Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Marriage Fraud Hearing

Calgary immigration lawyer Raj Sharma writes about representing an individual (falsely) accused of committing marriage fraud and obtaining a successful resolution for his client. Read more →

2012 Year End: Citizenship and Immigration Canada Wrap Up

The end of 2012 is upon us. It was clear even last year that there was to be a sea change brought on by the indefatiguable Jason Kenney to his Department. I think Kenney has accomplished what he set out to do; anything more is likely fine tuning or calibration. What is the sea change in immigration? 1. Canada no longer passively accepts immigrants. For decades, Canada was passive in immigration policy. Sure, there were general factors -- a minimum bar -- for applicants in the Federal Skilled Worker Class (age, education, work experience, language proficiency, adaptability) and we sat back and observed how these new 'stem cells' would do in Canada, (hopefully successfully) adapting themselves to the needs of our economy. From a processing point of view, it was a nightmare. There were no limits as to the number of applications accepted, and hundreds of thousands languished in visa offices all over the globe. No one saw this coming. Kenney made the "startling suggestion" that the backlog could simply be eliminated at the beginning of March. It was all over by the summer. Kenney made short work of those individuals that had patiently waited their turn at the Canadian... Read more →

New CIC Operational Bulletins dealing with PRRA and Work Permits for DCO refugee claimants

Operational Bulletin 440-H - December 17, 2012: Changes to the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment Program under the new legislation http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2012/ob440H.asp Operational Bulletin 484 - December 18, 2012: Processing work permits for Designated Country of Origin refugee claimants http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2012/ob484.asp Read more →

Immigration Officers have immense discretionary powers

An immigration officer has significant discretionary power. For example, an officer can allow a foreign national entry to Canada notwithstanding criminal inadmissibility (a "TRP"); an officer can exempt a foreign national from almost any requirement under the Act (a "H&C"); an officer can accept a FSW applicant even if the applicant has insufficient "points" (substituted evaluation); an officer can overlook breach of the residency obligation imposed on Permanent Residents; and an officer can decide not to "write up" or proceed with enforcement action (even if the PR or foreign national is inadmissible on criminality or misrepresentation). Knowing when such discretion is possible/likely and what factors are appropriate considerations for such discretion is the hallmark of an experienced immigration lawyer. Read more →

Conversion from Spousal Sponsorship to Conjugal - Helpful for Spousal Sponsorship Appeals

It's been awhile since I posted about the so-called "Tabesh conversion". I've had to request this on a few occasions -one case when my client, a young Somali-Canadian went to Germany to marry; while her and her husband (who had sought asylum in Europe) married in a mosque, the government doesn't allow the registration of marriages by a refugee. Her counsel had submitted the Islamic marriage certificate and seemed to assume that it would be good enough (it wasn't). While it was refused by the visa officer we appealed to the IAD and managed a consent for a Tabesh conversion. In other cases, a prior Islamic divorce or present Islamic marriage is not recognized: [20] This type of conversion is referred to as the Tabesh conversion.[5] A Tabesh conversion can be used when a marriage is not valid under Canadian law, but the couple are in a genuine common-law or conjugal relationship. The objective of this conversion was to avoid unnecessary delays of processing an application when the facts of the case are the same or are similar facts in the membership of the conjugal partner class.[6] [21] IAD members are divided about using the Tabesh conversion when the sponsor... Read more →

Charles Robert Stewart Q.C.

Charles Robert Stewart Q.C was one of the most experienced Criminal Defence Lawyers in Alberta and indeed Canada. Charlie was a graduate of the University of Calgary, having received his B.A. (Hons) in 1972 and the University of Alberta where he graduated Law School in 1974. He had a master’s degree in law from the University of London, City College which he received in 1975. He was called to the bar in Alberta on 1975 and appeared in all levels of Court in B.C. Saskatchewan, Ontario in addition to every courthouse in the province of Alberta. Charles appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2010 on an important drug search case. In 2008 Charlie was honoured by the Legal profession when he was awarded the prestigious Q.C. that appears behind his name. Q.C. stands for Queens Counsel and signifies his esteem and distinction as a trial lawyer. This honour is only awarded to lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the legal profession and shown a consistent level of excellence over many years of legal practice. Charlie was an avid outdoorsman. Last summer, before his diagnosis, he easily bested three lawyers 20 years and more his junior (Bjorn... Read more →