Welcome Home: An Immigration Law Podcast

Has the US immigration system earned its negative reputation and is Canada’s immigration system as welcoming as we think it is? In this episode Chantal and Cathryn sit down with Erick Widman to discuss United States’ immigration pathways and their unique barriers, including the "H1B Cap,” spousal sponsorship restrictions, filing fees, permanent residence country caps, and waiver requests. How does the uncertainty, wait times, and expenses generated by these barriers affect the United States in the global talent and investment competitions? Many companies today are transnational and if there is no clear pathway to permanent residency, immigrants and companies will go elsewhere. Many believe the US immigration system is tougher than the Canadian system, but Canada in some ways rolls up our welcome mat too. Listen to Chantal, Cathryn, and Erick unpack the US and Canada’s surprisingly dissimilar stances on criminal inadmissibility. Other topics include: As an immigration practitioner, have you ever felt like you needed an entire workday just to go through your inbox? Instead of feeling overwhelmed, follow Chantal and Cathryn’s tailored time-management tips for immigration practitioners. In this segment of “Things I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn discuss, utilizing outlook, managing client expectations concerning communication, farming out work when it is not your speciality, and more. Special Guest: Erick Widman, former expat, US immigration lawyer, and founder of Passage Immigration Law in Portland, Oregon. Erick’s firm specializes in both immigration and business Law, helping his clients to live globally and navigate the US immigration processes.

What degree of transparency should we expect from a government body that leverages AI to expedite processes that have a life-changing impact on thousands of people each year? The IRCC has introduced the use of artificial intelligence to expedite the processing of immigration applications, with assurances that AI does not have the power to determine or influence the outcome of applications. However, the details of its usage are opaque, and many questions remain unanswered – what exactly is the scope of AI’s current and future contributions? Who are the architects behind its intellect? What rules and information has it been fed? In this episode, Mario Bellissimo, Cathryn, and Chantal unpack the risks and possibilities of artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance – or undermine – the effectiveness of our immigration system. While AI offers promising improvements to a system that has been criticized for being slow, inefficient, and “broken,” it also has the potential to create new problems that come at a high cost and take decades to resolve. How can we be certain that AI is not perpetuating hidden biases or introducing new biases through its assessments? What digital privacy protections have been established, if any? Have safeguards been put in place to limit the scope of AI usage and to ensure human oversight? Other topics include: In this segment of “Things I Wish I Knew,” what can you do when the volume and complexity of work required for a client expands beyond the scope of the original retainer? Instead of doing too much work for too little money, follow Chantal and Cathryn’s tips for crafting a retainer agreement that will protect you while ensuring clear and open communication with your client. Special Guest: Mario Bellissimo, founder of Bellissimo Law Group PC and former Chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Immigration Law Section. Mario's firm is exclusively committed to Canadian citizenship, immigration, and refugee matters, and represents clients from around the world at every stage of the immigration process.

Immigrants make up over 25% of our population and form a critical component of Canada’s workforce. Under Canada’s new immigration plan, we hope to welcome 500,000 new immigrants per year. This could be a tall order as the inherently political nature of Canadian immigration law means frequent and far-reaching policy changes, often made with little to no warning. How can practitioners deal with this lack of legal continuity and help Canada welcome 1.5 million immigrants? In this episode, Chantal and Cathryn sit down with Andrew Carvajal to discuss the current state of Canada’s economic immigration policy, including the National Occupation Classification’s new TEER system, occupation-specific draws, work permit applications, and more. Will CRS scores continue to fall? What can you do when your client doesn’t meet the education requirement? Will the government favour healthcare workers in express entry draws? The recent extension of COVID-era policy means visitors can continue to apply for work permits inside Canada, but does this mean that they should? Other topics include: Many lawyers opening up their own practice don’t have a business degree but find themselves at the wheel of one of the most complicated small businesses to run. In this segment of “Things I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn offer practical guidance on taking your firm to the next level. Special Guest: Andrew Carvajal, Head of Economic Immigration and Leader of the Latin America (LATAM) group at Desloges Carvajal Law Group in Toronto. Andrew’s practice focuses on all types of business immigration, including work permits, LMIA applications, start-up visas, study permits, visitor visas, citizenship applications, and more.

Has a client ever mentioned why they chose you? Have you ever asked? If you had to guess what matters most to your clients when selecting a legal representative, what do you imagine their answer would be? In this episode, Chantal and Cathryn explore a client’s perspective and learn about the surprising things that matter most to a client seeking representation in an immigration law case. They interview two Jane Does, anonymous clients who discuss their processes for selecting a lawyer/consultant, describe the behaviours that would immediately disqualify someone, and share their expectations regarding truthfulness, responsiveness, and empathy. If you thought an untarnished track record of success was the most important thing you could advertise to a potential client, think again – it may be time to brush up on your "bedside manner" instead. Other topics include: Cultivating an authentic connection with your clients and the role of honesty from both sides – keeping in mind the timeless wisdom of “under-promise and over-deliver." The importance of empathy when dealing with cases that have life-changing implications for your clients – and how to deliver bad news in the kindest way possible. A personal story of how Jane Doe dealt with the threat of deportation and how one person made the eventual experience of deportation more tolerable for her. What should you do when faced with an area of law that you are unfamiliar with? In this segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn offer their insights into navigating this tricky situation.

Unlimited intake quotas, limited processing targets, inaccurate processing times, and resource constraints all contribute to the massive and seemingly perpetual IRCC backlog. With many cases dragging on for years and being unfairly dismissed or refused, should group litigation be considered to protect applicants' right to procedural fairness and legitimate expectations? On this episode, we welcome esteemed immigration counsel Pantea Jafari to discuss her federal court case, Tafreshi v. Canada. In 2022, Pantea won a group litigation case involving a backlog of visa applications—most notably from Iranian applicants—unfairly dismissed under the Self-Employed Class. Other topics include: Have you ever had a client that was over-involved, vengeful, or unresponsive? In this segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn offer their seasoned strategies for dealing with difficult clients. Special Guest: Pantea Jafari is a founding partner and lead counsel at Jafari Law in Toronto and Halifax. Her expertise spans the entire spectrum of immigration law, and she represents clients in all related matters. Pantea serves on the executive committee of the Ontario Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section and the board of the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association.

An individual can only make ONE refugee claim per lifetime. Every year, thousands of individuals flee to Canada and exercise their one and only opportunity to make a refugee claim. Many of these refugee claims are from individuals escaping domestic violence with their children. In this episode, Chantal and Cathryn sit down with immigration and refugee lawyer Cheryl Robinson to discuss the intersection of refugee law and family law. How can you identify a refugee claim with an issue of exclusion and what are the next steps? Cheryl sheds light on her experience managing these claims and preparing clients for these specialized cases. Learn about trauma-informed lawyering, severed claims, cross examination, evidence application at the RPD, unsolicited evidence, language barriers, and more in the context of refugee claims with exclusion issues. Given the emotional toll and high-risk nature of refugee law, how can practitioners define and maintain professional boundaries with clients? In this segment of “Tales from the Trenches,” Chantal and Cathryn share moments from their careers where a lack of boundaries impeded their professional abilities and offer advice on drawing these lines appropriately. View the Immigration and Refugee Board’s 2022 revision of Chairperson’s Guideline 4 at https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/legal-policy/policies/Pages/GuideDir04.aspx Special Guest: Cheryl Robinson is a staff lawyer with the Refugee Law Office of Legal Aid Ontario, specializing in immigration and refugee law. She has argued before all levels of the IRB and the Federal Court and was lead counsel on the FCA case Huruglica v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

Why is Canada falling behind in business and corporate immigration? With minuscule applicant intake numbers, protracted processing times, and unwieldy programs with no guarantees of residency, one could argue that Canada is CLOSED FOR BUSINESS, or at the very least risk-averse when it comes to foreign entrepreneurs. Join Chantal and Cathryn as they sit down with immigration lawyer Robin Seligman to review Canada’s business and corporate immigration programs. Learn about current pathways: PNPs, Start-Up Visas, Immigrant Investor, and Self-Employed Persons. Then, hear our hosts and guests propose their own requirements for a viable and balanced program that would benefit foreign entrepreneurs and the Canadian economy. Never ask your client a question you do not already know the answer to. Hear how Chantal and Cathryn learned this piece of legal wisdom the hard way in a new podcast segment, “Tales from the Trenches.” Other topics include: Special Guest: Robin Seligman, Founder of Seligman Law in Toronto and adjunct professor at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law. *Explicit content rating due to coarse language

Chantal and Cathryn welcome Lisa Middlemiss, an immigration lawyer at Gomberg and Dalfen in Montreal to discuss the opportunities and obstacles of Canada’s new virtual citizenship process. With processing times longer than pre-pandemic and the sense of ceremony diminished for applicants, Chantal, Cathryn, and Lisa discuss the transition of interviews, tests, oath ceremonies, and some application processes to online platforms. Do e-citizenship processes just need a few improvements, or should we return to in-person citizenship events after the pandemic? We then dive into a discussion of IRCC’s new permanent residency/citizenship application portal. Lisa and our hosts examine the benefits and drawbacks of the portal’s self-representation model for both legal representatives and applicants. They offer helpful hints for walking clients through the digital process and advice on documents to upload in the portal. Will the IRCC enable the role of legal counsel in the future? In this episode’s segment of “Things I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn breakdown bulletproofing. They discuss the importance of challenging clients on their statements and evidence before they face opposition. Other topics include: Guest Star: Lisa Middlemiss, an immigration lawyer at Gomberg and Dalfen in Montreal who specializes in matters relating to residency and a member of the Executive of the Citizenship and Immigration Section of the Canadian Bar Association. Explicit content rating due to coarse language.

On this week's episode of Welcome Home, join our hosts as they sit down with Steven Meurrens, partner at Larlee and Rosenberg and host of the Borderlines podcast, for a fascinating review of the top Federal Court cases from 2021 and their implications on your day-to-day immigration practice. We begin with two cases that impact practitioners representing clients facing allegations of misrepresentation and criminal inadmissibility. ·Singh v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2021, FC 959 on flagpoling and misrepresentation by omission at ports of entry into Canada ·Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Mason, 2021 FCA 156 on expanding the scope of S.34 of the IRPA As Canada’s immigration backlog approaches 2 million applicants, Chantal, Cathryn, and Steven, review some new federal court cases dealing with mandamus applications during COVID-19. ·Almuhtadi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2021 FC 712 ·Aguirre v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2021 FC 678 How do you talk about legal fees with your clients? In this episode’s segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn discuss their best practices for law firm billing. They discuss the importance of being confident in your worthwhile maintaining trust in lawyer-client relationships. Special Guest: Steven Meurrens is a senior partner of the Larlee and Rosenberg Immigration Law Firm in Vancouver and host of the Borderlines podcast. Explicit content rating due to coarse language.

Chantal and Cathryn welcome Stephen Green, Senior Partner at Green and Spiegel in Toronto, to discuss the fluid circumstances of Canadian immigration arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, they examine the legal, social, and professional implications of constantly shifting COVID provisions on day-to-day immigration practice. Our guest and hosts shed light on the difficulties of advising clients about immigration applications and cross-border travel. They discuss the pandemic’s role as a catalyst for the technological transformation of Canada’s immigration processing system and the million applicants in the IRCC backlog. We then dive into a discussion of the decision-making tree behind every foreign national’s entry into Canada. From airlines that implement information to Public Health that monitors vaccine requirements after arrival, will this decision-making process persist in the post-COVID era, or should it be streamlined? Other topics include: · Application processing times. · The risks of flag-poling at ports of entry · Business visitors vs. temporary workers · After sales service provisions · The power of airlines in the decision-making process In this episode’s segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn unpack their shared belief “Hire once and hire well.” They discuss the importance of staff fitting into the company culture and keeping morale up in the remote work environment when many employers are experiencing high rates of turnover. Special Guest: Stephen Green is a senior partner of the Green and Spiegel Law Firm in Toronto and author of Temporary Entry into the Canadian Labour Market. Explicit content rating due to coarse language.

Join Chantal, Cathryn, and immigration lawyer, Raj Sharma as they navigate the complex and consequential maze of Canada’s inadmissibility laws, keeping in mind the question, “Does one act define you for a lifetime?” In this episode, they examine the unique personal and professional challenges of representing clients trying to overcome a finding of inadmissibility. When the stakes are so high, how do practitioners handle the emotional repercussions of working on these cases? Chantal, Cathryn and Raj discuss their experiences practicing in this complex area, offering advice on emotional investment and advocacy for their fellow immigration practitioners. We then dive into a roundtable discussion on criminal inadmissibility law and the Jaskirat Sidhu case. As a permanent resident convicted of a serious crime, Jaskirat Sidhu is subject to deportation to India after he serves his eight-year sentence for the Humboldt Bus Crash. Instead, Sidhu hopes to stay in Canada and has pleaded his case to the Canadian Border Services Agency. What evidence should be put forward when asking for this type of exemption? Cathryn, Chantal, and Raj breakdown the current status of this case and discuss the following factors: In this episode’s segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn discuss the importance of building relationships and getting to the stage in your legal career when bringing in the business becomes your responsibility. Other topics include: Special Guest: Raj Sharma is a founding partner of the Stewart Sharma Harsanyi Immigration Law Firm in Calgary and author of Inadmissibility and Remedies. Explicit content rating due to coarse language.

Chantal and Cathryn welcome immigration lawyer, Adrienne Smith as they discuss the evolution of family class sponsorship in Canadian immigration law. What constitutes a family under Canada’s immigration law? Learn about the current barriers to family reunification and how they impact the rights of minorities, such as the LGBTQ2+ community. They examine recent developments from the Federal Court and the growing role of technology in immigration decision-making. Our guest sheds light on her best practices for asking your clients the tough questions to verify authenticity of relationships and the importance of moving beyond the checklist requirements during the immigration process. On this episode's segment of “What I Wish I Knew,” Chantal discusses the importance of self-confidence and taking advantages of opportunities while Cathryn discloses her secrets to effective leadership and making tough decisions. Other topics include: Special Guest: Adrienne Smith a founding partner of the Battista Smith Migration Law Group and the co-author of Family Class Sponsorship in Canadian Immigration Law. Adrienne is an expert in immigration law, policy, advocacy, with specialization in medical inadmissibility and LGBTQ2+ immigration issues. Explicit content rating due to coarse language.