Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Blog Posting - Hope For International Students?

Well, admitting you have a problem is a start. It appears Minister McCallum has identified the easily discerned fact that the Express Entry system discriminates against international students (and other persons here on LMIA exempt work permits). The link to his comments is below: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-looks-to-ease-international-students-path-to-permanent-residency/article29242266/ Rather than grope around in the dark and study what needs to be done to solve this issue, the simplest way to address it is simply by restoring the Canadian Experience Class as a stand-alone category for immigration which exists outside of the Express Entry system. This would address the issues faced by both international students who remain in Canada working in skilled positions on post graduate work permits as well as other persons working in skilled positions in through LMIA exempt work permits (NAFTA Professionals and Intra-corporate transferees come to mind). If the Minister really wishes to make it even easier for international students to immigrate, he could decrease the work experience requirement to six months of skilled work experience in Canada for Applicants who hold a post secondary educational credential from Canada and who obtained their work experience through a post graduate work permit. This is not complicated. In any event, these comments... Read more →

The Stranger's Case - a clarion call for pluralism, diversity and tolerance

Immigration is nothing new. Global movement and displacement has always been a part of the human condition. Yet, these strangers (and, most of us, or our forbears were or are also strangers in strange lands) looking for succor arouse fears and nativist, base sentiment. The anti-immigrant rhetoric that we have heard in both Canada and the US, and in Europe, have been exacerbated with the sea of humanity fleeing conflict and sectarian violence in the Middle East. A good friend of mine, one of Calgary's favourite sons, Tyler Shandro, alerted me to something that I should perhaps have already known (perhaps there is some value in an undergraduate Arts degree!) a speech for pluralism, diversity and tolerance written four centuries ago. Sylvia Morris writes in the Shakespeare blog about the play The Book of Sir Thomas More which contains a series of scenes covering the events of the May Day riots of 1517, within the period covered by this project. Immigrants from Lombardy in Northern Italy are being threatened by Londoners who accuse them of taking jobs and money from the locals, and want them to be deported back to where they came from. Ian Chadwick explains that the angry... Read more →

Blog Posting - New Liberal Immigration Policy - An Uneventful Start

Minister McCallum has released a policy plan on immigration policy in 2016: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/08/canada-will-welcome-up-to-305000-newcomers-this-year-mccallum-says.html The new plan does not contain many surprises and is in line with some of what was expressed during the election campaign and shortly thereafter. Syrian refugees will make up the vast majority of the refugee stream of immigration. Economic streams would have expected to decrease anyways with no reset quotas on provincial nominees; increased difficulties for employers to obtain LMIAs and no reduction in the points required to qualify under Express Entry. Undoubtedly, the plan does offer hope to individuals who have had family class applications in queue for years with no conclusion. We would expect the new plan to emphasize priority processing of spousal sponsorships and other family class application. The stay the course emphasis of the plan lacks ambition and vision. While the reduced processing times for family class applications are helpful, it would have been refreshing to see a plan which addressed: (1) Demographic issues within Canada and how those will be addressed in the longterm; (2) How Canada can better position itself to attract the world's most talented immigrants; and (3) New streams for family class sponsorship and immigration which placed value... Read more →

Blog Posting - Government to Remove Conditional Permanent Residence Requirement for Sponsored Spouses

In following through on a campaign promise, the Liberal Government is preparing to take steps to remove the requirement that sponsored spouses live with their sponsors in a genuine relationship for at least 2 years after they land as permanent residents in Canada. The link is below: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/liberals-to-scrap-two-year-delay-before-spouses-from-overseas-win-permanent-residency Our office has dealt with many cases for clients on both sides of this issue. We have dealt with cases for sponsors who have sponsored someone only to find their spouse has left them on arrival in Canada and tried to instigate CBSA investigation. We have also dealt with new permanent residents who cannot leave their sometimes abusive or demanding spouses as a result of the two year rule. As indicated in the article, there are merits to the two year requirement and perhaps the best solution is to allow the two year rule to be imposed by Visa Officer in some cases based on a listed and known criteria. This could both reduce the risk of marriage fraud and also allow visa officers a third option in cases where they are suspicious and might refuse based on suspicion rather than firm evidence. This could reduce the caseload of the Immigration Appeal... Read more →