Danielle Smith: This was maybe good timing on the part of the lawyer that was representing these five couples that adopted Japanese children, and then found that for no apparent reason, they weren’t allowed to bring the kids back to Canada. You’ve got, it sounds like, in some of these cases one parent in
It was a pleasure to contribute to this interesting new vehicle seeking to increase knowledge and awareness of topical legal matters: Launched in January by students in Pro Bono Students Canada – Calgary (PBSC), the Hearsay Podcast bridges what students learn in the classroom to real-world situations that the general public can relate to. The first season of the
Last week, after signifying that changes were in the works at it for several months, significant changes were announced to the AINP. These changes essentially swept aside the “Employer Driven” and “Strategic Recruitment” streams replacing it with the Alberta Opportunity Stream (AOS). These changes to the AINP indicate a clear “Alberta first” attitude. If you
The following is a post by Faraz Bawa; Mr. Bawa’s practice includes family law and he has used annulments in the past to address immigration issues for foreign nationals that cannot obtain a divorce from their country of origin/former residence. Annulments are often misunderstood in addressing marital and immigration law problems. Instead of ending an
Danielle Smith: You can’t say that we don’t actually have a handle on our borders at the same time as we respect the rule of law, and are ignoring the safe third country agreement. You can’t. They’re usually opposed. You’ve got to make a choice about what you’re going to do. Are you going to
You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away and know when to run. – Don Schlitz, The Gambler A certain (but incalculable) percentage of immigrants have committed misrepresentation to come to Canada. Misrepresentation, as with many aspects of life, is a spectrum, but broadly defined
The Trump Administration has ended TPS for the 200,000 plus individuals from El Salvador. Will they come to Canada and follow in the footsteps of the thousands of Haitians that crossed the border last year? My interview with Danielle Smith this last week: Danielle Smith: Let’s talk about another influence that the
Danielle Smith: I want to get into this issue, now that we’ve seen more development in the US on the Haitian Temporary Protected Status now being revoked finally, for the final time, so they say. This was supposed to be the final time, given six months, and now it’s been … or, when he extended
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
