Joshua Sohn practiced immigration law for over 25 years. He is a past president of the Canadian Bar Association’s Immigration section. He worked both as a sole practicioner, at a small firm and at a big 4 accounting firm. We discuss Joshua’s career, what made him go to law school, whether he took immigration courses in law school, how he started in refugee law, differences between working as a solo practicioner, small firm and eventually at a big 4 accounting firm, and then back to a small firm, differences working in a downtown core vs suburb, and managing the stress of practicing immigration law and running a business. There are a lot of nuggets in here for aspiring lawyers and current practicioners. 2:00 Quitting social media after retirement. 9:00 Law school 14:00 Articles 17:30 Are there any courses or law schools that are best to help someone start a career in immigration? 19:30 Starting a career in refugee law. 22:30 Is it possible to make a viable practice just doing refugee law? 29:00 The law firm as training ground. 32:00 Practicing as a sole practitioner vs at a large firm. 35:30 Does it make sense for someone to do just … Read More
When an Applicant’s and a Visa Officer’s Account Differs
It is not uncommon for applicants to have a differing account of what transpired during a visa interview or a port of entry matter from what an immigration officer says occurred. As such, it is very important that applicants take detailed notes of every interaction that they have with government officials. The Federal Court recently dealt with the issue of inconsistencies in Gedara v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2016 FC 209. The Federal Court stated (emphasis added, and citations removed for ease of reading): The affidavits filed by the Applicant and by the Interviewing Officer present opposing accounts of the tone of the interview and whether concerns were specifically communicated. I find the Applicant’s affidavit more persuasive and assign it more weight for the following reasons. I agree with the reasoning in Rukmangathan, above, at paras 30, 31, citing Parveen v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), that “…[v]isa officers deal with many applications, one can expect that they will not have as precise a memory of the event as does the applicant” The interview took place on March 11, 2015, yet the Officer’s affidavit was sworn in December 4, 2015 – approximately nine months later. The extended passage of time and the number of … Read More
COVID-19 Immigration Pathways – TRPR
On April 14, 2021 Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marco Mendicino, announced the creation of two new immigration programs that will allow approximately 90,000 individuals to apply for permanent residence between May 6, 2021 and November 5, 2021. I say approximately because the programs have application caps except for those with upper-basic French language capability. The programs provide an immigration opportunity for many people who previously did not qualify to immigrate. While the application packages for the programs have yet to be released, and there are questions about some of the details, it is important that anyone who is currently in Canada and who wishes to immigrate check to see if they qualify based on the details that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has released so far. There are also certain requirements (passing a language test, being employed) that prospective applicants may need to act on in order to qualify that they should do immediately as applicable. The programs in brief target foreign nationals who have one year of work experience in occupations that IRCC has deemed essential, those who have graduated from a qualifying Canadian post-secondary institution and French speakers. Program A – Permanent Residence for Foreign Nationals in Canada, … Read More
Owner Operator LMIAs
One of the less understood recruitment exemptions in the Labour Market Impact Assessment stream is the exemption for Owner / Operators of a business. The Employment and Social Development Canada website states: Category: Owners/Operators Description: The owner/operator must demonstrate that he is integral to the day-to-day operation of the business and will be actively involved in business processes/service delivery in Canada. In such instances, greater consideration should be given to demonstration by the applicant (owner/operator) that such temporary entry will result in the creation or retention of employment opportunities for Canadians and permanent residents and/or skills transfer to Canadians and permanent residents. Variation: No advertising or recruitment is required. Applicability: All Provinces The Temporary Foreign Worker Program Manual previously stated: The ESDC wiki states: The wiki makes it clear that the following key conditions apply to Owner / Operator LMIAs: ESDC must be satisfied that the foreign national is or will be a principal owner or co-owner of the business in Canada. The company must prove the foreign natinoal’s shareholdings. [redacted] When assessing labour market factors, the focus is on job creation/retention and/or skills transfer. For co-owners, the focus is on job creation / retention and/or skills transfer. For High-Wage … Read More
Settlement Funds
Regulation 76(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 provides that: For the purpose of determining whether a skilled worker, as a member of the federal skilled worker class, will be able to become economically established in Canada, they must be assessed on the basis of the following criteria: (b) the skilled worker must (i) have in the form of transferable and available funds, unencumbered by debts or other obligations, an amount equal to one half of the minimum necessary income applicable in respect of the group of persons consisting of the skilled worker and their family members. Applicants are not required to have settlement funds if the applicant is authorized to work in Canada and has been awarded points for a qualifying offer of arranged employment under Express Entry or for arranged employment in Canada. The funds must be available and transferable; unencumbered by debts or other obligations; and sufficient to support initial establishment in Canada. IRCC Questions and Answers The following are two questions that lawyers asked IRCC’s IMMrep department, and the response. Question – To what extent are people able to use funds within “investment accounts” to satisfy the proof of funds requirement? Question – To what extent … Read More
IAD Statistics
The Immigration Appeal Division has a webpage with useful statistics that can be found here. I have reproduced the data as of 2020 below in case the IRB for whatever reason moves the data. Appeals by Region – 2020 (January to December) All Appeals Filed Filed Stayed Finalized Pending (as of 2020/12/31) Allowed Dismissed Abandoned Withdrawn & Other Total Stayed Non-Stayed National 2,343 108 1,305 1,134 172 557 3,168 679 2,494 Eastern 544 43 314 342 37 134 827 226 580 Central 1,087 42 517 427 92 230 1,266 367 1,282 Western 712 23 474 365 43 193 1,075 86 632 Sponsorship appeals filed (subsection 63(1)) Filed Stayed Finalized Pending (as of 2020/12/31) Allowed Dismissed Abandoned Withdrawn & Other Total Stayed Non-Stayed National 1,244 0 852 570 122 471 2,015 0 1,234 Eastern 251 0 160 155 21 107 443 0 214 Central 540 0 326 197 67 192 782 0 639 Western 453 0 366 218 34 172 790 0 381 Removal order appeals filed (subsection 63(2), (3)) Filed Stayed Finalized Pending (as of 2020/12/31) Allowed Dismissed Abandoned Withdrawn & Other Total Stayed Non-Stayed National 410 108 262 197 30 38 527 679 514 Eastern 109 … Read More
Original Signatures, Digital Signatures and Copies of Signatures
One of the more frustrating aspects of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program from an application procedure angle can be determining whether ESDC accepts digital signatures, and whether an individual other than the 3rd party representative can sign for the person named as the third party representatives. Helpfully, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Wiki appears to answer that digital signatures are accepted in the TFWP, and that if there is no doubt that an individual works in the same law firm as an authorized third party then it is reasonable to accept that this individual can sign as an authorized representative. In the Family Class, IRCC has confirmed that applicants should double check the document checklist to determine which forms require original signatures, and for which forms a copy is ok.
Informing IRCC of a Pregnancy
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s acknowledgements of receipts for permanent residence applications generally contain some variation of the following statement: Please inform the visa office of any changes in your application (e.g. birth or adoption of a child, marriage or common-law relationship, new occupation or employer, change of address, change of e-mail address, change of immigration representative, etc). Please include a letter identifying what the changes are and any relevant supporting documents. If your documents are not in English or French, send a notarized (certified) translation with a copy of the originals. It is generally clear to most applicants that failure to do the above can result in an application being refused for failure to comply with s. 16(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the “Act”), and s. 51 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, which together state: 16. (1) A person who makes an application must answer truthfully all questions put to them for the purpose of the examination and must produce a visa and all relevant evidence and documents that the officer reasonably requires. 51. A foreign national who holds a permanent resident visa and is seeking to become a permanent resident must, at the time of their examination, (a) … Read More
Studying without a Study Permit
Foreign nationals are required to obtain a study permit for engaging in academic, professional, vocational or other education or training that is more than six months in duration at a designated learning institution (“DLI“) in Canada. So what does this mean, and who doesn’t need a study permit? The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the “Act“) provides that every minor child in Canada, other than a child of a temporary resident not authorized to work or study, is authorized to study at the pre-school, primary or secondary level. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR“) further provide that a foreign national does not need a study permit to study in the following circumstances: (a) if they are a family member or a member of the private staff of a foreign representative who is properly accredited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and who is in Canada to carry out official duties as a diplomatic agent, consular officer, representative or official of a country other than Canada, of the United Nations or any of its agencies or of any international organization of which Canada is a member; (b) as a member of the armed forces of a country that is a designated state for the … Read More
Statistics on Removals
The following PDF contains internal Canada Border Services Agency documentation regarding removals from 2012-2019. It includes removals broken down by inadmissibility, the number of administrative deferrals of removals, yearly removal priorities, breakdowns by top country, cost of removals, the number of outstanding removal orders and temporary suspensions of removal.