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.

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.

As reported by Joe Friesen of the Globe and Mail, approximately 300 applications for Canadian citizenship directed to a single address in Mississauga, Ontario are subject of an RCMP Investigation. The suspicion is that applicants who live abroad may have retained the services of  unscrupulous Immigration Consultants to file these applications naming a fake address.

In order to qualify for Canadian Citizenship, applicants are generally required to live in Canada for three years of the four years proceeding the application. As part of the application process, applicants are required to enter their Canadian address on the Canadian citizenship application form and have a Canadian address as part of proof of their Canadian residency.

The address under investigation is located at Palestine House in Mississauga, a language and settlement service centre for Arab and Palestinian immigrants. But apparently no one really lives at this location.

This case illustrates a chronic problem in the immigration and citizenship industry: Unscrupulous immigration consultants filing fraudulent applications for financial gain. In this case, it is suspected that overseas applicants who never had a chance for Canadian citizenship may have hired immigration consultants to get them Canadian citizenship in the hopes of making higher wages abroad. Holding Canadian passports gives such workers a leg-up in the pay scale in places like Dubai.

The RCMP has no idea how many of these applicants actually obtained Canadian citizenship. But Citizenship Judges have been notified about the problem.

It is clear that 300 people do not live at the Palestinian House. Therefore 300 potential citizenship applicants may be roaming the world with Canadian passports who have no business calling themselves citizens. It is time that the Federal Government invest more resources in catching these wayward immigration consultants who are responsible for perpetrating such fraud.

One way to stop it is for the public themselves to be better educated on who can or cannot call themselves immigration consultants or immigration lawyers. Firstly, immigration consultants now have to be licensed by the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC). There is a list of licensed members. And even before you inquire about a consultants CSIC membership, make sure they are themselves Canadian citizens or Canadian Permanent Residents. If not, they have no standing to file an application on behalf of anyone for a fee.

Of course, Canadian lawyers can represent applicants as well. Again make sure such lawyers are licensed by their provincial governing body: in Ontario it’s the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC).

As they say “buyer beware” is the best defence against fraud.

Dear Mariana

Clotilde and I would like to express our thanks to you and Michael for seeing us through to a successful conclusion of the Canadian citizenship application process. It was a long road but your work and advice made everything possible.

It was almost 10 years since I first met Michael under somewhat dire circumstances, which he may recall. I am sure that one way or another we will be in touch with you again in the future.

Sincerely,

DM

Our family got Canadian Permanent Residence and a Record of Landing in 1995.  I traveled back to Hong Kong and returned to Canada on a regular basis to meet the legal requirements. In 2000, I stayed in a Hospital (I have medical records) for some months and I did not to return to Canada for few years. My spouse and children are Canadian Citizens now. I only hold a Landing Record.

How I can get Canadian citizenship or my Permanent Resident Card?  My spouse is a worker, two children are studying in University and will graduate in 2010 in the summer.

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