Episode 59 – Authorization to Work Without a Work Permit, with Cristina Guida

Steven Meurrens

Cristina Guida is a senior associate lawyer with Green and Spiegel LLP in Toronto. She can be found on Twitter @crisguida_gands.

We discuss authorization to work in Canada without a work permit, including business visitors, students, perfroming artists, maintained status, the global skills strategy and other categories. We also discuss what Canada’s immigration department continues to be “work.”

Episode 58 – Myths About Canadian Immigration Law, with Marina Sedai

Steven Meurrens

Marina Sedai is an immigration lawyer and the past National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section, a role that she served in from 2018 – 2019, and is also a past provincial char of the CBABC Immigration Law Section. She can be found on Twitter @MarinaSedai.

We discuss various myths about Canadian immigration law, including:

  • Refugees get more financial help than pensioners.
  • Foreign nationals immigrate and then bring their whole extended family over.
  • If including your spouse or common-law partner on your permanent resident application is inconvenient or unhelpful to your immigration process then you can exclude them and later sponsor them.
  • Volunteering isn’t work.
  • If my kid is born in Canada then my H&C application is guaranteed to succeed.

Episode 57 – Mandamus Applications, with Adrienne Smith

Steven Meurrens

We discuss how mandamus applications work. Adrienne Smith is a Partner at Battista Smith Migration Law Group (update: now with https://www.smithimmigrationgroup.com/)

2:00 Does filing mandamus applications annoy Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada? 

5:30 Has there been a change in the frequency with which mandamus applications are considered? 

13:30 During COVID-19 is there a difference in filing a mandamus application between online and paper applications? 

18:00 What is a mandamus application? 

26:00 What is the legal test for a mandamus application? 

49:00 During COVID-19 when a visa office is largely close

Episode 56 – Responding to Deportation Letters, with Michael Greene

Steven Meurrens

We discuss issues involving the deportation of long term permanent residents for criminality.

Michael Greene, Q.C. is an immigration lawyer in Calgary. He served as the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship & Immigration Section in 2000-2001. He is representing Jaskirat Singh Sidhu in his immigration and deportation matters.

5:45 – What are the grounds for deporting a permanent resident for criminality?

13:00 – How does the appeal process work?

17:00 – What are the factors in deportation.

19:00 – An overview of the history of the law involving the deportation of permanent residents.

26:00 – What is the probability of success for a permanent resident in avoiding deportation once proceedings start?

36:00 – Stays of removal

41:00 – Strategies and tips for responding to procedural fairness letters involving removal.