Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Sponsoring Your Spouse from Within Canada

In certain circumstances you can sponsor your spouse (if you both are here) from within Canada. There are certain differences between submitting the application to CPC Vegreville (the In-Canada route) and the 'traditional' route (submitting the application to CPC Mississauga and, after sponsor assessment, to the responsible visa office). One important difference is that there is no appeal of a refused In-Canada spousal sponsorship whereas there is recourse to the Immigration Appeal Division in the event that an overseas sponsorship is refused. The relevant CIC Manual can be found here. A helpful flowchart as to the In-Canada process is below (from page 44 of the Manual). Read more →

Justice Harrington of the Federal Court

I'm a big fan of Justice Harrington of the Federal Court. Of his decisions, my favourite is Espino v. Canada (MCI), where he quoted the Bard on the definition of compassion. Here's his decision on a citizenship appeal by the Minister. It's clear that the citizenship applicant, Mavy Miliana Pais submitted a problematic application for Canadian Citizenship. He scornfully refers to the citizenship judge's notes as "scribbles" and dispenses with the argument that they constitute reasons. He finds that there are misrepresentations in the application and found that there is "every reason" to believe that Ms. Pais misled the Citizenship Judge with respect to her husband's stroke. His final, eloquent statement after allowing the appeal: Citizenship is not a piece of paper to be pulled out of the drawer halfway around the world should the need arise. Read more →

Attending at the Alberta Court of Appeal: Criminal Sentence Appeal

Two weeks ago I attended at the Court of Appeal here at the Calgary Courts Centre. We had represented a high profile individual who was convicted of assault causing bodily harm (there were one or two other charges, including common assault and unlawfully being in a dwelling place) on a friend, at her residence, after a night of drinking. After trial, our client was sentenced to 90 days (to be served on the weekends) along with a significant probation conditions. In this case, the Crown appealed the sentence, arguing that it was clearly inadequate. The Crown was looking for jail (or gaol in the Court parlance) of two to three years. Our position was quite straightforward. Justice should be, and was, obtained at the first instance. The trial judge, Judge Stevenson has been on the bench for 38 years. He had regard to all the facts before him, and was in the best position to impose an appropriate penalty. Judge Stevenson reviewed and assessed the mandatory considerations set out in s.718 of the Criminal Code (and found that none existed). The standard of review is that an appellate court should only interfere to vary a sentence imposed at trial if... Read more →

Jail won't deter illegal immigrants fleeing danger, says Calgary lawyer |Calgary | News | Calgary Sun

Short jail terms won’t deter people from fleeing danger in their homelands to enter Canada illegally, a lawyer told an immigration sentencing hearing Tuesday.Bjorn Harsanyi said the one-month sentence the prosecution wants for Jorge Aguirre Gonzalez will have little impact on others seeking to breach our immigration laws.As a result, Harsanyi told provincial court Judge Anne Brown that Aguirre Gonzalez should be given a conditional discharge, so he won’t have a criminal record.Harsanyi said Aguirre Gonzalez illegally returned to Canada to escape his native Guatemala after an earlier refugee claim was turned down and he was deported.“Should we be denouncing this kind of behaviour (by imposing jail)?” Harsanyi said.“Should we be denouncing individuals fleeing for their life?”But federal prosecutor Dawn Poskocil said a one-month jail term was warranted, considering Aguirre Gonzalez’ conduct after he was initially deported.After he was declined his application for refugee status in Canada he refused to comply with two orders to appear for his removal, instead going “underground,” Poskocil said.“After several years of ongoing deception he was arrested and removed from Canada (in 2009),” she told Brown.But instead of abiding by the decision, which determined Aguirre Gonzalez didn’t face imminent risk in his homeland, he illegally... Read more →

A Multicultural Canada?

Last year I spoke at the Power of Unity Conference which aimed to celebrate Islam in a Multi-Cultural Canada. I spoke on a number of panels including a speech before the keynote speaker, Ambassador Shabazz (the daughter of the late Malcolm X). Also in attendance was the controversial Bilal Philips who took in my debate with a CSIS agent at the Akram Jomaa Centre. Read more →

Language testing for most (if not all) economic immigrants to Canada

Remember, language testing is required for most applications for permanent residency under an economic class. If it's application under the Canadian Experience Class, check out: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/cec/language.asp if applying under the Federal Skilled Worker Class, check out: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/language-testing.asp Read more →

Sentencing Appeal

It was very interesting (and fun) to attend at the Court of Appeal last week to deal with a sentencing matter. In essence, we represented our client and obtained a favourable sentence for him at trial. The Crown decided to appeal to seek a stiffer sentence. They argued that the sentence was clearly inadequate. The judge at trial has been on the bench longer than I've been alive. The Crown appealed because they disagreed with the sentence imposed. That is not the standard of review for an appellate court. The Crown had to demonstrate that the trial judge made a demonstrable, clear error. In my opinion, they failed to do so. I'm looking forward to the decision. Read more →

Video Post: Calgary Immigration Lawyer discusses Top 5 Tips for Submitting Your Own Application

Raj Sharma, Calgary Immigration Lawyer, discusses tips for completing your spousal sponsorship application. You don't necessarily need an immigration lawyer to complete and submit any immigration application. You need to pay attention to detail. You need to determine whether you can/want to submit an in-Canada spousal sponsorship or an outside sponsorship immigration application. Avoid the most common errors. Include a detailed statement of the relationship history. Provide documentary evidence that supports the genuine nature of the relationship. Finally, there are some cases where it would be appropriate to seek good, professional advice, from an experienced immigration lawyer such as when your case involves criminality, inadmissibility or unaccompanying dependents. Read more →

Massive Drop in Refugee Acceptance Rates

Refugee referrals are down at least 60% year over year; now statistics indicate that there is a significant drop in the acceptance rate for refugees. This is somewhat surprising - one would assume that with the elimination of what Jason Kenney calls 'bogus refugee claims' the acceptance rate would increase. I think Jason Kenney meant to say 'reduction' when he said 'reform' in his "Balanced Refugee Reform Act" ... "The Refugee Reduction Act" seems far more apt. IRB statistics for the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) for the first half of 2013 show an acceptance rate of 33% nationally, the lowest acceptance rate in the history of the IRB. These statistics include both claims referred before December 15, 2012 and those referred after. Nationally there were 4,558 claims referred to the RPD from January to June. If this rate of referral continues, there will be under 10,000 claims by the end of the year, while the norm has been considered something like 25,000 claims per year. Numbers by region: Eastern Region (Montreal): 1,018 accepted (32%), rejected: 54% Central Region (Toronto): 2,035 accepted (34%), rejected 49% Western Region: 368 accepted (34%), rejected 53% Nationally: 3,421 accepted (33%), rejected 51% Nationally, 4% were... Read more →