Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm Blog

CHC Delhi Short Staffed

A recent stakeholder meeting reveals the impact of the diplomatic strain on Canadian immigration services in India. In a stakeholder meeting held on October 20, 2023, between Deputy Minister Christiane Fox of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Deputy Minister Rob Stewart of Global Affairs Canada, and representatives from the Canadian Bar Association's National Immigration Section (including our friend Jatin Shory), concerns were addressed regarding the ongoing diplomatic tensions between Canada and India. The immediate fallout has been the expulsion of 41 Canadian diplomats from India, seriously affecting immigration processing services due to staffing reductions in Canadian missions. That expulsion includes a significant number of visa officers and their dependents. The tension, initiated by the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada and subsequent political repercussions, has led to a situation with only *five* visa officers remaining in India. My law partner, Bjorn Harsanyi and I have both served as immigration officers many years ago--we understand all too well that such a dramatic decrease in personnel can only result in significant reduction in capacity; CHC Delhi necessarily can only focus on urgent cases and routine visa services can only be hindered. We are of course grateful for the stakeholder discussion/inclusion... Read more →

The Rise of Refugee Claims from Modi's India

The following is a transcript of a lengthy interview on September 25, 2023, much of which was for context, some of which utilized for a CBC National story on the dramatic rise in refugee claims from India coinciding with the rise of Modi and the BJP. Interviewer: Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. Just to start, I was wondering if you could introduce yourself and your background. … Raj Sharma: My name is Raj Sharma. I'm an immigration lawyer based out of Calgary. Many years ago I was a refugee protection officer with the Immigration Refugee Board. Since that time I entered private practice, authored a text on immigration called Inadmissibility and Remedies and I teach immigration law formerly at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law and more recently at Queens University Faculty of Law. Interviewer: Excellent. Thank you. And just what is an immigration corrections officer? What is that? Or enforcement officer, what is that? Raj Sharma: Well, the Canada Border Services Agency was created after the watershed of September 11, 2001 that had major ramifications for various countries around the world including Canada. We got an act called the Immigration Refugee Protection... Read more →

Interview -CBC Alberta at Noon with Judy Aldous Canada-India Tensions

The following is a transcript of an interview/call-in show -CBC Alberta at Noon with Judy Aldous -on October 4, 2023 Judy Aldous: Rising tensions with India. What does this mean to you? This is Alberta at Noon. I'm Judy Aldous. Well, the anti-Canada rhetoric has surged in the Indian media. Palki Sharma: Clearly the Canadian Prime Minister is out of his depths. Arnab Goswami: And ladies and gentlemen, he is facing a huge backlash from the press back home. Palki Sharma: It seems that the Canadian leader needs a lesson in international relations. Arnab Goswami: And Justin Trudeau is appeasing the terrorist groups by backing Khalistani terrorists openly and trying to take on India. Judy Aldous: Well, it has been two and a half weeks since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being behind the murder of a Canadian. Diplomats have been recalled. Some visas aren't being processed. And today on the show, we want to know what impact this is all having on you. Seven minutes after 12. Well, the most recent move is that India has told Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats. That's according to a report from the Financial Times. India... Read more →