Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha has focused much of her practice on Federal Court Judicial Review applications of various types of negative immigration-related decisions.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is the past-Chair (2015-2016 & 2016-2017) of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section.

In this episode Rekha and I had a very engaging discussion of all sorts of issues related to challenging Removal Orders and answered some of the most common questions about residency requirement for Canadian Permanent Residents:

• How can you lose your PR status in Canada?
• How much time do you have to stay in Canada to maintain your PR Status?
• Can a Canadian PR be turned away at the border for not meeting the residency requirement?
• How much time you have for appealing your Removal Order?
• Does the process of filing an appeal to IAD differ for in-Canada and outside of Canada appellants?
• Are there any exceptions to the residency requirement?
• What does a hearing at Immigration Appeals Division look like?
• How can you justify your absence in Canada?

Sponsor:

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

• Additional Resources:

  • Rekha’s firm: http://www.caronpartners.com/
  • How to contact Rekha: RMcNutt@caronpartners.com 
  • Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/

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We also encourage you to subscribe to our Canadian Immigration Podcast on Spotify.

Anyone dealing with a Canadian Border Services Officer understands right away that they carry considerable power and authority over who is granted entry to Canada and who is not. In this episode Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Arghavan Gerami joins me to discuss some challenges that currently exist within the Canada Border Services Agency and attempt to offer some solutions on how things can improve.

In this episode we will pull back the curtain on the inner workings of the CBSA. We discuss whether the approaches taken by the CBSA during COVID-19 are consistent with the principles of Open Government heralded by the Liberal government in their election platforms.  We also discussed the lack of transparency demonstrated bt the CBSA and whether the approach they take is consistent with the rule of law, a foundational pillar of our society.

There has been a significant lack of responsiveness by the CBSA to any attempts at dialogue in understanding the rationale for their decisions in turning people away at the border during COVID-19. Understanding the legal basis for these decisions formulates a critical component in the advice we provide to our clients as immigration lawyers. Lately, we have been left with far more questions than we have answers.

In a pandemic, people need even more transparency and clarity when it comes to the implementation of new policies and procedures. This lack of transparency can be seen most acutely in how the CBSA has been interpreting what is considered to be a “non-essential” purpose in the context of Canada’s travel restrictions. This episode was created in an attempt to encourage greater transparency with the CBSA. We hope you like it.

Arghavan Gerami Bio:

Arghavan Gerami is the Founder and Senior Counsel at Gerami Law Professional Corporation (‘PC’), a full-service immigration law firm in Ottawa, Ontario.  She completed her Juris Doctor and Master of Laws at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2007.

Ms. Gerami worked at the Ministry of Attorney General and the Department of Justice before transitioning to private practice in 2011. She also had the privilege of serving the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Evans at the Federal Court of Appeal.

Since founding Gerami Law PC in 2011 Ms. Gerami has focused her practice on immigration and refugee litigation and represented numerous clients before the Federal and provincial Courts, as well as the various divisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Ms. Gerami is an Executive Member on the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.  In 2017 and 2018 Ms. Gerami also served on the Organizing Committee of the annual CBA Immigration Law Conference.  She has been interviewed on national and local television and quoted in national and local newspapers such as The Globe and Mail, National Post and the Ottawa Citizen.  Ms. Gerami has also published numerous journal articles, presented at immigration and refugee law conferences and events across Canada, and provided guest lectures at the University of Ottawa.

As a Supervising Principal to articling students, Ms. Gerami enjoys facilitating the career development of law students and young lawyers. She also enjoys traveling as well as spending time with her two children, husband and Bambi (her dog).

Sponsor:

None of this would be possible if it were not for my Canadian Immigration Institute. My DIY courses earn me sufficient revenue to continue pushing out great free content on Canadian Immigration.

• Canadian Immigration Institute – Founded by Immigration Lawyer Mark Holthe 

Affiliate Program:

• Click on this link to become an affiliate of the Canadian Immigration Institute: https://www.canadianimmigrationinstitute.com/become-an-affiliate
  • OR,  go to the Canadian Immigration Institute main page and scroll down to the very bottom and click on “Affiliate”.
  • Earn 30% when someone purchases via your affiliate link

[Tweet “Is the CBSA above the Law?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Arghavan’s law firm: https://www.geramilaw.com/
  • Arghavan’s contact info: https://www.geramilaw.com/contact.html

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

With the legalization of marijuana in Canada on October 17, 2018, there continues to exist tremendous confusion on how this will impact Canadian marijuana users travelling to the US and American’s coming to Canada for a little “marijuana tourism“. The issue is complex for individuals, but down right maddening for multinational companies sending employees back and forth across the Canada/US border on a daily basis.

In this episode, I was joined by Canadian and US Immigration Attorney Henry Chang who shared some great advice on the real dangers that exist for users of marijuana seeking to travel cross border between Canada and the US and some great tips for employees of Canadian marijuana companies travelling to the US.

Henry Chang, a partner with the law firm of Blaney McMurtry in Toronto, Ontario, has always been a great resource for anything related to cross border immigration. As an immigration lawyer/attorney licensed to practice immigration law on both sides of the border, he was the perfect choice to join me on this Episode to explore the hidden dangers and pitfalls that the legalization of pot in Canada has created for Canadians and Americans crossing the Canada/US border.

Henry is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the State Bar of California. He is consistently ranked as one of Canada’s top lawyers by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers. He also holds an AV (Preeminent) rating, the highest possible rating, from Martindale-Hubbell.

Henry is the chair of the firm’s Immigration Law Group. As a recognized authority in the field of United States and Canadian business immigration law, his style of legal representation is often referred to as the “gold standard” for cross-border mobility law. With limited exceptions, Henry personally supervises the preparation of such cases, in order to ensure the highest probability of a successful outcome.

Henry lectures extensively in Canada, the United States, and overseas. His work has been published in numerous nationally- and internationally- recognized publications, including LexisNexis’ Immigration Law & Procedure, which has been cited in over 300 Federal Court decisions in cases from across the U.S. circuit courts of appeals, federal district courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Two of Henry’s more recent articles have propelled him forward as one of the go-to lawyers on this topic and landed him many interviews with media seeking to demystify some of the lesser known dangers that are lurking in the shadows for marijuana users crossing the border.

How the Legalization of Marijuana Will Affect Your Ability to Travel to the United States

Canadian Companies Should Educate Their Employees Prior to Marijuana Legalization

In this episode Henry and I covered the following topics:

1. Canadians travelling to the US after legalization
2. Employees of Canadian companies travelling to the US
3. Americans coming to Canada for “marijuana tourism”
4. Bringing marijuana across the border (into Canada or the US)

[Tweet “What you must know about Pot and cross border travel“]

Additional Resources:

• How to Contact Henry Chang: https://www.blaney.com/contact-us
• Website: https://www.blaney.com/

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Visa processing can be tricky business. Although IRCC has taken significant measures to streamline the process and make it easier for us to file applications online and through the various processing centres, inevitably efficiency of process runs into a wall…..for some of our clients, it can be a BRICK WALL. In this episode, Canadian immigration lawyer Christy Jones joins me to discuss some of the more challenging scenarios she has had to work through and together we share some strategies for helping you navigate those quirky cases we all seem to get from time to time.

As a young immigration lawyer, the best decision I ever made was to join the Canadian Bar Association’s National Immigration section. Why?

Because it is probably the most collegial group of professionals in the country. There was always someone willing to share their past experience dealing with tricky situations. This willingness to share gave me access to a wealth of experience that allowed me the ability to quickly climb the steep immigration learning curve essential to practicing in this ever changing area of the law.

In this Episode of the Canadian Immigration Podcast, I was joined by immigration lawyer Christy Jones who practices out of her firm in Toronto, to share some insight on the world of visa processing from a practical perspective. Anyone can follow the IRCC guides and document checklists essential for filing a complete application.

However, what do you do when things start to go off the rails and there is no instruction guide on how to deal with it?

You call a trusted colleague to see if they have already experienced something similar.

This episode is devoted to a number of case scenarios where Christy and I share our thoughts on how best to deal with them. Our listeners will quickly discover that despite our many years of immigration practice, and our relatively consistent approach to most situations, there are times when our approaches to resolving an issue can be quite different. I guess this is what makes immigration so challenging, and yet so enjoyable….there is always more than one way to solve a problem.

Here is a short list of the scenarios we discussed in this episode:

Scenario 1: Employee requiring a Work Permit, with one DUI is denied entry to Canada, and advised to seek a TRP through a visa office before attempting to re-enter. His intended position in Canada renders him eligible for expedited processing under the GSS.

Scenario 2: A GSS eligible application is to be prepared under the intra company transfer (specialized knowledge) provisions, but is not terribly strong. The applicant is visa exempt, but you are not sure whether an officer at the port of entry will agree with the specialized knowledge argument to be presented and the applicant has a long flight to Canada. You decide applying at the POE is too risky. Should you apply online to be processed under the GSS or submit the application to the IMWU for an opinion?

Scenario 3: Applicant with a Work Permit approved under the GSS arrives at the port of entry. The work permit is issued indicating that a medical exam is required within 30 days, however the applicant had not resided in a designated country, and there was no medical conducted toward Work Permit approval.

Scenario 4: An applicant eligible for a Work Permit exemption under the GSS is not issued a Visitor Record at the port of entry upon arrival.

[Tweet “Learn some tips on Visa Processing from experienced immigration counsel“]

Additional Resources:

• The best way to reach Christy Jones:
  • E-mail: cjones@jonesimmigrationlaw.com
• Christy’s law firm Jones Immigration Law: http://jonesimmigrationlaw.com/
• Case Scenarios discussed in this Episode: Jones Visa Processing Scenarios

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love

Are you considering sending one of your clients to a Canadian port of entry to benefit from faster processing? STOP! Listen to this Episode before you even think about doing this. Yes…..you will get faster processing – however, you may not be as thrilled with the decision you get on that application. Join me in this Episode where I share some of my own x-immigration officer insight on navigating Canadian ports of entry.

For the last couple of years, I have always followed an interview format on my Canadian Immigration Podcast. There has always been an awesome guest who joins me to discuss the various topics I cover on Canadian immigration. However, in this episode I decided to “go solo” for a change.

In the summer of 2002 (wow….it’s hard to believe so much time as passed), this  young fellow had the opportunity to work as an immigration officer at the Carway and Chief Mountain POEs straddling the Alberta/Montana border. To a large extent, my experience over that summer and the following year working as a “pro bono” slave to the hearings officer in Calgary while I finished up law school, shaped my desire to practice immigration law today.

I truly believe that those experiences gained working as an immigration officer have made me a better immigration lawyer today. I often find myself drawing upon those experiences when I advice clients and ultimately with the way in which I create my immigration applications and supporting documents. I will forever be grateful to all of the fine officers I worked with those many years ago.

A recent client experience shared with me by a friend and past colleague caused me to do this episode today. Navigating the Canadian POEs can truly be a Jekyll and Hyde experience. In this episode I shared a little insight that I hope will help you as you contemplate sending your clients through a port of entry for immigration purposes.

In this episode, I covered the following topics:

1. Why are POEs more difficult today than they used to be?
2. The cultural transformation that has gone on at Canadian POEs.
3. My thoughts on why things are the way they are.
4. Tips and strategies to help you when dealing with Canadian POEs.

[Tweet “Canadian POEs, a Jekyll and Hyde Experience“]

Listen to Mark Holthe’s Canadian Immigration Podcast

Topics for our Next Podcast

Binge on all of our Canadian Immigration Podcast Episodes!

If you want to listen to more episodes, you will find all the episodes here.

Subscribe to the Canadian Immigration Podcast

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe.

If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and raising the visibility of the show. Share the Love