Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

Moving the Goalposts: Meeting the Income Requirements for Sponsoring Parents

My client sought to bring her father, mother and two brothers to Canada under the family class. She herself came to Canada having been sponsored by her first husband. Soon after the birth of their daughter she started working in order to meet the income requirements to bring the rest of her family here. Her first husband co-signed the application, and combined, the couples' income met the requisite threshold at that time. Unfortunately her first marriage was marred by abuse and after the breakdown of that relationship, which saw her taking full custody of her child, move cities and struggle but succeed in getting back on her feet, her first husband advised CPC Mississauga that he would like to withdraw his support. As a result, for a short time my client was unable to meet the requisite financial threshold. However, she did her best, and in fact was working two or three jobs at a time to ensure that her income met the required thresholds; and not jeopardize the ongoing application to bring her parents and younger siblings to Canada. Time passed and the application was being finalized. Rather than assess the fact that the sponsor had worked hard and... Read more →

Trump Hysteria and the Exodus to Canada

As history is condemned to repeat itself, we are now hearing again from our American friends that they will "move to Canada" if Donald Trump wins the American election. Prescient observers will recall that we heard this same refrain in 2000 and 2004 after George W. Bush won two terms as President of the United States. There was no exodus in 2000 and 2004. While there was certainly more interest in Americans moving to Canada in these years, the exodus did not occur, primarily because the Canadian immigration system does not make it much easier for Americans to move to Canada in relation to other Western nations. Secondly, people rarely leave their home countries as a result of politics. Business and work opportunities; financial considerations; remittances; civil war; war; persecution" these are the primary reasons people leave their countries of origin. In any event, the primary advantage Americans have in coming to Canada is that they can come, if qualified, as NAFTA Professionals as long as they are qualified (for example professor would need to hold a PHD) and they have a job offer from a Canadian employer to work in the same professional capacity in Canada. Having such a... Read more →

Blog Posting - CBSA Detention System and Hunger Strikers

The unfortunate deaths of foreign detainees as well as the ongoing hunger strike from several others protesting their indefinite detention has shined a much needed light on the CBSA's practices of seeking and obtaining detention for foreign nationals. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/goodale-shows-no-sign-of-meeting-demands-of-hunger-striking-detainees-387841542.html In many cases these national lack identification documents due to fleeing warzones. In other cases the detention continues because their "home" countries refuse to issue necessary documentation or take other steps to receive these individuals on return. Earlier blog postings referred to the case of a Canadian citizen who was in fact detained because he could not furnish proof of his citizenship. The reality is that the system as it stands needs to be reconstituted to allow Canada to adopt best practices. On the one hand, these individuals are being detained for months and years, in many cases with criminal detainees ,when they have committed no crime. From a humanitarian perspective we should seek to alleviate this situation. On the other hand, these detentions cost taxpayers disproportionately to any benefit we gain from public security. Most of these individuals are not criminals and do not need to be managed in a manner we reserve for the most dangerous individuals in our... Read more →

The Shoe's on the Other Foot - Raj Sharma Interviewed by Harjap Bhangal

Visa Requirements for Mexicans Lifted (Effective December 1, 2016)

The requirement that Mexican visitors coming to Canada obtain visas from an Embassy or High Commission abroad will be lifted as of December 1, 2016 and they will be able to travel to Canada without a visa: http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-to-lift-visa-for-mexican-visitors-1.2964466 Although the Conservative Immigration Critic has criticized the decision as risking the security of Canadians, it is unclear how this would be the case. While asylum claims will increase as a result of visas being lifted, refugee claimants are often persons fleeing violence and victims of violence and not perpetrators of the same. This will increase the resources required for the immigration system as a whole, but to conflate a higher number of claims with risking Canadian security is neither logical or verifiable based on any evidence. If individuals are coming to Canada to make claims for protection from Mexico they will need to ensure that they are eligible to make such claims as the Safe Third Country agreement will apply (as well as exemptions from the same) in many cases for individuals transiting through the United States to Canada. http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/stca-etps-eng.html Read more →