Three Useful Canadian Immigration Lessons from the New BC PNP Skills...
Introduction Now a couple weeks old, the BC PNP’s 2016 offerings for its Skills Immigration Programs have drastically changed the way the bulk of nominations for permanent residence occur in the...
View ArticleThe Rising Problem of Express Entry Refusals/Incompleteness
Introduction I posted as early as in March 2015 (when Express Entry was only three months old) as to why I felt Express Entry would create headaches/misrepresentation concerns for applicants. Almost a...
View ArticleMehfooz v. MCI 2016 FC 165 – Lessons for Companies Supporting TFWs/PR Applicants
Justice Henry Brown’s decision in Ali Mehfooz v. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration 2015 FC 165 is a very important reminder to employers of foreign workers as to the level of scrutiny a...
View ArticleAn Invitation Letter to My Foreign National Spouse: A Fictional Short Piece
This letter has been translated into English for purposes of clarity. Assume it is in the third language of your loved one. Dear My Foreign National Spouse: I am writing this letter to invite you to...
View ArticleChecking LMIA’s List Twice – Practice Tool via ATIP
The nature of an Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”), am often hundred pages application, requires an accuracy superior to all other immigration applications. For many successful practices,...
View ArticleSocial Media Blackout – In Memory of My Late Father
Dear Readers: Without delving into too much detail (my father was quite a private man and would not want it) I unfortunately lost my father earlier this week after his battle with a horrible disease. I...
View ArticleProposed Solution for IRCC – Move Response to Further Information Requests to...
Recently, I have dealt with several files where the issues were entirely a matter of technology and administrative challenges, rather than substance. In the cases that come to mind, refusals/litigation...
View ArticleImmigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) Releases Their 2016...
In what can be considered the equivalent to the immigration law version of draft lottery day, the IRCC has released it’s projected numbers of permanent resident applications processed in 2016. The...
View ArticleWhat To Do About 20,000 High Risk International Students? – Government Policy...
Based on the most recent publicly-available figures, as of 31 December 2014, there were somewhere in the neighbourhood of 336,502 international students with valid permit in Canada (see: November 2015,...
View ArticleNot-So Hidden Prejudice: Visa-Office Specific Document Requirements and...
Canada’s historic mistreatment of Chinese migrants through immigration policy and law, though under-appreciated, cannot be understated. It began with the introduction of the Chinese Head Tax in 1885....
View ArticleIs Canadian Immigration Overemphasing the Financial Sufficiency of...
Based on StatsCan numbers, in 2015/2016, International Students to Canada pay on average $21,932 a year in tuition fees, compared to $6,191 a year paid by their domestic colleagues. I have heard in...
View ArticleExpressly Challenging: A Numerical Analysis and Three Takeaways from IRCC’s...
On April 1, 2016, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) released it’s Express Entry Year-End Report tracking the progress of its economic immigration management system, Express Entry,...
View ArticleHow I Would Spend 24-Hours in Vancouver #CBAIMM16
Four hundred and ninety of my colleagues and friends from across Canada will be descending on Vancouver in a matter of hours to participate in the CBA’s National Immigration Law Conference (hashtag:...
View ArticleBalancing Expedient Processing and a Second Chance for Potential Economic...
With Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada’s (“IRCC”) 2016 Level’s Plan as mandated by the Government of Canada, one of the challenges I am beginning to see is IRCC’s struggle in balancing...
View ArticleDeadlines and Timelines – A Case for Starting the Immigration Process Early
I am often asked by my friends/clients what I would look for if I was choosing an immigration lawyer for my own private matter. What important considerations would I make? I think my first advice to...
View ArticleWhy Canada Should Create a Social Capital Investor Immigration Program for...
For as much scrutiny as Canada’s Federal Investor Immigration Program (“FIIP”) has come under, perhaps we have overlooked the real potential that encouraged investor immigrants can bring to Canada....
View Article‘Actively Pursuing Studies’– Possible Port of Entry Issues
As I mentioned in a post written in September 2015, the requirement that a study permit holder “actively pursue studies” in Canada while holding their study permit creates major challenges. When I...
View ArticlePrevious Unauthorized Work and the Application of Regulation 200(3) IRPR at...
Mock Fact Scenario An Applicant shows up to the Port-of-Entry (after a quick trip to the Untied States) applying for a new work permit or attempting to enter on the basis of an existing work permit....
View ArticleOn Illegal “Ghost Immigration Consultants”: An Ethical Crisis that Needs to...
Beyond the well-documented issues of Vancouver’s real estate industry, I have come to realize that there is also a major ethical crisis in the immigration industry. As a society, we are turning a...
View ArticleThe Problem of Employer Reference Letters for Economic Immigration under...
The importance of employer reference letters in today’s economic immigration system cannot be understated. The current Express Entry process is largely applicant driven through self-declaration, up to...
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