Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Radio Interview with Dan Sidhu on "Lokhsat" 94.7

Just finished a radio interview with Dan Sidhu here in Calgary on Fairchild Radio 94.7. Obviously the topic was immigration law. We tried to cover a couple of general areas - such as criminal inadmissibilty and removals of permanent residents, but got busy just taking calls. Most of questions (of course from the Punjabi community) were about sponsorship applications and processing times. One call was about a failed adoption from India. Just looking at a recent memo prepared by our office indicates the difficulty and complexity (now more than ever) in an adoption scenario. Essentially, both Canada and India are contracting parties to the Hague Convention (an international treaty). Basically Canada willn ot approve an inter-country adoption without adherence to the Convention. If adoptive parents are successful in compelting the adoption process -- remember this has to be in accordance with India's domestic law (for Christians, Sikhs and Hindus, its the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act) appears to only allow a guardianship order to be issued. The child then needs to be adopted once the child is in Canada and within 2 years of the guardianship order. However, Canadian immigration law is problematic. Under current wording, if both countries are... Read more →

Canadians of Convenience...

I came across the term "Canadians of Convenience" - term gaining in popularity after the evacuation of dual nationals from Lebanon - some who have not resided (or paid taxes) in Canada for over a decade. I've had an opportunity to re-think my position on this issue... "Marriages of Convenience" is a familiar term to immigration lawyers - its a term used by CIC - context: a spousal sponsorship is refused because CIC feels that the relationship/marriage is done solely for the purpose of faciliating a foreign national to Canada. A "COC" - I suppose is where someone holds Canadian citizenship - not because of some underlying fealty to the Canadian nation - but a desire for mere status in a stable country - a status that can be relied upon where and when convenient. I guess I hold more to the American notion of citizenship (rather than Canada's easy acceptance of dual nationalities/allegiances/loyalties): "...The American concept of citizenship was forged in the Revolutionary War, where to become American meant to break ties with Britain and to be American alone. The Cold War gave rise to the oath that all new Americans must swear: "I absolutely and entirely renounce and... Read more →

Temporary Foreign Worker Units in Calgary

The Minister has finally actioned on the labour market issues in Calgary and Vancouver. Temporary Foreign Worker Units are being set up - they will assist on LMO exempt work permits (NAFTA professionals) etc. They will not, however, circumvent the LMO process (or 12 week turnaround) for unskilled workers. Link is here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/06/0607-e.html Just recently dealt with a LMO with HRSDC - looks like the 12 week processing time is now 13 weeks. Read more →