RHYME & REASON

Filipiniana News 14 June 2008   Prime Minister Harper recently issued an official apology to the former students of native residential schools and admitted that “ this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country .”   Much like the previous official government apologies for the internment of the Japanese and the Chinese head tax, this symbolic act is an important step towards healing old wounds and in paving the way for achieving meaningful reforms and social justice.  While it is a welcome symbolic act, it should not end up as another lip service to the ideals of fairness and justice that Canada has always claimed to uphold. Pardon me for sounding cynical, but I cannot help doubting the government’s sincerity as it continues to perpetuate immigration laws and policies which are clearly against the very same ideals of fairness and justice that it claims to promote.  For instance, this recent apology...

Filipiniana News – May 2008 RHYME & REASON Last month, I ended my column with the following paragraph: “I have often heard CBSA officers justifying their strict enforcement actions as simply  meant towards “preserving the integrity of Canada’s immigration system.”   I am not sure that this objective is truly met if the sole action is to punish the victims while the culpable ones remain scot-free.  But that can be the subject of another column…” Please allow me to discuss this matter further. Recently, I was made aware of the case of construction workers recruited from the Philippines after having been supposedly sponsored by a Canadian company.  Upon arrival at the airport, two of the workers were not issued work permits on the ground that their Labour Market Opinions (LMOs) have expired.  They were subsequently detained at the Immigration Holding Centre until released on bail and under strict terms and conditions while their immigra...

Filipiniana News – April 2008 RHYME & REASON Misrepresentation in the context of immigration law can be a tricky concept.  Hence, some people are caught by surprise when found inadmissible to Canada on this ground.  They learn too late that some act or omission they were not completely aware of, or some seemingly innocent wrongful declaration could either result in a denial of their immigration application, or worse, the stripping of their permanent resident status. In Canadian immigration law, misrepresentation is defined as “directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of the act.”  The words “directly or indirectly” imply that the act of misrepresentation may have been committed by the applicant/permanent resident or by other people.   Unfortunately for the applicant, the unscrupulous act of representatives or placement agents ...

Filipiniana News  –  March 2008 RHYME & REASON As an immigrant and foreign-trained professional, it only seemed logical that I gravitated towards the practice of immigration law.   This is not to say that immigrants and foreign-trained professionals do not have other skills and interests;  I just felt that my personal journey and struggles encountered in the process of migrating to Canada furthered my passion and determination to assist others in this oftentimes tricky and complicated area of law. The process of applying to migrate to Canada appears to be a rather simple and manageable one.  The comprehensive Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website with all the necessary forms, guides and manuals detailing the application process, allows practically anyone who can read and understand English to prepare an immigration application package.   In fact, the CIC website emphasizes that hiring a lawyer or consultant is not requir...

Filipiniana News – February 2008 RHYME & REASON Last month, I wrote on family sponsorship in general.  In this column, I would like to deal more specifically with sponsorship of spouses/partners in particular, due to the increasing number of inquiries received on this topic. Despite the notoriously slow processing times for immigration applications, it is refreshing news when one hears of spousal sponsorship applications being approved in just a few months, as I did recently for one of my clients.   It somehow reaffirms one’s faith in a system where frustrating delays are the norm rather than the exception.  However, the downside of this is that some unscrupulous individuals try to take advantage of the quick processing times by entering into marriages of convenience (i.e. those entered into solely for immigration purposes) as a faster way of obtaining permanent resident status.  Aside from being illegal, this could seriously lead to more pro...

Filipiniana News – January 2008 RHYME & REASON   Family reunification is among the pillars of Canadian immigration.  This is the principle upon which the provisions for sponsoring family members is based.  As a result, CIC allows the sponsorship of spouses, common law partners, children, parents, grandparents and other relatives (in certain exceptional circumstances), as a means of obtaining permanent resident status in Canada.   Applications to sponsor spouses, common law or conjugal partners and dependent children are given top priority such that these could take only a few months to process as contrasted to the several years that it takes for other types of sponsorships and permanent resident applications to be finalized.   (For instance, a family class application to sponsor parents from the Philippines is currently taking three to fours years to process.)  If the submission package is complete and is able to address all the ...

Although it contains not much surprising bit of news, the recent release of relevant 2006 census data on Filipinos in Canada is causing some stir within the community. If you have not already heard or read about it,   2006 census data again confirmed that Filipinos comprise not only the third largest source of immigrants to Canada but also the third largest group of visible minorities, next to China and India.    It has been noted in the past that we are also among the fastest growing group, with a rise of 35% from 1996 to 2001 when the overall population growth of Canada during the same period was only 4%.   Various statistical surveys have also shown that Filipinos in Canada are among the most highly educated, with a great majority possessing at least a high school diploma and about a third with a bachelor’s degree or higher.   In comparison, only about 15% of the Canadian population have obtained a college or university degree.   Census data...