Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Immigration Options for Temporary Foreign Workers from Nepal Seeking to Remain Permanently

Two massive earthquakes have struck the mountain kingdom-country of Nepal. The devastation has ravaged the already limited infrastructure of that developing nation. On April 25 and May 12, 2015 two powerful earthquakes caused widespread destruction and loss of life in Nepal. The UN reports that the death toll has increased to 8,604 people, and 16, 808 people are injured. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “Nepal: Earthquake 2015 Situation Report No. 16 (as of 18 May 2015)” online: United Nations . To date almost half a million homes have been destroyed and over a quarter million are damaged. The UN estimates that 2.8 million are displaced. 3.5 million are in need of food assistance. Infrastructure, transportation and services have been severely disrupted. Many roads and highways are structurally damaged. The seasonal monsoon rains threaten to overwhelm Nepal’s fragile transportation network and impede aid distribution.Hospital capacity has been overwhelmed. Schools have been closed since the earthquake and 1,383 schools in 26 districts have been damaged. UN figures estimate that 5,000 schools were destroyed and more than 16,000 schools have been damaged. UN OSOCC, “Situational Analysis Nepal Earthquake”, (May 5, 2015) online: OSOCC Assessment Cell [OSOCC]. 2015) where an... Read more →

Blog Posting - Proxy Marriages No Longer Valid for Sponsorship

Proxy marriages are marriages that are conducted without both parties being physically located in the same location as where the marriage is performed and legalized. In the vast majority of cases, proxy marriages are conducted with a representative acting for and consenting to the marriage in the place where the marriage is solemnized in the absence of one party. In our experience, proxy marriages are more commonly used by those with a Muslim background and can be useful tools where travel to a location is dangerous or unpractical. The Canadian government has now issued policy changes to immigration officers barring proxy marriages for the purposes of sponsorship, unless they involve a Canadian military service member: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/bulletins/2015/ob613.asp The government's ostensible justification for this change is to protect parties from being married without consent or with undue family pressure. As usual the government has not provided any evidence that this policy change is necessary to protect individuals or demonstrated that the changes serve some legitimate immigration policy purpose. Instead these changes will disproportionately affect those from a traditional Muslim background. It will be interesting to see if this change is challenged, due to lack of constitutionality, as the Canadian forces exemption creates... Read more →

Blog Posting - Canadian Immigration Detentions In Breach of International Human Rights Law

The University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, has published a disturbing report detailing breaches of Canada's international human rights obligations through prolonged detentions of psychologically unwell detainees. A link to the report is contained in the below article: http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2015/06/18/canadas-immigration-detention-system-breaches-human-rights-u-of-t-study-says.html Although the legal presumptions to release are formidable, as noted in the report, there is an underlying access to justice issue which makes it even more difficult for these detainees to obtain release. With such detainees either unaware or unable to access provincial legal assistance programs, their indefinite detention, without recourse to experienced and competent counsel, becomes inevitable. 30 day detention reviews with detainees who have limited resources and connections to the community become perfunctory exercises that ensure continued detention. What is particularly galling is that most of these detainees pose no risk to Canadians, yet their upkeep costs millions of dollars per year in taxpayer dollars. Given the Minister's flimsy justification of denial of basic healthcare to refugees in Canada on the basis of costs it would be nice to see a similar cost benefit rationale applied to the detention system. Alas, we fear the radical honesty required to conduct such an assessment is well beyond the abilities of the... Read more →

Canadians are giving up liberties and failing to secure even a little, temporary safety

This government seeks additional, intrusive methods to combat terrorism. More than 2/3 of Canadians were in agreement that Canada needed tougher legislation after the attack on Parliament and the deaths of two Canadian forces soldiers in fall of last year; that number has dropped, but a bare majority of Canadians are still in agreement with the Harper government now approaching a decade in power. The reality is that the government already has very powerful tools, in place since the infamous attacks of September 11, 2001. The current immigration act (IRPA) made a number of changes including making a permanent resident or foreign national inadmissible on the grounds of security (including engaging in terrorism; being a danger to the security of Canada; engaging in acts of violence that would or might endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada; or member of an organization that engages, has engaged, or will engage in those acts). IRPA is enforcement legislation that has impressive teeth. Politicians and others who claim we need stronger legislation, and who claim we fight the terrorist threat behind are being disingenuous at best. But why are we exaggerating the terrorist threat and minimizing the ability to combat same?... Read more →

Attending the CBA National Immigration Conference

It was my pleasure to attend and to be asked to speak at the CBA National Immigration Conference. My paper/speech can be viewed Download 2015 05 speech to cba national conference. Read more →

Blog Posting - Snafus in Immigration Application Processing

This article deals with a problem our firm is very familiar with, namely improper and incorrect processing by various Canadian case processing centres for immigration: http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/05/30/immigration-canada-snafus-causing-a-lot-of-misery.html While not all of the blame for these errors can be laid at the hands of the Minister, it is troubling that the government has not publicized the fact that there exists a Case Review email where errors of this kind can be dealt with. As counsel we are aware of the process, but the reality is that in many immigration applications, applicants are self-represented. When they are victimized by such errors they have no way of knowing that they have recourse to the Case Review system as an alternative to a time consuming and costly Federal Court process. The Minister should at very least make public the proper procedure for rectifying these errors through the Case Review system. Secondly, the processing centres should be advised to act with common sense when these errors occur and applicants request reconsideration of erroneous decisions or incorrect documents. Read more →

Blog Posting - Failure to Launch: Canada's Misguided Policies Towards Foreign Students

The linked article references Canada's ongoing problem in attracting and retaining foreign students and refers to the mismatch of policies which will result in hardship to both universities and our economy going forward: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ottawas-resource-gap-leaves-international-students-waiting-for-visas/article24715563/ There are many stakeholders with an interest in allowing a smooth transition for foreign students to permanent residency: Canadian post secondary institutions have an obvious interest in attracting foreign students. On the one hand these students are often highly intelligent, ambitious young people who may be in a position to innovate and be a resource for providing dynamic ideas that could benefit the academic institutions prestige and the Canadian economy in general. A more practical interest is that foreign students pay much higher fees for enrolment than Canadians and their fees are used to defray costs to Canadian students, fund research and development and pay for and retain competent faculty. Foreign students have in interest in accessing the high level of post secondary education and training in Canada. In many cases they are also prospective immigrants who wish to integrate fully into Canadian society and build their lives here while taking advantage of the opportunities available. Employers have an interest in recruiting and retaining highly educated... Read more →

Little peckers do not overrule big peckers

The following is a fax that I sent to the IAD and CBSA regarding the validity of a visa office refusal on a spousal sponsorship. My client had entered Canada along with his first wife and stayed for not quite a year. Both returned to their country of origin and obtained a divorce there before returning to Canada. This only became an issue when my client returned to his country to re-marry. When he sponsored his second wife, the visa office refused on the grounds that the divorce would not be recognized under the Divorce Act as he was not living in his country of origin for the requisite period of time. Rather than wait for the 2 years for the appeal to be heard by the Immigration Appeal Division, I obtained an Order from the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta recognizing the validity of the foreign divorce. I then presented it to the IAD and CBSA expecting the CBSA to consent. Imagine my surprise when the CBSA indicated that the IAD was to somehow ignore the commandment. This was my response. "Dear Sir/Madam, I am in receipt of Minister's correspondence dated February 12, 2015 indicating that even though... Read more →