Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

January 30, 2019 Interview on the Calgary Eyeopener Discussing the Family Class Fiasco

My thoughts - shared on the CBC Calgary Eyeopener on January 30, 2019 discussing the family class imbroglio. David Gray: [Immigratino Canada is facing] a backlash this week. The problem, its new online sponsorship system, which allows people to bring their parents and grandparents to Canada. They brought in a new first-come, first-served online form. It went live at exactly 10:00 AM on Monday. All 27,000 application spots filled up in just 11 minutes. Now, my next guest says reuniting families shouldn't be like buying concert tickets. Raj Sharma is an immigration lawyer here in Calgary and he joins us on the line. Good morning. Raj Sharma: Good morning. David Gray: What happened in your office when the form went live? Can you describe the scene? Raj Sharma: We had to operate under this new parental grandparent first-come, first-served regime and sort of ended up being a little bit like Black Friday door crashers. The program went live Monday, January 28th, 10:00 Mountain Standard Time. Within a matter of minutes, the program was shut down. They had received the limit. David Gray: Did you know this was the way it was going to work? Raj Sharma: Yes. Not just myself,... Read more →

Family Class Fiasco

Summary: The author is criticizing the family class sponsorship program run by the Canadian government. They argue that the process of reuniting families should not resemble a lottery or a concert ticket sale, and that the relevant metric should be a sponsor's work ethic, not their tech savvy or internet connection. The author suggests that the government should make the application deadline in May or June, so that the sponsor's current annual income can be submitted, and that the system should be fair and transparent. They also argue that there should be a lower income requirement and that the process should not be limited to those with strong computer skills. This joke of a parent/grandparent family class sponsorship opened and slammed shut within minutes. Normally when you replace something, you try to improve upon it. Note to CIC: address shortcomings, don't add to them. A cohort of moderately intelligent 12 year olds could have come up with something better than what we saw on January 28, 2019. Reuniting families should not be akin to reserving campsites in Banff or scoring rush concert seats. An orderly immigration system should not resemble a Black-Friday-Door-Crasher Sale. A Sponsor's work ethic should be the... Read more →

Update - Venezuela added to Administrative Deferral of Removal List (ADR)

CBSA has sent the following message: As a result of the political unrest and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, please be advised that an Administrative Deferral of Removal (ADR) is immediately imposed to that country pursuant to section 230 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. All removals to Venezuela are temporarily deferred except for the removal of persons who are: inadmissible under subsection 34(1) of the Act on security grounds; inadmissible under subsection 35(1) of the Act on grounds of violating human or international rights; inadmissible under subsection 36(1) of the Act on grounds of serious criminality or under subsection 36(2) of the Act on grounds of criminality; inadmissible under subsection 37(1) of the Act on grounds of organized criminality; referred to in section F of Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention; consenting to their removal. Read more →

The Overseas Humanitarian and Compassionate Application

Summary: Three sisters sought to bring their disabled brother to Canada. Initially, their family class sponsorship was refused on the grounds of medical inadmissibility (mainly for their father), but after their parents passed away, they sought further legal advice and submitted an overseas application for humanitarian and compassionate relief. Reunification of family in Canada is an important objective of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and it is clear that the sisters in Canada care deeply about their brother and are capable of caring for him. The previous application was refused by the Immigration Appeal Division as the barrier to admission was considered "significant", however, the disabled brother is currently being cared for at home and his lifestyle would continue in Canada if he were to be reunited with his sisters. The sisters are all employed and established in Canada and have the ability and intent to care for their brother without resorting to social services. Thankfully, a passport request has been issued after medical tests were conducted, three years after the application was submitted. I represented three sisters in their quest to bring their disabled brother to Canada. They had first submitted a family class sponsorship and that application... Read more →

Interview discussing Rahaf Al-Qunun, the refugee backlog and the pending TPS expiry on AM 770 January 14, 2019

Danielle Smith: On the surface, I am prepared to give them credit for bringing in Saudi teenager, Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun. I do question a couple of things. Number one, I question why act so quickly on this one and in the way that they did? Does it set a precipice for others? Why not act equally quickly with Asia Bibi, that would be one question. But the other one would be, the story from last week, which is the original reason why I want to talk Raj Sharma, my next guest. Danielle Smith: Here's the headline in case you didn't see it. Star story, 74 million, not enough to cut refugee claim backlog according to internal documents. The agency that processes refugee claims in Canada, estimated it would need almost four times as much money as it's getting, to tackle a major backlog in asylum claims caused in part by influx of the, and this is the word they use in the story, irregular migrants. Documented [inaudible 00:01:00] access information laws show the immigration refugee board drafted estimates in November 2017, showing it would need an extra 140 million dollars a year, plus an additional 40 million dollars a year... Read more →

Interview discussing Rahaf Al-Qunun with Ryan Jespersen AM 630 CHED January 14, 2019

Ryan Jespersen: ... in just a moment. Wanted to bring you this. Of course, you know the story by now if you've been paying attention to the news cycle. Canada granting asylum to a Saudi woman that says essentially that her future involved death. It says she said that she was going to be killed; Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun saying that Canada essentially saved her life. Well, this morning Canada's former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dennis Horak, spoke to my colleagues at Global News Radio 640 in Toronto, says he would have handled this situation differently. Dennis Horak: I would not have advised that Minister go out to meet her. Or if she did, to go to her but not in front of the cameras. But I mean, a Minister is going to go there for his cameras, or are you going to go in front of it? That's politics, I get that. But I would advise not. I think this should be low profile, especially ... I don't think there's a huge amount of damage, but the [inaudible 00:00:54] said on Saturday it's about going forward, and do we continue to make this a media-politico issue. Do we try and... Read more →

Happy New Year - a look ahead

2018 is now behind us. What will 2019 bring in terms of immigration? First a recap from the last couple of years. I believe this government is largely done in terms of immigration legislation/revision. I won't call it hitting the reset button, but the Trudeau government has lowered the residency requirement for citizenship, revoked the revocation of citizenship for terrorists, and increased the age of dependent children (among other tinkering). It also oversaw the resettlement of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees (not without some hiccups and growing pains). One significant change from the outset was the tone itself. The name change from CIC to IRCC was the first indication. I was with my law partner in 2016 at the CBA National Immigration Law Conference. Then Minister McCallum was welcomed with a standing ovation (no, Bjorn and I did not genuflect). His geniality could immediately be contrasted with the driven-Kenney and hapless-Alexander immigration regime which was marked by untoward aggression and derision against the Bench and Bar. Little wonder then at the palpable release in tension within the Bar. After McCallum's short sojourn Ahmed Hussen became our Minister of Immigration. A welcome appointment. One can only imagine the insight he... Read more →