Tamara Mosher Kuczer is the Founder & Principal Lawyer of Lighthouse Immigration Law Professional Corporation. She can be found on Twitter @ttrrmk.
Borderlines Podcast #139 – Practice Tips and Resolutions for 2025
Deanna and Steve discuss some practice tips and resolutions for 2025, including going back to a world of online applications with the end of flagpoling, focusing on practice areas that one likes, using artifical intelligence, client interactions and getting out of one’s shell and embracing the broader community.
Mexican Visa Q&A
The following is an IMMRep Q&A about whether Mexican children whose parent are eligible for eTAs need TRVs if they are not independently eligible for eTAs.
Borderlines Podcast #138 – Trumpugees Moving to Canada, with Ryan Rosenberg
Ryan Rosenberg is a Partner at Larlee Rosenberg, and the creator of the website Trumpugees. We discuss options and factors to consider for Americans wanting to move to Canada.
Study Permit Financial Sufficiency
The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Guidelines state: Students are required to demonstrate financial sufficiency for only the first year of studies, regardless of the duration of the course or program of studies in which they are enrolled. In other words, a single student entering a four-year degree program with an annual tuition fee of $15,000 must demonstrate funds of $15,000 to satisfy the requirements, and not the full $60,000 which would be required for four years. Officers should be satisfied however that the probability of funding for future years does exist (i.e., parents are employed); scholarship is for more than one year. Applications for extensions made to CPC-E must also meet this requirement. In assessing the adequacy of a student’s financial resources, officers may exercise discretion in the documentation they request from applicants. In situations where student applicants generally pose a very low risk regarding funds, officers may choose to limit or waive routine requirements for documentary evidence. Low-risk applicants are more likely to be exempted from the requirement to obtain a temporary resident visa. Based on the known incidence of indigent and non-bona fide applicants, reliability of financial documentation, and so forth, individual visa offices are best placed … Read More
Work Permits and Permanent Residence Options for Hong Kong Nationals
In 2021 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada introduced facilitative measures to provide open work permits to residents of Hong Kong and facilitative measures creating two pathways to permanent residence to facilitate the immigration of certain Hong Kong residents. Work Permits The public policy allows for the issuance of open work permits to eligible residents of Hong Kong, whether they are in Canada or abroad, for a period of up to three years. Eligible family members may also be issued an open work permit. To be eligible, the foreign national must: hold a valid passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the United Kingdom to a British National Overseas; have graduated no more than 10 years before theyapply for this open work permit, with one of the following: a degree (for example, associate, bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral) from a designated post-secondary learning institution in Canada or an institution abroad; a diploma for a minimum 2-year program from a designated post-secondary learning institution in Canada or an institution abroad; or a graduate or post-graduate credential from a program of at least 1 year that required the completion of a post-secondary degree or diploma, as a prerequisite for acceptance into … Read More
Category Based Draws
The following is a memo to the minister on the introduction of category based draws. IRCC IMMReps E-mails
Inadmissible for Crimes Against Humanity
Section 35 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the “IRPA“) provides that: Human or international rights violations 35 (1) A permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible on grounds of violating human or international rights for (a) committing an act outside Canada that constitutes an offence referred to in sections 4 to 7 of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act; (b) being a prescribed senior official in the service of a government that, in the opinion of the Minister, engages or has engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations, or genocide, a war crime or a crime against humanity within the meaning of subsections 6(3) to (5) of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act; or (c) being a person, other than a permanent resident, whose entry into or stay in Canada is restricted pursuant to a decision, resolution or measure of an international organization of states or association of states, of which Canada is a member, that imposes sanctions on a country against which Canada has imposed or has agreed to impose sanctions in concert with that organization or association. Internal Guideline Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) has produced a useful internal document … Read More
Buying a Business that Has Foreign Workers
As an increasing number of Canadian employers employ foreign workers, and the Government of Canada is taking an increasingly strict approach in enforcing the rules regulating the employment of foreign workers, the issue of how companies can protect themselves when they buy companies that employ foreign workers is becoming increasingly significant. As well, as explained in detail on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) website, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions may themselves trigger work permit-related issues for employer compliance. It is accordingly important for all companies that are considering merging with or acquiring another company to consider whether (a) the transaction will result in the need for new work permits for existing employees and (b) whether the company that will be employing these foreign workers will become liable for any non-compliance of the previous entity. Understanding the “Successor in Interest” Concept While the IRCC website is clear that employers become responsible for compliance post restructuring, merger or acquisition, the issue of whether the new employers become liable for previous non-compliance is more nuanced, and depends on whether the new employer has become the “successor in interest” for the portion of the organization where the temporary foreign workers were employed. … Read More
IRCC/ESDC Employer Compliance Inspections
All employers of temporary foreign workers in Canada need to understand how the employer compliance regime works. Both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) as well as the Department of Employment and Social Development (“ESDC”) regularly audit and inspect the employers of foreign workers to make sure that they are complying with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and/or the International Mobility Program (which are the two main programs through which foreign nationals can work in Canada). Both ESDC and IRCC have indicated that about 25% of employers can expect an inspection in any given year. Most of these inspections and audits start with the employer receiving a letter from the Government of Canada informing them that they will be examined on a multitude of factors, including whether they have employed the foreign national in the job that they were supposed to, whether they paid the wages that they were supposed to, whether the employer complied with laws regulating employment, whether they maintained records and whether they took reasonable efforts to provide a workplace that was free of abuse. I have embedded below the standard employer compliance letter that is sent out at the start of an audit. Consequences of Non-Compliance There … Read More