Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Cessation -the Loss of Protected Person Status

About a decade ago, stakeholders noticed a marked increase in applications to cessate the status of those granted protection in Canada. The Canadian Council for Refugees discussed this at length in an article published in 2014.[1] CBSA had a quota to reach and thus began a modern era of enforcement against those that had succeeded in their refugee claims and had even obtained Permanent Residence status. It is true that refugee [protected person] status is a “transitory phenomenon” under the Convention and that there are “various situations in which refugee protection may come to an end”.[2] The Convention and our own IRPA allow for the cessation of such status triggered where there is evidence of re-availment to the state of origin/country of reference, by re-acquisition of its nationality or re-establishment.[3] This is one of the more complex areas of refugee practice. As Professor Hathaway notes: …difficult conceptual issues can … arise. For example, what types of action amount to formal “re-availment” … or re-acquisition of its citizenship? Is every return … tantamount to “re-establishment” there …[4] For years, such applications were triggered by return trips (as disclosed or determined at the POE, PR card renewal applications and other immigration applications,... Read more →

Interview discussing the federal worker strike on immigration processing (Punjabi)

Immigration lawyer Raj Sharma is interviewed by RedFM host Rishi Nagar during his Punjabi language morning show discussing the federal government strike impact on immigration processing and issues for international students and temporary residents. Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · 2023 05 01 Redfm Interview Read more →

CBC Interview -Impact of the PSAC strike on immigration and refugee processing

I was interviewed on the CBC at Noon program with Judy Aldous -discussing the immigration issue of the day -the impact of the PSAC strike on immigration, citizenship and refugee processing. Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · April 20 2023 CBC Interview Transcript Judy Aldous: …Raj Sharma is an immigration lawyer in Calgary and he is with us now on the phone -hello Raj yeah you shouldn't have been free right you had a client who was supposed to have a hearing this morning what happened? Raj Sharma: I had a case today, the hearing was to start at 11 the case itself was very compelling; my client was from Zimbabwe and was tortured in the past to the point that he lost the vision of his right eye and so we were expecting some finality and a positive decision. And yesterday we received an email that went out —that hearings and refugee hearings in particular were going to be affected by this strike Judy Aldous: What was your client's response to that and yours as well Raj Sharma: Well to some degree it is what it is there's not much that can be done. I mean refugees are already... Read more →

Temporary Resident Visas, the Use of Chinook, and the Limitations of Judicial Review

Haghshenas v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FC 464 Many Counsel were understandably intrigued and concerned with the government’s use of “Chinook”, by some early accounts, some kind of artificial intelligence tool used by IRCC in an effort to tackle ever growing overseas (TRV) file loads. In Haghshenas, the Court (Brown, J.) dismissed a challenge against a refusal to issue a visitor visa. As he did in Shahrukh Ali Khan 2023 FC 52, Justice Brown set out the [work permit] visa context (see paragraphs 13-16 of the decision). This case is notable because, in addition to the emphasis on the visa context and the minimal duties at play, the Court assessed the Applicant’s arguments impugning the legality of using Chinook which is in fact a Microsoft Excel-based tool developed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) designed to improve processing efficiency. Brown J. found no unreasonableness or procedural unfairness in using Chinook when making a negative decision on a TRV application. The Court felt comfortable that applicant was given an opportunity to present their case and the resulting decision was reasonable and procedurally fair. Justice Brown found that the use of the tool did not change the change the decision-making... Read more →

Is it Time for an Amnesty for the Undocumented and Without Status?

Canada has seen a significant increase in the number of people issued permits to temporarily work and study. While intake is high, many will not be able to navigate the various immigration pathways to permanent residence status. A significant number of these individuals may not want to leave at the end of their authorized period of stay. There are already, perhaps (nobody really knows), about half a million individuals in Canada already "underground" or without status/undocumented. The number of those without status in Canada therefore will only grow. Some are calling to address the growing population of undocumented workers. I suppose this means that Canada provide permanent resident status to those who have already overstayed their authorized entries or whose official authorization is about to expire. There are some new programs that seek to accept those who are already in Canada and contribute to their communities, but the take-up and volume is low due to eligibility restrictions. There is the H&C or humanitarian and compassionate application but as (now CJ) Justice Wagner indicated in his minority opinion in Kanthasamy, this was not envisaged as a standalone immigration class (I respectfully disagree). An amnesty or waiver is not without precedent. In... Read more →

Ask Kubeir -Thoughts on the Deportation of Indian International Students

I joined Kubeir to discuss the plight of Indian International Students facing removal because of the use of false documents in their applications. This follows my interview with Rishi Nagar of RedFM Calgary -this time, the discussion was in English. We also chatted about the huge number of individuals in Canada as temporary residents and recent developments with EE and Bill C19. It was a great chat and I'm looking forward to joining Kubeir in the future. Kubeir Kamal: Good morning, Bonjour. Welcome to the channel. My name is Kubeir for everybody who is Fasting Mubarak. I have with me today a very prominent immigration lawyer who is made a name for himself in, in several, several immigration related litigations in terms of admissibility hearings, mis misrepresentations, refugees. And today we are gonna pick his brain with regards to what's happening with these international students that we are hearing about who have presumably, presumably been given deportation orders because apparently the horse doesn't, hasn't heard about them. So let me first bring Raj Sharma on. Hi Raj, welcome to the channel. Raj Sharma: Thank you. Thank you for having me Kubeir. Kubeir Kamal: No, thank you for sparing the time.... Read more →

Indian Students Facing Deportation: Another Perspective

As an immigration lawyer, I frequently come across cases that highlight the importance of due diligence in the immigration process. This morning, I was interviewed by Rishi Nagar of RedFM Calgary about the recent media articles regarding the deportation of hundreds of Indian international students. Raj Sharma Deportations_mixdown Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · Deportation of 700 Indian Origin International Students It should be noted that the number used (700) is not independently verified. The students are facing deportation from Canada due to fake admission letters. These students used the services of overseas educational consultants or most likely “ghost consultants” to prepare the study permit package and supporting documents (proof of language proficiency, proof of admission to a recognized DLI, proof of finances/financial support). From what I’ve seen, the applicants pay an inordinate amount of money to the agent, around the 20 lakh figure. This figure is apparently inclusive of the tuition fees but it’s strange that the fees are not paid directly to the DLI. Those caught up all pay a massive amount of money to an unregistered individual and all proclaim their trust and (over) reliance on his services. Once here, they may flip to another DLI and... Read more →