Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Another 'refugee' with terrorist links

A suspected terrorist who had filed asylum claims in both the US and Canada (and granted that status in Canada) has been detained in Toronto. The IRB has not commented. 'Murtaza' a Pakistani national joins a member of the Khadr family and Ressam as refugee claimants linked to terrorist organizations. An article by Sarah Kennedy in todays Calgary Sun has more. Read more →

Mexican Guest Workers for Canada?

Mexican President Fox suggests that Canada allow 'guest workers' from Mexico. Globe and Mail article here. While there is a agricultural program, Canada's (and in particular Alberta's) labour woes may be alleviated by easing immigration regulations for Mexican nationals. Read more →

Jilted Fijian Bride...

A 40 year old divorced Canadian woman who had gotten married to a 29 year old Fijian wants him deported. She had married and then sponsored him to Canada. After a short time together, he left her, but has been ordered to pay his ex almost 21,000 for the 'sham' marriage. Edmontoon Sun Link. Read more →

Afghan Apostate Freed...

Follow up to last blog - the Afghan convert has 'disappeared' (smart move) and Italy has offered Mr. Rahman 'hospitality'. Link here. Read more →

Afghan Apostate Seeks Asylum

A. Rahman, the famous Christian convert in Afghanistan is seeking asylum outside of Afghanistan. CNN link here. The four major schools of Islamic thought are united in the pronouncement of death to any individual who is deemed an apostate/converts to another faith. It is likely that the UNHCR will become involved. Canada is one country that may accept his overseas application for asylum/resettlement. The case illustrated the difficulties in 'exporting' democracy. While Afghanistan's Constitution (a word with little apparent reverence throughout the Arab and Muslim world) pays lip service to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which calls for the fundamental freedom of conscience); the same constitution allows for little deviation from Islamic principles or Sharia. Read more →

Protests against Immigrant Crackdown in the US

Various news services are reporting on protests against recent initiatives by the US government to crack down against illegal immigration: One link here. President Bush's comments at CNN here. Associated Press (reported at NYTIMES) here. Several of the news articles commented on fights at the LA demonstrations between blacks and Hispanics. An interesting development, and certainly in line with the increasing racial tension between the US's two major visible minority groups. Read more →

North American Community

Interesting article on MSNBC/Newsweek about illegal immigration found here. Essentially the author(s) posit that the solution to illegal (North American anyway) immigration lies in reducing the income disparity between the US and its southern neighbour - indeed this was the intention of the drafters of NAFTA (really? you mean it wasn't pure unmitigated and unadulterated self-interest?). The creation of the "North American Community" is well and good, and something that I support. However, given the difficulties in obtaining foreign workers even from Mexico to solve Alberta's labour woes shows that we are indeed a long way off from the NA Community ideal. Read more →

Letter of Invitation/Support

If you are looking to invite someone (certain countries) there is a requirement for a letter of invitation/support. In many cases (including India,Pakistan and Lebanon) the visa officers are requiring the letter of invitation to be notarized. These are the bar minimums – the application may benefit from a review by an experienced immigration practitioner. Your letter must include the following information about the person being invited: Complete name. Date of birth. The person’s address and telephone number. Your relationship to the person being invited. The purpose of the trip. How long the person you are inviting intends to stay in Canada. Details on accommodation and living expenses. The date the person you are inviting intends to leave Canada. Your letter must also include the following information about yourself: Complete name. Date of birth. Address and telephone number in Canada. Occupation. Whether you are a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident A photocopy of a document proving your status in Canada. For instance, a Canadian birth certificate if you were born in Canadaor a Canadian citizenship card if you are a naturalized citizen. If you are Permanent Resident, you must send proof of your permanent resident status (a copy of your... Read more →

Overcoming Residency Breaches

Immigration lawyer Gregory Willoughby has written an article canvassing 'solutions' to breaches of the residency obligation. IRPA creates a positive obligation on all permanent residents to comply with a residency requirement (approx. 2 years out of 5). Much better than the previous 6 months out a year requirement. Link to the full text/PDF article is here. A finding of inadmissibility by an immigration officer due to a breach of the residency requirement can be 'cured' by an appeal of that decision to the Immigration Appeal Division. The IAD has jurisdiction to consider 'humanitarian and compassionate' considerations (in other words, they can allow an appeal even if the immigration officer's decision is correct in law). The author argues that a 'stay of removal' is an underutilized option, the IAD usually allowing an appeal or dismissing it. Read more →

Oath of commitment

In a letter published in the National Post today, Martin Collacott has elaborated on the 'commitment' proposed of new immigrants. In a nutshell he proposes stripping citizenship from Canadians found in opposition to 'Canadian values' - specifically involvement or support for terrorism. Collacott also seems to support stripping citizenship for serious criminal activity. I'm not sure how this would be implemented. At a minimum, it would create two classes of citizens - those born here and naturalized Canadians. Read more →

Romeo Dallaire

"80% of humanity is still in the blood and the mud" LGen (Ret) Romeo Dallaire was invited to speak by IPR. I was surprised to see the turnout - with a line stretching for the entire length of Mac Hall. Given that English is not the generals first language, he spoke exceptionally well on the "abdication" of an inherent responsibility-humanity- by the developed world. His recollection of a realization he made about "humanity" by looking into a Rwandan orphans eyes was especially poignant. As expected from someone from the massacre of Rwanda, the general painted a bleak picture of humanity. However, my understanding is that there's been a net decrease in global conflict, one link is here: There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of conflicts and mass killings and a more striking fall in the number of battle deaths.Pulling together for the first time a mass of data not collected by any international agency, the report finds - quite counter-intuitively for most people - that there has been a dramatic decrease in the number of conflicts and mass killings, an even more striking decrease in the number of battle deaths and a complete turnaround in the number... Read more →

Alternative Dispute Resolution

ADR can be an efficient and low cost alternative to litigation. It may be handy to incorporate a mediation option in certain contracts (commercial leases come to mind). One provider is ADR Chambers Inc. www.adrchambers.com Read more →

Paternity and Immigration

Orchid Cellmark (1-866-TEST-DNA) can prep international paternity tests. Having encountered great difficulties in obtaining paternity tests from indigenous labs (mostly for spousal appeals) this could be a far superior solution. Read more →

2006 Alberta Law Conference

I am attending the AB Law Conference being held at the Westin Hotel here in Calgary. This morning's plenary is about mortgage (and other forms) fraud. The Law Society's goal is to alert lawyers to fraudulent transactions. Its clear that lawyers assurance fund fees have increased - due obviously to payouts from the fund. I'm looking forward to the sessions I registered for this afternoon and tomorrow - sessions on improving brief writing, litigation and advocacy skills. I'm struck at the absolute necessity and importance for a lawyer to devote themselves to their craft - and continuing legal education. Read more →

Strategic Counsel - Poll of Canadian's view on immigration

The Strategic Counsel provided a study on Canadian's views on (inter alia) immigration. The study/poll was conducted in August 2005 and results have been published - PDF here. The summary with respect to the topic of immigration is interesting for a number of reasons: The plurality of the population believes that Canada accepts theright number of immigrants (46%). By a ratio of 2.5:1 however, the remainder hold that Canada accepts too many rather than too few immigrants. Among those who believe that contribution is linked to country of origin, a majority feel that European immigrants (76%) and to a somewhat lesser extent Asians (59%), make a positive contribution to the country. Less than half feel the same way about Indian (45%) and West Indian (33%) arrivals. Quebecers hold a significantly more positive assessment of the contribution made by Caribbean and West Indian immigrants (46% vs28% in the ROC). Most Canadians (69%), and especially residents of Quebec (85%), are of the view that immigrants should be encouraged to integrate and become part of the broader society rather than maintain their ethnic identity and culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that immigration continues to be a "sub-surface" issue. It has very low... Read more →

Sponsorship Agreements and Divorce

A recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court indicates that immigration sponsorships will be "highly relevant" for divorce litigation/proceedings. An article canvassing the decision was written by Cristin Schmitz for the publication "The Lawyer's Weekly" in Vol. 25, No. 33 January 13, 2006 edition. The article noted that a Canadian sponsored his wife's immigration, but 'left' her 15 months after their arranged marriage must pay for her re-education in Canada. The sponsor was ordered to pay his wife $3,200/month until she completes her studies for an undergraduate business degree from Ryerson university. That could amount to 6 years of support (highly unusual for such a brief marriage). Sponsorship agreements bind the sponsor to fulfill certain financial guarantees. In the case of spouses, this agreement's term is 3 years (previously 10 years). The spousal 'award' far exceeds the new spousal support guidelines. The sponsor's consel advised "Family law lawyers would be best to consult with immigration specialists, and would b ebest to create a very fair and reasonable scenario for the relevant spouse before litigating." Perhaps an element of 'fault' was considered by the court (although not mentioned in the decision). This issue is currently being considered by the Supreme Court... Read more →

Lobby Group for Illegal Immigrants?

A community group - Choices Mathieu Da Costa Centre - is charging illegal immigrants of Canada to pay a $50 fee/donation to 'register' with the organization. It appears that the organization's goals appear to keep a record of the (illegal) residents stories and circumstances and lobby Ottawa for changes to immigration policy. The article can be found on CBC news here. Many individuals have advocated an 'amnesty' or eventual recognition of status. As it currently stands, there are few avenues for illegals to gain status in Canada - one being the section 25 application (otherwise known as the "H&C" or Humanitarian and Compassionate Application). I think that 'queue jumping' (or what has been perceived as such) has never been accepted by the Canadian society as a whole, but solutions must be found for the 10,000 - 30,000 illegal immigrants currently living (and working) in Canada. Read more →