Inside the Migrant’s Mind – Official Label Launch
I am proud to officially launch my new label – IMM (Inside the Migrant’s Mind). For many of us Canadian immigration starts with an IMM form. We are proverbial monarch butterflies. Our migrations around...
View ArticleWhat Her Weathered Eyes Tell Me – A Poem
Her weathered eyes tell me she’s seen some things; Her neatly knitted red hat each stitch each seam; She speaks not it seems in complex phrases; She could have been here three decades but to you she’s...
View ArticleNew Can/Xun (Sunny) Wang and the Citizenship Revocation Process
The latest numbers show that Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) is moving on the Xun “Sunny” Wang files. To date, there have been 1632 Suspected New Can Clients and 503 Pending Investigations. The...
View ArticleResponding to IRCC Procedural Fairness Letters – A Few Practical Tips
Introduction For many individuals making Canadian immigration applications, the receipt of a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) highlighting the insufficiency of the...
View ArticleInspiration from the Kid’s Room on an Executive Retreat
Greetings from Big White Ski Resort. Specifically, greetings from the bottom bunk of the kids room on the bottom floor. Before you jump to conclusions, I did not get forced into selecting this room....
View ArticleBeing Careful About PR Card Extension Applications – Five Common...
Increasingly, in my practice, I have begun to see clients who are having permanent resident (PR) card renewal problems. Generally, these individuals can be classified into a few categories: Individuals...
View ArticleWhy Canada’s Punishment for Inadmissibility for Misrepresentation Needs to Be...
Within the realm of Canadian criminal law there is a fundamental principle that the punishment should be proportional to the crime an individual convicted of. Under Section 718.1 of the Canadian...
View ArticleNew Commentary on the End of Conditional PR for New Canadian Media!
Hi VIB Friends: I have been super busy recently with several interesting engagements – including talking at a global conference in Vancouver earlier this month. I am going to San Francisco tomorrow for...
View ArticleHow to address the dreaded “Probability of Success”? – From a Client and...
I have been on a bit of a campaign (that I am now sharing publicly by way of this blog post) to eliminate the using, asking, and advertising of “probability of success” and “guarantees.” Unfortunately,...
View ArticleTracing My Mainland Chinese Roots to Chinatown: A Personal Narrative
Framing My Perspective Over the past several months, I have had the unique opportunity of being part of a City of Vancouver Committee looking at Historical Discrimination Against Chinese in Vancouver...
View ArticleTakeaways from CBA National Immigration Conference – Pt. 1 – IRCC’s Increased...
One of the highlights of the CBA Immigration Law Conference is that the Minister of Immigration speaks and talks about his government’s focus and priority moving forward. Minister @AhmedDHussen now...
View ArticleTrying to Understand the Media’s Obsession with Vilifying Some Canadian...
Almost two years ago, I penned a widely-read piece on my belief that the media needed to be responsible in penning case of individual immigrants for fear of inaccuracies and long-term consequences for...
View ArticleList of Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) Eligible Schools in Alberta
A colleague, Anna, recently posted this to the CBA Immigration Law listserve which I felt was worth sharing. She inquired to Alberta Educational authorities about the list of eligible schools and...
View ArticleLetting your relationship guide your immigration, not your immigration guide...
Recently, I have been writing for/with the passionate, Kelly Toughill, a journalist and immigration advocate who I believe is doing amazing and thoughtful work for international students. I recently...
View ArticleOpinion: We Need to Start Writing a Chinese Canadian Narrative for Ourselves
A survey of recent media reports from Vancouver and increasingly from Toronto show a worry trend of the reviving and recycling of historical “yellow peril” arguments that many of us hoped t21st century...
View ArticleAn Update When You Owe An Update – Summer 2017
VIB Readers: Without sounding like a broken record, the past few months have been busy with so much happening that unfortunately writing has taken an unfortunate backseat. You will not hear excuses...
View ArticleWhat to See About CETA Re: Entry of Temporary Business Persons
On 21 September 2017, the much anticipated Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”) came into effect. Along with the new trade agreement, Chapter 10 sets out the rules around temporary entry...
View ArticleIn Advance of the October 11th Citizenship Rules Changes – Some Best Practice...
(Image Credit: Minister Hussein’s Twitter Page) With four major changes set to go into legal affect next Wednesday (October 11th), a lot of questions I have been fielding are from individuals who are...
View ArticleThe Little Things that Send Back Spousals – Advice Blog
The December 2016 changes to the spousal sponsorship process has (to-date) served as a double-edge sword. While applications for many have sped up, for others, the process has turned into a nightmare....
View ArticleAnnouncement: I’m Starting My Teaching Career – Ashton College
Hi Vancouver Immigration Blog Readers: I’ve had a busy couple of weeks. Been asked to step in on advocacy a little these last two weeks which is a change. The City of Vancouver committee that I...
View Article