Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Punjabi language interview on RedFM discussing the suspension of visa services to Canadians

I was asked to discuss the unprecedent suspension of visa services to Canadians on RedFM on September 22, 2023. Note: the suspension of visa services only applies to new or pending applications; it does not impact the rights of anyone that holds an OCI or valid visa to India. Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · September 2023 RedFM Interview on suspension of visas for Canadians 2023 09 22 RedFM interview on visa suspension Read more →

Raj Sharma Interview on CBC BC Today with Michelle Elliot -September 21, 2023

The following is a transcript of an interview on September 21, 2023. Michelle Elliot: [inaudible 00:00:00] visa services in Canada, is Raj Sharma. He's an immigration lawyer and former immigration officer, and Raj joins me now from Calgary. Hello, good afternoon. Raj Sharma: Good afternoon. Michelle Elliot: Thank you very much for joining us this afternoon. What do you make of this latest move from India? Raj Sharma: Well, whenever we deal with international disputes it's the ordinary people that find themselves caught in the crossfire. My thoughts right now are for my clients. My thoughts right now are for individuals like my parents that immigrated to Canada from India many, many years ago so that diaspora is stranded in Canada without that overseas citizenship of India. There is no more E visa, there is no more visa consular services for Canadians, ostensibly because of security concerns but they won't even issue a visa to a Canadian even if that application's made outside of Canada to a different consulate. So we've got people stranded in Canada, they can't rush back if there's any sort of family emergency. We've got a massive disruption that's going to happen In terms of tourism... Read more →

Raj Sharma Interview on CBC News Network on the Suspension of Visa Services for Canadians

Transcript of an interview on September 24, 2023: Deanna Sumanac-Johnson: As we mentioned, India announced it was stopping all visa services for Canadians. The move has led to concern and frustration among many Indians in Canada. For more on this angle, we're joined by immigration lawyer Raj Sharma. Thank you so much for making the time for us, Raj. Tell me, first of all, what do you make of India's decision to suspend visa services for Canadians? Raj Sharma: First of all, the announcement was out of the blue. No one expected it. Obviously, the Indians didn't telegraph this. They sort of ratcheted it up fairly quickly. So, firstly, they responded very strongly to the allegations of a potential link for the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar to Indian agents or Indian diplomats. This [announcement] came out of the blue, and so as you can imagine, it's resulted in a great deal of unease and uncertainty for Indo-Canadians. Now we have hundreds of thousands of Indo-Canadians. Of course, we have the 700,000 plus Sikhs from the Punjab, mainly from Punjab. We also have Indians from all over India. Indo-Canadians have maintained massive ties to [India], and [as one example] this... Read more →

Discussing the Bhaona Mohamed case, the IAD flouting Justice Ahmed's Decision, and the Role of the Federal Court, on the Borderlines Podcast

I went on Borderlines, the excellent immigration law podcast, to discuss the recent decision of Justice O'Reilly that will result in a third IAD hearing for Bhaona Mohamed, a frontline LTC healthcare worker that sought humanitarian relief to overcome a breach of the residency obligation. The transcript is below. Borderlines · #87 - Visa Officers and the IAD Ignoring or Disagreeing with Federal Court, with Raj Sharma Borderlines number 87 discussing Bhaona Mohamed Steven Meurrens: Hello and welcome to Borderlines. A podcast for the discussion of Canadian immigration law. I'm Steven Meurrens. In Episode 69 of this podcast, recorded about a year ago, Raj Sharma was our guest to discuss his case, Mohammed v. Canada Citizenship and Immigration 2022 FC1. There in setting aside the refusal of an immigration appeal division decision Justice Ahmed stated, "As a healthcare aide, the applicant risked her own health and safety to support health comprised and aging individuals. She is applying the very skills she acquired in Canada over a decade ago at a time when they're desperately needed while not knowing if she herself will be able to stay in Canada. To frame this commitment and these contributions as only a "moderately positive"... Read more →

H&C Relief Denied for Aged Out Dependent Daughters

A couple of years ago we were retained by Gurinder Singh, an earnest and hard working father; he had with some difficulty navigated an economic pathway to PR and unfortunately by the time he did so, his daughters back in India “aged out”. The family sought to reunite by filing an (overseas) humanitarian and compassionate application. This was rejected and we then sought judicial review. The Court was alive to the arguments advanced but ultimately dismissed it in June 2022, finding the Visa Officer’s decision to be reasonable. **The Backstory** The story began in 2008 when Gurinder Singh moved to Canada as a temporary worker. He tried twice, in 2010 and 2012, to gain permanent residency through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program [AINP]. Despite his efforts, both attempts were unsuccessful due to his educational credentials (or, his lack thereof). While he had retained immigration counsel, he was not advised prior to applying that he did not meet the eligibility requirements of the class. Singh had been working for decades outside India in an effort to better his family’s circumstances. Commendably, by 2015, he secured the additional education required. As a result, Singh tried once more. His persistence paid off and... Read more →

RedFM Punjabi Language Interview: Proposed Cap on International Students to Canada

I discussed the proposed cap on the numbers of international students with Rishi Nagar, News Director of RedFM on August 23, 2023. Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · August 2023 RedFM Interview on Proposed Cap on Students The interview covered the recent volte face by the Federal Government; international students were so vital to the post-pandemic economy that the 20 hour limit to working was lifted but now they are deemed to contribute to the housing "crisis" in Canada. It also discusses my comments in the Toronto Star addressing ways to optimize the program rather than capping (but which may necessarily lead to less intake over time. 2023 08 23 RedFM international students cap Read more →

International Students From Heroes to Zeroes

Veteran Toronto Star reporter Nicholas Keung contacted me last week regarding a proposed "cap" on international students; the Federal Government has indicated that it may assess their intake given their (apparent) impact on the housing "crisis". My thoughts: Fraser’s remarks also marked a change from when he was overseeing Immigration and staunchly defended the Liberals’ record immigration levels and strategy to stimulate economic recovery through immigration. “I find this a little bit disingenuous,” said Calgary immigration lawyer Raj Sharma. “The minister who’s talking about capping international students is the same minister that eliminated the 20-hour limit of working in a week for the international students.” “It’s very odd for Mr. Fraser to be speaking out of both sides of his mouth.” While concentration of international students in particular urban hot spots has contributed to the rising rental costs and strained housing supplies in the GTA, the Lower Mainland in B.C. and parts of Alberta and the Maritimes, Sharma said the housing challenges predated the influx. International students have become such an integral part of the immigration system and the Canadian economy that it’s hard to just turn the tap on and off, he said. … “There’s a lot of stakeholders,... Read more →

The Pros and Cons of Coming to Canada to Study

The following article was written by Sahj Dhillon, a summer student at Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Introduction When considering where to study as an international student there are numerous factors to consider including but not limited to livability, climate, safety, employment opportunities and a clear cut and reasonable path to citizenship upon completion of your studies. Canada offers a competitive package to international students that goes toe to toe with many other popular destinations for international students including Australia, The U.K and the United States. We will explore the various pros and cons of studying in Canada as an international student. Pros: High-Quality Education: Canada has always boasted an impressive array of universities and technical colleges. Canadian universities are globally recognized and offer a range of academic programs. Three universities in Canada placed in the top 100 of U.S News and World Report University Rankings[i] with the University of Toronto ranking 1st in Canada and 18th in the world, The University of British Columbia ranking 2nd in Canada and 35th in the world and McGill University ranking 3rd in Canada and 54th in the world. Canadian institutions provide students with a wide array of academic programs and are very open and... Read more →

Mohamed v. Canada (Round 2) and the Moral Debt Factor in Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications

The following article is by Rayyan Asif, a summer student at Stewart Sharma Harsanyi. INTRODUCTION How should Canada treat foreign nationals who worked as front-line healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic when it comes to immigration? Although statistics on foreign nurses in Canada during the pandemic are scarce, knowing that immigrants account for one in four of every healthcare sector worker and cautiously using data collected from the US which placed the number of foreign-educated healthcare professionals practicing during the early months of the pandemic at nearly 74,000, the impact of these foreign workers during the pandemic cannot be understated. Appreciating the sacrifices they made, Canada has not shied away from thanking these individuals, such as through permanent residency (PR) pathways for asylum claimants who were on the front lines of the pandemic. The treatment of these workers in terms of their immigration matters has continued to be a concern for the government and policy-makers. Now, in his recent decision on July 31, 2023, allowing the application for judicial review for Bhaona Mohammed v The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration,[1] the Honourable Justice O’Reilly, after a questionable back-and-forth with the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), re-affirmed that individuals who served Canadian... Read more →

Turf Wars: Lawyers and Immigration Consultants

Vic Satzewich wrote a book some time ago, Points of Entry, that lifted the curtain on overseas visa processing. While now somewhat dated, it provided great insight to those of us on the other side of that curtain. As lawyers we saw the outcome and to understand the process had to reverse engineer CAIPS/GCMS notes, decisions, and what our client’s told us what happened during their interviews with visa offices. That type of insight is invaluable; both Bjorn and I were Officers but with the IRB and IRCC in-land. Satzewich has continued to write in this area. In a more recent article, published in the Canadian Review of Sociology, he “examines the 33 year-long jurisdictional dispute between immigration lawyers and immigration consultants…” concluding, in part, that the legal profession were not able to kick the consultants out (my wording, not his) because lawyers did not speak with one voice at the 2017 Standing Committee hearings on this matter. Satzewich examined the testimony of the nine lawyers that appeared; on one side was Ravi Jain and Kathleen Terroux of the CBA on the other were “consultant friendly” lawyers including myself, Lorne Waldman and Richard Kurland. Jain advanced a “hard-line eradication” position... Read more →

RedFM Punjabi Language Interview with Raj Sharma and Ashwin Sharma Discussing Canada's New Immigration Initiatives

My brother, Ashwin Sharma (a well known and respected US immigration attorney), and I were interviewed by Rishi Nagar on RedFM to discuss Canada's new immigration initiatives, including the 'digital nomad' announcement and an interesting stream targeting those with H1B visas in the US. Ashwin is the H1B expert and provided valuable insight and context regarding the H1B program in the US. Further details are expected later in July and it will be very interesting to see whether Canada can cherry-pick highly skilled H1B holders in the US with the allure of a 3 year open work permit (along with status for spouses and children) and, one expects, a ready pathway to Permanent Residence in this country. 2023 09 28 redfm interview with ashwin on tech streams Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Lawyers · 2023 09 28 Redfm Interview On Tech Streams Raj Sharma and Ashwin Sharma Read more →