada refugee claims, we know, more than most that there’s no such thing as a sure thing in refugee hearings. Firm founder Bjorn Harsanyi, presented this paper to the CBA National
My thoughts -in an interview with CTV Alberta Primetime on Canada’s commitment to increasing immigration levels over the next three years. Transcript Shawna Randolph: Canadian government plans to roll out the welcome mat to nearly 1,000,000 new immigrants by the end of 2020. It hopes to attract 1% of its population in three years. Michael
After submitting an application to sponsor family overseas, sponsors are sometimes confronted with refusals based on a shortfall in meeting the MNI or minimum necessary income (currently defined as the LICO or low income cut-off plus 30%). There is a right of appeal against such decisions -as long as the sponsor has indicated in their
FYI : AINP is changing in Jan 2018 – see below and attached link for details of new Opportunity stream. Good news is that NOC D jobs are being accepted (as long as they are not listed on ineligible occupation list) and AINP is opening up to Express Entry. However, all applicants will now need
Danielle Smith: This next topic. Before anybody says that I’m catering to the racists and bigots out there, I want you to know that you’re talking about the majority of Canadians. If you’re talking about the majority of Canadians who feel this way, then there’s going to be, in these poll results I’m about to
Generalized Risk and Gang Violence The protection afforded to a claimant under paragraph 97(1)(b) of IRPA must be personal and not one faced generally by others in the country. The million dollar question in the last number of years is what is meant by personal risk, and how have the courts defined it in recent
It was a pleasure and an honour for our managing partner, Mr. Raj Sharma, to be invited and appear before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration with respect to its study on Immigration Consultants. Mr. Sharma’s opening statement (as of that of Lorne Waldman) can be found here. There were a number of questions
The Senate has sent Bill C-6 with some amendments back to the House; we anticipate passage into law later this year. The following constitutes a summary of the anticipated law:
Immigration authorities made the allegation that my client (a young man, a foreign national in Canada) was inadmissible under paragraph 34(1)(f) of the IRPA – that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) (of which he is a member) is an organization that has engaged in the subversion by force of the Bangladeshi government and has engaged
We recently successfully obtained study permits for two students from the Middle East. One hailed from a country listed on the United States travel ban list while the other country is undergoing political turmoil and violence and our client is an ethnic minority in this country. Of course we prepared the files appropriately. Where we
I was recently at the Immigration Appeal Division to deal with a negative residency determination made against my client. I wanted to provide an overview regarding the residency appeal procedure. After the appellant files an appeal against a negative residency appeal with the IRB they receive the Appeal Record. The hearing is then scheduled. In such
The refugees are coming! The refugees are coming !Even after we exercised our moral authority to specifically help the Syrians by thousands, the refugees keep coming! They are now not even passively waiting for deportation or unfair treatment by the American authorities or danger and risk in their home countries, they are proactively taking their
Earlier this month, firm founder Raj Sharma was interviewed on Alberta Primetime this week. A partial transcript of that interview follows. … Michael Higgins: Mustafa, it didn’t take long for news of the ban to spread, but it also didn’t take long for the rhetoric to begin flowing. What’s your view on how Canadians are
Firm founder Raj Sharma was interviewed by Danielle Smith on her radio show on AM770 on February 13, 2017. A transcript of Part 1 of that interview follows: Danielle Smith: … Okay, a few of you have been asking, are you going to talk about M103? Yes, indeedy we are. We’ve got Derek [inaudible 00:02:58]
It was a pleasure discussing immigration developments with Danielle Smith on AM770 last week, just before Trump’s Executive Order caused chaos and confusion over the weekend. A transcript of our conversation: Danielle Smith: Let me just take a pause, ’cause I don’t want to end up short changing the conversation with my next guest. We’re
It was a pleasure being asked to discuss the #muslimban on CBC last night. A transcript of my discussion with CBC Calgary’s Rob Brown follows. Rob Brown: One of the biggest protests over that travel ban was in Toronto today. Demonstrators gathering outside the US Consulate to condemn Donald Trump’s controversial decision. Demonstrator: This is
Hiring a lawyer is a tough decision. Most seek out the advice of trusted friends or relatives; many don’t have that luxury and sometimes that advice can be outdated. Hiring a lawyer is an informational based decision, but a lot of what’s available (especially on-line) can be inaccurate. There’s an unmet need: immigrating to another
I was counsel on two recent applications for humanitarian and compassionate relief; one against Niger and one against Nepal. Both applications were refused and I was counsel on both when review was sought at the Federal Court of Canada. Both of those resulting decisions should be of assistance to all seeking relief and consideration facing
I’ve been reading “Points of Entry: How Canada’s Immigration Officers Decide Who Gets In” by Vic Satzewich. The author managed to – after obtaining with some difficulty the necessary bureaucratic blessings – interview over a hundred visa and case officers, and attend and examine the inner workings of a number of overseas visa offices. Reading
Many thanks to my friend, Mr. Rishi K. Nagar for translating a recent post into Punjabi; English article follows. ਆਖ਼ਰ ਮਾਸੂਮ ਬੱਚੀ ਨੂੰ ਨਾਨਾ-ਨਾਨੀ ਨਾਲ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਆਉਣ ਦੀ ਆਗਿਆ ਮਿਲ ਹੀ ਗਈ! ਇਕ ਸਾਲ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਮੇਰੀਆਂ ਸੇਵਾਵਾਂ ਲਈ ਇਕ ਮਿਹਨਤੀ ਕੈਨੇਡੀਅਨ ਨੇ ਮੇਰੇ ਤੀਕ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਕੀਤੀ। ਉਹ ਪਿਛਲੇ ਕਈ ਸਾਲਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਆਪਣੇ ਮਾਤਾ-ਪਿਤਾ ਨੂੰ ਕੈਨੇਡਾ
