Last week, a hearing began for a teenager who is under threat of deportation back to his native Congo for committing a crime. Immigrant young offenders, unlike their age of majority counterparts, are not typically deported when they commit a severe crime.

The teenager was recently released from a juvenile detention center for committing an assault and robbery on an elderly woman in 2005

The teenager, who cannot be named under Canada’s Youth Protection Act as he was a minor during the crime, witnessed the murder of many of his family members during a civil war in Africa. He was adopted at the age of nine into a Canadian family, but is not a Canadian citizen.

This begs the question, what happens when a foreign minor is adopted by a Canadian family?

Anyone born in Canada after 1947 is a Canadian citizen, and those born outside of Canada after 1977 but who have a Canadian parent are also Canadian citizens. Before 2009, this could extend to many generations of people born to original Canadians, but after a new law was passed in 2009 it only extends to one generation.

Before 2007, adopted foreign children first had to be sponsored as permanent residents before being able to become citizens. However, in late 2007 this law was changed so Canadian citizenship could be granted to adopted children without first going through the immigration process. After 2009, this law was further extended to children adopted by Canadians outside of Canada. However, the option for sponsoring children to become permanent residents still remains, and this process is called naturalization.

Since April 2009, citizens from foreign countries who are adopted by Canadian citizens are able to obtain Canadian citizenship right after the adoption is completed, and they do not have to begin the process as a permanent resident

The teenager in question, who is facing deportation told CTV that, “I had no idea that what I did would cost me my life here,” and “I’ll do anything to turn my life around for a chance to stay.”

According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, approximately 2,000 children from abroad are adopted by Canadians each and every year.

Months after reporting on how foreign workers in Canada on work visas made the difference between their families in their home countries merely existing or flourishing,  a proposal to the government may impact the ability of  these workers to earn money and stay long-term in Canada. There are currently an estimated 300,000  foreign workers in Canada, and approximately 10,000 of them helped build the recent 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games.

These workers do many of the valuable manual labour jobs that keep the Canadian economy afloat, like picking fruit and vegetables or working in factories.

In fall 2009 Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said that there would be changes proposed to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. However the prorogation of Parliament has delayed any further mention of them. Now that Parliament is back in session, we can expect to hear further updates soon.

Proposed Changes for Canadian Work Permit Holders

Among the changes proposed:

•         Workers who have been in Canada for four years will not be eligible to work in Canada again for six more years.

•         Workers who want to stay in Canada for longer than four years must apply in the same manner as other immigrants looking for permanent residence

The Canadian Labour Congress has said that many migrant workers are afraid to speak out about unsafe working conditions and discrimination for fear of not being allowed to stay in Canada, and the changes will only make the fear of losing their jobs and their ability to stay in Canada worse

One such migrant worker exposed to an unsafe environment is Michael Phan, one of two men who were severely injured in a mushroom farm accident in 2008 that lead to the deaths of three others in Langley, British Columbia. Phan inhaled toxic fumes when a pipe burst, and is still in a coma in hospital with severe brain injuries. We also previously blogged about the four migrant workers in North York who fell to their deaths on New Years Eve because of a lack of proper safety measures in effect.

If these proposed changes do come to pass, many foreign workers on Canadian work permits will be put in a precarious situation affecting their own status in Canada, their Canadian employers and families aborad. During these times of economic uncertaintly, this is not the time to put up barriers to employment.

Nasoh Raslan, a man from Syria, was denied Canadian citizenship in 2008 after it was discovered that he was lying about where he lived in Canada. He said he was from Mississauga, but in reality he lived in Montreal and his appeal of the decision last week was denied

Raslan was found out by using two different apartment numbers in his addresses on immigration documents, as well as having submitted a phone number and address that was used by many other immigration applicants. Raslan has maintained he was told by an immigration consultant that by applying in Mississauga rather than Montreal, his application would be processed quicker

On Sunday Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney went as far to comment publicly on the case, which is extremely rare for Ministers to do. “Taking action on citizenship fraud is a priority for me and I have asked the department to look at what more can be done to address the issue,” he said.

Judge Francois Lemieux, who rejected Raslan’s appeal, said that Raslan “knowingly and willingly embarked on a course of conduct to deceive the citizenship court concerning his true residence in Canada.”

This case puts a name and a back story to one of the many immigrants looking for Canadian citizenship who were encouraged by shady immigration consultants to lie on their application forms. The province of Quebec had already taken steps in February to ensure that immigration consulting services can only be provided by lawyers, notaries or registered members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, and the rest of Canada is currently toying with the idea of doing the same.

This story embodies the fact that even the smallest of fibs on important documents like applications for citizenship can have the ultimate price. And sometimes without intending it, missteps are taken in the application process including entering incorrect information which could be interprested as misprepresentation resulting in a refusal. It is therefore essential when preparing your Canadian citizenship application, to get it right and have it reviewed before sending it in!

This week, the Canadian Press obtained internal government documents that showed praise for the country’s acceptance of gay and lesbian Canadians had been recommended for removal from a study guide released in November 2009 for Canadian citizenship applicants

The documents apparently show that Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney ordered the removal of key sections of the guide that mentioned the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1969 as well as the legalization of same-sex marriage across the entire country in 2005. Information about residential schools was also removed from the booklets

In an August 2009 memo to Kenney from deputy minister Neil Yeates, Yeates allegedly recommended reinserting the information and highlighting equality rights of all Canadians no matter what their sexual orientation.

When the study guide was released, the information was left out. When questioned about the noticeably absent information on Canada’s same-sex equality history, Kenney said, “I can tell you that if you were to read the old book, you wouldn’t even know there were gay and lesbian Canadians.

The Canadian Press also brought up the Minister’s history of opposing same-sex marriage, mentioning to journalists that before the 2005 Civil Marriage Act was debated in Parliament that gays should have every right to be married, but not to people of the same gender.

On Wednesday, Kenney reiterated that he did no such thing when asked why he had censored the study guide. A spokesperson for Kenney also alluded to the fact that someone else may have made the suggestion because Kenney’s signature did not appear anywhere on the recommendation.

Later on Thursday evening, Kenney assumed full responsibility for the incident, but would not say whether it was him or someone in his office who removed the references to gay Canadians.

Meanwhile, Canada is at the forefront of recognition of equality for same sex couples in all of North America. Nationwide, same-sex marriage is legal and widely recognized, as is same-sex divorce. Most provinces allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt, and sexual orientation is legally considered right up there with gender and race with regards to discrimination. Gay and lesbian couples also have the same benefits as heterosexual couples with regards to benefits, taxes and immigration.

Testing on the contents of the study guide is set to commence on March 15th.

Hi Johanna

I want to congratulate Niren and Associates, especially Katherine Yang, for all their help during my Canadian work permit application process. I had had quite a difficult application process but Katherine was extremly helpful and was always willing to hear me out.  The professionalism with which my case was carried out helped me have a successful outcome and I will be arriving in Canada in one week.

Fernando

This is our last installment of our Corporate Immigration Law Firm series. We have tried to cover the major issues affecting companies wishing to hire and transfer employees across borders. You can find our other blog postings dealing with issues about corporate employees here and HR professionals here as well as a discussion on the role of lawyers in corporate immigration cases here.

The last but not least issue to tackle is a discussion on the unique needs of smaller companies in corporate immigration matters. An entire book can be written about this one. Small companies ranging from the mircocap start-up  with a few employees to mid-sized firms with a few hundred, all have their very specific needs.

The smaller the company, the more crucial it is to establish credibility as part of the equation for successful immigration and visa applications. Smaller, lessor known companies face the extra hurdle of showing that they are legitimate corporate sponsors of foreign workers or candidates for cross border expansion requiring intercompany transfer visas. Depending on the business, it may be important, in addition to the regular supporting documentation associated with visa applications, to present a detailed profile of the company in question. Information such as: What does the company do? How many employees? How long in business? What are its finances like? –may be in order. Questions not really relevant for outfits like Coke, McDonald’s or Microsoft.  In essence, not only are visa applicants being scrutinized but also their sponsoring companies may be under the microscope.

When we take on accounts for small businesses we often ask for a complete company background with a view of preparing an impressive profile  that will be included in our visa applications. Such documentation goes a long way to address any concerns by the visa officer relating to the viability of the company which is unknown to him or her.

Small businesses are dynamic participants in the cross border landscape and deserve all the respect their larger corporate counter-parts enjoy. But to get the respect they deserve, the small company has to overcome the bias that it’s not  just a “mom n’ pop shop” trying to pull as fast one. To do this, show your cards! It’s a winning strategy.