For US companies relying upon foreign workers, Monday, June 23, 2020, was a day of significant disappointment. President Trump announced that many categories of foreign workers would no longer be granted entry to the US until the end of 2020. Fortunately, Canada’s immigration policy is far more welcoming. If you are a US company that is going to be hurt by these latest rounds of restrictions, Canada may just be the answer. Tune in to this episode where US Immigration Attorney, Nicole Ezer, explains what these restrictions mean for your company and Canadian Immigration Lawyer, Mark Holthe, shares some great “made-in-Canada” solutions to turn your disappointment into relief.

Many US companies were left reeling on Monday, June 23rd when President Trump announced that H-1B, L, J and H-2B visas would be blocked until the end of 2020. These four non-immigrant visa categories are relied upon heavily by US companies seeking to fill critical skill shortages in the US.

Now what is a US company going to do?

They were already hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but this most recent announcement feels like insult to injury.

In this episode US immigration attorney, Nicole Ezer shares some great insight into what these restrictions really mean for US companies and why things may not be as bad as they seem.  I then take some time to pull the curtain back on some very practical solutions that Canada’s facilitative immigration policy offer to struggling US companies and their foreign workers.

Nicole Ezer is the founder of Ezer Law Group, a business immigration boutique law firm based in Houston, Texas. She is my go-to attorney for any US bound business immigration need. We have collaborated for years on mutual cross-border clients and I have fortunate to call her my friend.

Nicole has practiced in the areas of family-based immigration, naturalization and asylum and participated in activities that provide education to industries and communities regarding immigration issues.

She is a frequent speaker before industry, HR groups and for attorney CLE activities, and is a 2002 Graduate of the Center for Houston’s Future Leadership Forum. Nicole has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, teaching “Business Immigration Basics”.

Nicole has focused her practice on immigration policies and planning and consulting for companies of all sizes. She is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Nicole develops, implements and updates immigration policies for multinational corporations.

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 “Canada is a great option for suffering US companies?”]

• Additional Resources:

  • Nicole Ezer’s law firm: https://ezerlawgroup.com/
  • The best way to reach Nicole:
    • Phone: (281) 404-7781
    • Website: https://ezerlawgroup.com/contacts/

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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

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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

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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

As many are likely aware by now… US President Donald Trump is acting quickly on his campaign promises. Through the use of some very strategic executive orders, he has shaken the very foundation of immigration law and policy in the United States. Although this Podcast is traditionally devoted to Canadian immigration, my special guest Heather Segal, a Canadian immigration lawyer and US immigration attorney, shares insight on not only what is happening in the US, but the potential impact it could have for Canadian immigration.

If you think what is happening in the US will have no impact on us in Canada, listen to what Heather has to say… you might just have a different outlook when you are finished!

If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering what the heck is going on south of the border. Although many of us thought President Donald Trump would do some pretty crazy things while in office, I’ll bet none of you thought he would act so quickly to ensure his campaign promises became a reality. I am seriously starting to think that President Trump’s wall between Mexico and the US might actually happen……. who actually “pays for it” is an entirely different topic.

Heather Segal and I had a great time talking about what is happening in the US and musing over the possible ramifications, both good and bad, for immigration in Canada. One thing is certain, we will be impacted one way or another. With any luck for us immigration lawyers, Canadian immigration will be booming once again in just a few short months.

Heather Segal is founder of Segal Immigration Law in Toronto. She is widely recognized for her expertise in immigration law and she speaks regularly at conferences and seminars throughout the world. Heather practices exclusively in the area of Canadian immigration law and American Consular and Border immigration law.

She has spent a decade as a Director on the Board of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).  She is currently a member of the AILA Customs and Border Protection National Liaison Committee. She was voted by her peers as one of the world’s leading practitioners in corporate immigration law in 2018 in Who’s Who Legal – Corporate Immigration, a distinction I am also grateful to have received.

In this episode Heather and I discussed the following topics:

• background on the current executive orders and what they mean;
• how US immigration policy compares with immigration policy in Canada;
• the potential impacts of US immigration policy on Canadian immigration;
• what President Trump intends for H1B and L visas in the US; and
• what does President Trump have in store for NAFTA.

[Tweet “How will Trump’s immigration policy impact on Canada.“]

Additional Resources:

• The best ways to reach Heather Segal:
  • E-mail: heather@segalilaw.com
  • Phone: 416-656-2345
  • LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersegal1
• Heather’s firm Segal Immigration Law: http://segalilaw.com/
• Full Text of Trump’s Executive Order – “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States“: http://www.npr.org/2017/01/31/512439121/trumps-executive-order-on-immigration-annotated

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.

Ask Mark an Immigration Question

Periodically I answer listener questions on my podcast. If you have a question, comment, thought or concern, you can do so by clicking here. We’d love to hear from you. You can also leave me a voice message on the Ask an Immigration Question widget on the side bar of this website.

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