Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Plenary II - Saturday, May 17, 2008 CBA Citizenship and Immigration Law Conference

Plenary II Canada & The World - Targets/Policy Directives - Are we Internationally Competitive? Howard Duncan Executive Head (Ottawa) Very interesting discussion by Mr. Duncan, who finds that overall competition for skilled workers/immigrants is not necessarily between us and Europe - but sees China, India and Brazil as emerging competitors (ie as the economies of those countries continue to grow, potential immigrants will choose to remain, rather than leave for 'greener pastures' of Canada). Duncan refers to a term - Transnationalism - defined as a state where people whose bodies are in one country, but minds, souls, bank accounts are in another country: While these individuals reside in Canada, they are constantly in touch with their country of origin - sometimes through the use of satellite tv and news and daily newspapers (sometimes even printed in Canada). Transnationalism is yielding very strong enclaves that are strong financially - don't have to think of them as enclaves of poverty - they are middle class and institutionally complete and lower cost location for integration - settle into immediately - immigrants are now settling directly into suburbs rather than passing through inner city - should view transnational enclaves as competitor to integration -... Read more →

Plenary I - Friday, May 16, 2008 CBA Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE 2008

CBA CLE Plenary I - Major Trends in 2008 and Future Initiatives Unfortunately I've only walked in to hear part of Brian Goodman's (Chairperson, IRB) presentation. Mr. Goodman has gone over the Member "deficit" and of course the increased intake resulting in significant delays for applicants to have their day before the tribuanls of the IRB (RPD and IAD). He encouraged members of the audience to apply as additional appointments will be made. He closed with some of the achievements of the Board in the last little while - I believe that he was appointed interim Chair when the former Chair, Mr. Fleury resigned. Mr. Goodman seems well aware of the member deficit and appears genuinely interested in addressing this very important issue. It's clear that a lack of decision makers will adversely affect his ability to carry out his mandate as Chair of Canada's largest administrative tribunal. Unfortunately, the appointment process is out of his hands, and will depend largely on the actions of the Conservative Minister. James Sutherland (Director Temporary Foreign Workers) followed Goodman and discussed improvements in the temporary foreign worker operations and increased resources. He's mentioned a new position - integrity - which will oversee compliance... Read more →

CBSA Hotline

Interesting Globe and Mail article discussing the high number of frivolous calls made to CBSA toll free hotline designed to collect tips on immigration violations (specifically suspicious cross border activity). The hotline may be of assistance to help safeguard Canadians from the dangers inherent and resultant from human smuggling. The article did not actually contain information on the hotline which can be found here. Read more →

Alleged Basque Terrorist Ordered Deported

It appears that Ivan Apaolaza Sancho, an alleged member of the Basque terrorist group ETA, has been ordered deported by the Immigration and Refugee Board. The news articles I reviewed haven't exactly defined which tribunal ordered the 'deportation' (one mentioned the Refugee Board, but this is not likely) - and details of the immigration/legal proceedings were sparse. What has probably occurred is that Mr. Sancho has been deemed inadmissible to Canada (likely under security grounds). This decision has likely been made by the Immigration and Refugee Board, Immigration Division. Before Sancho will be removed, he will have an opportunity to present evidence supporting a personal risk should he be removed to his country of nationality. His counsel has indicated that he will seek judicial review of commissioner Louis Dube's decision at the Federal Court of Canada which has jurisdiction over impugned decisions of the IRB. CTV article here. Excerpt: ... Immigration and Refugee Board commissioner Louis Dube said Tuesday there is sufficient evidence to show that Ivan Apaolaza Sancho was a member of Basque separatist group ETA. ... His lawyer, William Sloan, says he will go to Federal Court to challenge the deportation ruling. He also intends to go to... Read more →

Crackdown on Marriages of Convenience

It looks as if Citizenship and Immigration is moving aggressively on marriages of convenience. A marriage to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident is one of the fastest, and many times is the only way for otherwise ineligible immigrants to enter Canada. With such incentives, it's little wonder that marriages of conveience (with the connivance of the sponsor for money or other consideration, or simply a deception upon the sponsor) occur. Interesting article in the Globe and Mail here.Toronto's Ramesh Maharaj had railed against the decision of an immigration officer refusing his sponsorship in 2005. After a successful appeal of the decision to the Immigration Appeal Division, Mr. Maharaj's spouse arrived in Canada and left him shortly after. Maharaj is now vice-president of the organization 'Canadians Against Marriage Fraud'. To combat marriage fraud, the department has now deployed 'clandestine' teams in foreign countries. In addition, visa officers are receiving training to ask 'better questions' of apparent couples. Excerpt of Globe and Mail article - which also contains information on the immigration policies of other countries in relation to spousal sponsorships: The Harper government is deploying clandestine teams to fan out across foreign countries and gather raw information about elaborately staged... Read more →

Live Judicial Review Proceeding - CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference

CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference - May 16-17, 2008 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario After sitting through an interminable workshop which was made intolerable not because of the panel, but because of an overzealous moderator who managed to turn an interesting discussion into a morass of her own irrelevant opinions – a rare opportunity has presented itself in the form of a live judicial review proceeding in the Grand Georgian Ballroom here at the Queen's Landing hotel. Mr. Justice Yves de Montigny presiding Counsel for the Appellants: Barbara Jackman Counsel for the Respondent: Marianne Zoric Barrack et al and the Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Issues involve: - threshold test for risk on a H&C application versus the assessment of risk in a PRRA application - best interests of the child - whether evidence/relevant factors were ignored/not considered - whether H&C policy guidelines were ignored/not considered Hopefully I don't sound like a legal groupie, but it's very exciting to be in the presence of the great Barbara Jackman. I'm sitting right behind her clients - the applicants, the second row behind counsel. Jackman doesn't appear to be wearing silk robes, worn by QC - which suggests that the title has... Read more →

Consequences of Misrepresentation – CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference

CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference - May 16-17, 2008 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario May 15, 2008 I've just taken an opportunity to review some of the materials for the CBA Conference. Between watching the movie "Charlie Wilson's War" (which inexplicably shut down a number of times during the flight) and flipping through some of the papers I printed off, I came across a paper by Shoshana T. Green "Consequences of a Misrepresentation Allegation". Ms. Green basically confirms my experience that a dramatic trend has surfaced indicating both CIC and CBSA are pursuing permanent residents on grounds of inadmissibility arising from misrepresentation. Ms. Green notes several scenarios that result in investigation, a finding of inadmissibility and possible appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division. The first is the 'short marriage' which leads CIC to believe that the permanent resident originally arrived in Canada on the basis of a fraudulent marriage (aka 'marriage of convenience'). Once the now permanent resident divorces the partner of convenience (what Ms. Green calls a 'short marriage') and returns to their country of nationality for marriage and sponsorship - CIC attempts to move against the permanent resident for misrepresentation. Another scenario that CIC/CBSA follows... Read more →

IAD Workshop -- CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference

CBA National Citizenship and Immigration Law CLE Conference May 16-17, 2008 Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario Workshop: Best Practices before the Immigration Appeal Division A paper prepared for the Conference by Shari A. Stein, A/Deputy Chairperson of the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board is quite instructive. As a Member of the IAD, Stein provides invaluable advice to counsel appearing before the appeal division of the IRB. While the IAD hears four types of appeals, the most prevalent are sponsorship appeals - requests to reconsider the refusal of a visa officer who is overseas with respect to a family class sponsorship. One example is where a sponsorship of a spouse is refused by a visa officer who has found reason to believe that the marriage is not genuine (a marriage of convenience). In this case, the appellant has the burden - on a balance of probabilities - that either: the marriage was genuine or was not entered into primarily to facilitate immigration. Stein notes that the numbers of sponsorship appeals have been steadily increasing and that they comprise almost 80% of the cases heard before the IAD. Other appeals include an appeal from a removal order, which concerns a permanent... Read more →