Generally, when the Federal Court makes a decision on an immigration matter, the decision is final. As most lawyers tell their clients at the outset, there is no right to appeal a Federal Court decision unless the Federal Court certifies an issue raised in the litigation as being a question of general importance. However, it is important that representatives be familiar with some exceptions to this rule.
Chinese Immigration and Vancouver Real Estate
The topic of the relationship between wealthy, primarily Chinese, immigrants and their effect on Vancouver’s housing market has recently become a bit of a hot topic in the city. I was recently quoted in Vancouver Magazine on the topic, and specifically on the relationship between the Canada and Quebec immigrant investor programs and immigration to Vancouver. The answers to such questions lie largely in the numbers, though not necessarily the obvious ones. Anyone in real estate will tell you the wealthy arrivals dominating the market are mostly from mainland China, yet immigration from there has been dropping in recent years. In 2009, just under 9,000 mainland Chinese arrived in Vancouver, down from almost 13,000 in 2005. But, says Steven Meurrens, an immigration lawyer with Larlee Rosenberg, official numbers don’t necessarily reflect reality. About half the Chinese immigrants arriving in Vancouver are in the investor class and thus must prove a net worth of at least $1.6 million (doubled since new rules were instituted in late 2010). That number might mean only 1,200 or 1,500 households-not terribly significant in a region where sales exceeded 40,000 in 2010-but Meurrens says the number of investor immigrants from mainland China landing in B.C. is … Read More
Persuassive Decision on Tamil Refugees (Updated)
A persuasive decision is a decision that is considered to have persuasive value in developing consistent jurisprudence. They provide clear, complete, and concise reasons with respect to the particular element that is thought to have persuasive value, and consider all of the relevant issues in a case. Other members are encouraged to rely upon persuasive decisions in the interests of consistency.
Immigration and Health Care (British Columbia MSP)
We are often asked whether getting a student permit, work permit, visitor visa, etc. will result in an individual being eligible for MSP in British Columbia.
Information Technology Workers to British Columbia
CIC has announced a change in the salary range for BC and Quebec companies wishing to hire foreign workers in the IT sector. A work permit will not be issued unless the prospective foreign worker’s salary is in line with the following salary ranges:
Jason Kenney’s Statements on the Roma – Implications for Bias at the IRB?
On July 14, 2009, Canada imposed a visa requirement on the Czech Republic. At the time, Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, took to the air waves defending the decision, repeatedly stating that a high percentage of the Czech refugee claims were bogus.
H&C Applications: The Provincial Restriction
The ability of an applicant to be admitted to Canada despite not meeting the requirements for an immigration program is one of the more complicated areas of immigration law. Section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that an immigration officer may grant a foreign national permanent resident status or an exemption from any applicable criteria or obligations of the Act if doing so is justified by humanitarian & compassionate considerations. Section 25(2), however, contains an important exception, which states that: Provincial criteria (2) The Minister may not grant permanent resident status to a foreign national referred to in subsection 9(1) if the foreign national does not meet the province’s selection criteria applicable to that foreign national. Section 9(1) of the Act provides: Sole provincial responsibility — permanent residents 9. (1) Where a province has, under a federal-provincial agreement, sole responsibility for the selection of a foreign national who intends to reside in that province as a permanent resident, the following provisions apply to that foreign national, unless the agreement provides otherwise: a) the foreign national, unless inadmissible under this Act, shall be granted permanent resident status if the foreign national meets the province’s selection criteria; (b) the foreign … Read More
Quebec Entrepreneur Program Residency Requirement
On December 23, 2010, CIC released Operational Bulletin 256, detailing consequences for failure to comply with Quebec Entrepreneur residency requirements.
Battered Woman Syndrome and Female Refugee Claimants
In an immigration case which focuses on gender, the reasons of the Refugee Protection Division must reflect the specific situation of an applicant, with particular attention to Guideline 4.
Income Tax Statements and Inadmissibility
On December 8, 2010, the Federal Court released its decision in Masych v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 1253 (“Masych“) The case involved an individual whose work permit application was denied because she did not produce income tax statements from 2002-2006 after an immigration officer (the “Officer”) requested that she do so. The reason that the Officer wanted copies of her tax statements was not to confirm her employment history for determining whether or not she was qualified for the job that she was applying for, but rather to determine whether or not she was inadmissible for having ever committed tax evasion. The applicant had never been convicted of a criminal offense. No evidence was ever presented that she had been charged with a criminal offense. Finally, it is important to note that the applicant lived in the United Kingdom from 2002-2006, a country with a legal system similar to Canada’s. The applicant did not produce the income tax statements as requested, and her application was rejected on the grounds that the Officer was unable to determine whether or not she was inadmissible to Canada for having committed an offense abroad that would constitute an indictable offense in Canada (tax … Read More