Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Low Income Cut Off

Effective until December 31, 2008 1 person (the sponsor) $21,202 2 persons $26,396 3 persons $32,450 4 persons $39,399 5 persons $44,686 6 persons $50,397 7 persons $56,110 More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add $5,713 Read more →

Canada - "A haven for villains"????

A critical article in the Economist regarding Canada and its 'lax' and 'dysfunctional' immigration and refugee policy. The article points at Canadian refugee claimant Ahmed Ressam and the current backlog of 50,000 individuals against whom removal orders are pending: ...all kinds of undesirables are getting into Canada under the country's dysfunctional “refugee” system. While doing little to save genuine refugees in camps abroad, it has opened the door to queue-jumping economic migrants, big-time crooks and terrorists, as documented in numerous reports (notably from the federal government's security service and auditor-general) over more than 20 years. ... Canada is the easiest country in the developed world in which to obtain refugee status. Most countries accept no more than around 15% of all applicants, whereas Canada accepts more than half. Attracted by an entitlement to the same legal rights and social benefits as for Canadian citizens, some 25,000 asylum-seekers make their way to Canada every year. ... Once in Canada, they know they will be able to stay—and work—there for at least four years, while pursuing their appeals through the courts. ... The article blames the problems on Canada's national political parties - which need to pander to the immigrant heavy votes... Read more →

Deep seated problems in immigration...

Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, using information obtained through the Access to Information Act, has revealed great disparities in how immigrants are processed from country to country. While he naturally criticizes the Conservative government, it should be noted that it was under the Liberal aegis that the immigrant backlog increased from 50,000 to 800,000. Link here. These are however, not good signs for a country that needs to attract the best and the brightest - and of course expeditiously and fairly reunite Canadian families. Read more →

Time for an Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants in Canada?

Is it time to allow those individuals who have been residing illegally in Canada to become legal residents - or to allow them some pathway to legal status? At present, other than a limited recourse under ‘humanitarian and compassionate’ considerations – an application that takes over 2 years, there is no amnesty provision for anyone in Canada. Remember, there are thousands of failed refugee claimants, thousands of ‘visitors’ that have overstayed and many other illegal denizens of Canada (remember the hundreds of Portuguese deported from Canada in 2006?). I would imagine that, among many (if not the majority) of the thousands of temporary foreign workers that have arrived in the last months there would be a great reluctance to return to their countries of origin at the end of their contractual/indentured obligation (indeed another emerging issue is the widespread exploitation of these temporary foreign workers touted as the panacea to our labour woes - and what, if any, our obligation to them is). I know that Canadians of all stripes view illegal immigrants that have jumped the queue with disfavor, but lets face facts. As long as there are global wealth disparities, Canada will continue to attract immigrants - both... Read more →

Violent Refugee Released

Paula Simons writes on a violent refugee, Samuel Martin Luin, who after completing his sentence for raping a woman in Edmonton, was released from detention by Immigration Division Member Paul Kyba. It would appear that the CBSA failed to apply for a danger opinion which would have allowed his removal from Canada: This July, the Immigration and Refugee Board convened a deportation hearing, where Luin was ordered deported. But deporting a refugee isn't simple. Ethically, it's tricky to send someone who's been granted asylum back into a war zone. And most of Luin's family are now in Ethiopia. To deport Luin, the minister of immigration,Diane Finley, would have to sign a document called a danger opinion, effectively ruling that the danger Luin poses to the Canadian public outweighs the danger he'd face in Sudan. The process of getting a danger opinion is long and cumbersome. First, Canada Border Services has to complete the research and paperwork to support deportation. Then, the person facing deportation has the chance to put together a legal rebuttal. Then, the paperwork goes to Ottawa for ministerial consideration. It can take anywhere from six months to two years to get a ministerial decision. Yet even though... Read more →

Lawyer or Saint?

This poor lawyer gets punched in the face by his client - more surprising is his Gandhian ahimsa reaction captured on camera: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887499#23044874 Read more →