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Seven Things You Should Know Canadian Parent and Grandparent Class Family Sponsorship Program in 2016 and Five Policy Changes I Would Implement
Introduction
On November 23, 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced the details of 2016’s offering of the much-anticipated Parents and Grandparent Family Sponsorship Program. The full details of the program can be accessed here.
For the past several years, this program often fills up by the second week of January. In fact, many applicants submit their applications by express courier just prior to the New Year to ensure arrival by the program’s opening date.
This year’s program comes with even more anticipation as the Parent and Grandparent Class was at the forefront of at least two pre-election promises of the Liberal Government.
In their pre-election platform paper “A New Plan for Canadian Immigration and Economic Opportunity,” the Liberals set out those promises as follows:
- Nearly doubling the budget for family class immigration processing, in order to restore processing times to the levels achieved before the Harper decade.
- Doubling the number of new applications allowed each year, for parents and grandparents, from 5,000 to 10,000.
These proposed ideas found themselves into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Mandate Letter to Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Minister John McCallum where these promises are reiterated as follows:
- As part of the Annual Immigration Levels Plan for 2016, bring forward a proposal to double the number of entry applications for parents and grandparents of immigrants to 10,000 a year.
- Develop a plan to reduce application processing times for sponsorship, citizenship and other visas.
So how will this year’s application process fair? How would I change things?
Ten Things to Note
- This year’s program opens up on 4 January 2015 at 8 am Eastern.
- There will be a cap on accepted applications. The current cap on new completed applications is 5,000 (pending any future Ministerial directions or changes provided in the 2016 Immigration Levels Plan).
- Law Firms/Consultants Beware – Citizenship and Immigration Canada is not accepting bulk Applications. Each must be individually packaged and enveloped.
- Minimum Necessary Income For Sponsorship Has Increased Again
| Federal Income Table for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship | |||
| Size of Family Unit | Minimum Income 2014 |
Minimum Income 2013 |
Minimum Income 2012 |
| 2 persons | $38,272 | $37,708 | $36,637 |
| 3 persons | $47,051 | $46,354 | $45,040 |
| 4 persons | $57,125 | $56,280 | $54,685 |
| 5 persons | $64,791 | $63,833 | $62,023 |
| 6 persons | $73,072 | $71,991 | $69,950 |
| 7 persons | $81,355 | $80,153 | $77,879 |
| If more than 7 persons, for each additional person, add | $8,271 | $8,148 | $7,929 |
Note that an Applicant must meet or exceed the Federal Income Table from the date the sponsorship is signed until the day the family members become permanent residents. What this means is for the 10 years that an application is in processing, a sponsor theoretically has to meet the requirement in every year and can be subject to reassessment at any time.
- Processing Times are Currently Astronomical – averaging 9-10 years total, with bulk of time spent at Visa Offices around the World
Parents and Grandparent sponsorship works on a two step process (much like Spousal Sponsorship via the Outside Canada Family Class process). The first stage, assessed at Case Processing Centre Mississauga, where the applications are received, is currently taking 48 months (i.e 4 years). Currently, they are working on applications received on or before November 4, 2011.
Following this, the applications are sent overseas for assessment. During stage two – the process is currently taking anywhere from 1 year to 7 years at some visa offices. Averaging out at around 5 years.
CIC has posted average processing times (last updated 10 July 2015), and they are available below:
Last quarterly update: July 10, 2015
| Africa and Middle East | |
| Visa Office | Processing Times IN MONTHS (based on a complete application package) |
| Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates | 35 |
| Accra – Ghana | 79 |
| Amman – Jordan | 77 |
| Ankara – Turkey | 77 |
| Beirut – Lebanon | 79 |
| Cairo – Egypt | 72 |
| Dakar – Senegal | 77 |
| Nairobi – Kenya | 79 |
| Pretoria – South Africa | 67 |
| Rabat – Morocco | 76 |
| Tel Aviv – Israel | 63 |
| Asia and Pacific | |
| Visa Office | Processing Times IN MONTHS (based on a complete application package) |
| Beijing – China | 71 |
| Colombo – Sri Lanka | 74 |
| Hong Kong – China | 62 |
| Islamabad – Pakistan | 80 |
| Manila – Philippines | 76 |
| New Delhi – India | 77 |
| Singapore – Singapore | 75 |
| Sydney – Australia | 35 |
| Europe | |
| Visa Office | Processing Times IN MONTHS (based on a complete application package) |
| Bucharest – Romania | 75 |
| Kyiv – Ukraine | 71 |
| London – United Kingdom | 82 |
| Moscow – Russia | 74 |
| Paris – France | 71 |
| Rome – Italy | 66 |
| Vienna – Austria | 81 |
| Warsaw – Poland | 66 |
| Americas | |
| Visa Office | Processing Times IN MONTHS (based on a complete application package) |
| Bogota – Colombia | 65 |
| Buenos Aires – Argentina | 76 |
| Guatemala City – Guatemala | – |
| Havana – Cuba | – |
| Kingston – Jamaica | 78 |
| Lima – Peru | 26 |
| Los Angeles – United States | 83 |
| Mexico City – Mexico | 74 |
| New York – United States | – |
| Ottawa (Case Processing Centre) – Canada | 69 |
| Port-au-Prince – Haiti | 53 |
| Port of Spain – Trinidad and Tobago | 74 |
| Santiago – Chile | – |
| Santo Domingo – Dominican Republic | – |
| Sao Paulo – Brazil | 22 |
Essentially, if my numbers are correct – it will be a least a decade until many Canadians see their parents/grandparents. These are 10 years that many Canadian families simply do not have with the increasing age and declining health of elderly parents and grandparents.
- Undertaking for Sponsors is for 20 years
This means that you must promise to provide financial support and basic requirements for the person you are sponsoring including – food, clothing, utilities, personal requirements, shelter, fuel, household supplies, AND any health care not provided by public health such as eye and dental care.
If your family member receives financial support from a federal, provincial, or municipal program while the undertaking is valid you will be considered to be in default which will have consequences for any other sponsorship application.
- Your Spouse/Common-Law Partner is the only one who can act as a Co-Signer.
Five Policy Suggestions Moving Forward
If I were advising the Minister, I would have the following suggestions on how to improve the Parent and Grandparent Sponsorship Program:
- Contact individuals in the current four year queue/waitlist and ask for updates on their family. Offer an expedited/expanded super-visa option (3 years) to any family who has an urgent need.
- Create a second 5,000 draw. Have this draw conducted randomly with a select portion set aside for humanitarian and compassionate circumstances. Promise 2 year processing on this set of applicants. Offer all applicants the option to convert to a super visa at any time during processing;
- Announce the end of first-come, first-serve family immigration. I believe it is out of line with the rest of the Canadian immigration programs focused on quality and quantity rather than speed of application;
- Explore the option of an electronic ‘points-based’ process for a selection of family class applicants (perhaps ones that qualify for expedited) – 2 year processing. Criteria can include families that can demonstrate the greatest need (i.e. need for parent/grandparent to take care of child in case of two working parents) or other grounds necessitating family reunification (no family member/spouse in home country); and
- Allow other Canadian siblings other than the principal sponsor/co-signer to act as sponsor for the purposes of Minimum Income Requirements for the Federal Sponsorship Table. Have the requirement be a proactive provision of an account showing locked/frozen funds over the period of processing.
What are your thoughts on parents and grandparents? Would love to hear them in the comments below.
Six Reflections From My First Six Months of Practice
It is officially six months since I was called to the bar. These six months have gone by quite fast. From both a practice and personal perspective they have been eventful, thrilling, devastating, and all feelings in between.
Perhaps the best way to ‘reflect’ (or over-reflect, as I am prone to doing) on my last six months is to ask myself some inner questions. So here we go.
- What have been the successes and challenges so far?
Successes
Purely from an immigration perspective, the biggest successes so far have been gaining positive client results, particularly in a litigation or contested application context.
Immigration law is so fascinating as it is one of the few areas in law where the practice is really a hybrid between barristers and solicitors work. I think my most memorable moment in practice was seeing my client call his wife in Africa and tell her they won their appeal, both of them near tearful in their joy. A close second when Justice O’Reilly of the Federal Court summarized a subsection of my memo of argument in Jewell v. MPSEP 2015 FC 1046 in ruling in our client’s favour on a difficult case.
Overall, I think the success of my blog and article writing has been the most unexpected but surprisingly. I remember that I really caught a break – with the CIC training guide on ‘sham marriages,’ an issue that really affected me personally. I was very lucky that a social media connector and writer, Marco Campana, recommended that I write for New Canadian Media which eventually turned into this piece. I am very grateful that I have been able to become an advocate for several immigrant groups through my writing and I look forward to doing more writing and presenting moving forward.
Challenges
The biggest challenge has been dealing with the business of law. I think all junior lawyers find practice management, billing, and filing to be very tedious parts of their work. I am grateful in that I have amazing support staff at my firm that has been great in assisting me in these regards. However, as a lawyer (as opposed to an articling student I am not the first (and often times only) eye and line of communication with clients. I have come to learn that as much as clients are very concerned about the overall result, they are also very keen on the process. Lawyers must be accountable for this process.
The most unexpected challenge that I have had to deal with is the role of administrative delay and processing times in my work. Clients often want guarantees and success rates and daily updates. This is not always possible and, in fact, providing false guarantees or even predictions can be very negligent
2. Do you regret choosing just one area of the law to focus on? Do you regret joining a small firm?
I do not regret choosing just one area of the law. I think, if anything, I would have ended up in immigration given the way my academic career and personal interests aligned. I am happy I had this happen to me earlier rather than later. I think the fear that it is impossible to transition from one area of law to another or one type of firm to another is largely man-made. I have seen many cases of individuals who have started new practices and transitioned new practices very successfully. I think what is important for me is that I am doing something I am passionate about and that I wake up every morning and genuinely look forward to doing. At this point in time, I have yet to find anything like immigration that quite as inspires me.
As someone who as seen big firm culture and small firm culture I could not be happier to be at a small, boutique firm. I think that having a small physical work environment where it is easier to take two steps and have a face to face discussion with an assistant or lawyer is so valuable. One of the things I love is that when I am in a client consultation on an issue I have not handled before I can within one minute call up a colleague to come join and share his/her expertise. It is really a beautiful set up.
3. How does being an Asian-Canadian lawyer affect your practice?
I take it as a chip on my shoulder. Many times the first thing people think when I tell them I am an immigration lawyer is that I must have a strong Chinese practice. Truth-be-told my clients come from all over the world (and all over a very diverse China) for that matter.
I think also having been a product of immigrant parents myself and having interacted with so many immigrants gives me a window into their lives and their concerns. I think I may have an advantage in relating to my client’s situations and cultural perspectives and use that mutual respect to harness their trust. Without trust, I don’t think any client relationship can be successful and without that relationship applications themselves cannot present the necessary story to convince visa officers, tribunals, and judges.
4. What are your strengths and weaknesses so far? What one area do you most want to improve?
I think my strength has been in analyzing complex client cases to see where the deficiencies lie and how to address them while emphasizing the strengths of the case.
I think where I can be better is in tightening up and strengthening my communication with and on behalf of clients. With the uncertainty, layer of discretion, and constant change that exists in immigration lawyer, it is too easy to step in the shoes of the client and panic and worry. I think immigration lawyers have to be the voice of reason, confidence, and patience at all times. We also have to learn to step away from certain cases emotionally and objectively analyze and criticize – even if it is to challenge our clients on their positions on certain issues.
We also have to be honest, something I take a huge pride in and I think will be the basis of my success moving forward. I would very much tell a client the truth – that it depends on our hard work together and the discretion of an officer then offer an arbitrary percentage success rate. I think clients that are lawyer shopping should be concerned if a firm (lawyer or consultant) starts offering specific percentage of success rates.
5. How do you balance law with other commitments in your life?
It is difficult. Very difficult. Particularly when work becomes one of the more stable things in your life. I am grateful in that I have a very flexible arrangement as a contractor rather than an employee. When family matters arise or when I need to work from home this is absolutely facilitated and often times even encouraged.
I think that maintaining a health body and healthy relationships is absolutely key. Work stress tends to affect a lot of individuals in making them more prone to sleeping less, working out less, eating more, and detaching from family and friends. I think it is absolutely crucial that there needs to be time away from work and work email. I have not quite yet gotten to the point where I can ditch my cellphone on weekends (particularly given the number of overseas clients or working clients that only have time to work on their immigration on weekends), but I recognize the needs to take a step back sometimes.
6. What are three things you recommend law students/articling students to do to facilitate the transfer into practice?
A) Obtain great mentors.
Find mentors in your work place. I have been fortunate in having great partners and Larlee serve as my mentors. Peter teach me everything about immigration litigation and handling difficult clients, Ryan teaches me everything about how to be attentive and diligent, Steve teaches me how to be a well-rounded practitioner and to write and argue effectively. My colleagues, Vivian, Dan, Jeevyn, and Darren always and I mean (ALWAYS) say yes when I have a question or need to share their insight. Importantly, as human beings (not just lawyers) they have been great mentors on how to balance work and life through turbulent waters.
Find mentors outside your work place and outside your profession. I have had the privilege of having great mentors outside of work. Jenn Lau and the FACLBC exec crew and John Kim as Faskens are two names that come to mind. Also, I have been lucky to be mentored by several great, outstanding leaders outside of law. Getting involved in the City of Vancouver’s Cultural Communities Advisory Committee has been a huge blessing, as I meet many individuals who I look up to for their ability to fight and achieve social change. My old university colleagues, Adrian and Carlos Vonarx have been great as a model of success. All my best friends are also great mentors for many of the periphery issues that we as lawyers need to take care of in order to thrive in practice.
B) Find something or someone you love outside of the law.
I find that every lawyer/practitioner that is genuinely loving and thriving at their work has something or someone outside of work that gives an extra raison d’etre and level of support when things go down south.
Law has this reputation for soul-sucking, depriving individuals from pleasures of their previous life. I think a lot of this occurs because we try to fight against old habits rather than integrate law into our existing habits. It is funny how the moniker that “whatever got you into law school, will get you out of law school” goes out the window in private practice.
I find lawyers that are able to find a creative outlet for their legal work are often also able to use that passion for the creative work to draw in clients. Potential immigration clients in Vancouver, these days, be it study permit applicants or intra-company transfers are often directly involved in or one degree separated from the creative industry. Being able to connect […]
Restoration Problems – Studies to Begin at a Later Date
I wanted to share a recent response to an inquiry I was provided CIC and why I think it creates unreasonableness – call it reasonableness in the unreasonableness.
Here is the scenario. For whatever reason, your client’s Application for a Post-Graduate Work Permit is refused or never submitted. The client’s study permit has also expired. The 90-day after meeting graduation requirement period in which to apply for a Post-Graduate Work Permit has also lapsed. Restoration is the only option. The restoration date is calculated either 90 days from the expiry of your status (in the event an extension/work permit application was never submitted) or 90 days after you receive a refusal of your application (in the event an extension/work permit application was submitted).
Let us also assume that it is now September. Fall program registration has ended. The program you are interested in starts in the New Year.
My question was below:
Question:
I have a general question about restoration of student permits for studies to begin at a later date.
Individuals who have their post-graduate work permit (PGWP) applications refused and are no longer eligible for a PGWP due to expired study permits and passage of time have the option to restore their status (in-Canada) as a student on the basis of a student permit extension, which itself is based on a new offer of acceptance.
However if the offer of acceptance is for studies to begin at a later date (i.e. a later semester) is it possible to have a student stay in Canada on a study permit, on deferred enrollment, while not actively pursuing studies for that period of time?
I was unable to find the answer to this on CIC’s available material on study permits and the new study permit rules.
Response:
The determination of whether or not a study permit can be issued for individuals who have applied for a restoration of status with a letter of acceptance for a program expected to commence on a date in the future (e.g. a later semester), rests with the officer assessing the application. It may be determined that a study permit can be issued based on the date the program is expected to commence, or the study permit may be denied because the period of time before the program commences is not considered reasonable. If the study permit is denied the individual must leave Canada and can apply for a study permit at a later date.
The students who have lost their status may also apply for a restoration of status as a visitor. If the restoration of status is approved the individual could remain in Canada, however, they will not be authorized to study, and will still be required to apply for a study permit outside of Canada a later date as per R213.
This is the particular section I have trouble with: “It may be determined that a study permit can be issued based on the date the program is expected to commence, or the study permit may be denied because the period of time before the program commences is not considered reasonable.”
With processing times for a restoration of status frankly “up in the air,” how does one time the restoration application? Without legislative guidance, what does “reasonable mean.” For me, reasonable is three months but for the Officer that may be unreasonable.
It will be interesting to see if there are any refusals from the application of this discretion. Would be fun to challenge this in the Federal Court.
Recent Experiences with PGWP Problems (Updated – 15 September 2016)
One thing I have noticed recently in my practice is the number of individuals who are having challenges with Post-Graduate Work Permits, more specifically the period of time between which they complete their final academic session and the time in which they receive their post-graduate work permit (PGWP).
The period in which an international student holds a PGWP is the most crucial period in their ambition to become a economic permanent resident. As I have discussed in several prior posts, the PGWP provides the student the opportunity (albeit often challenging to obtain) to get the one-year of skilled work experience that can set them up for the Express Entry process.
Problems 1: Late/Mistimed Application
An increasing problem I am seeing is that individuals are applying too late for their post-graduate work permit. A post-graduate work permit must be submitted with 90 days from meeting the requirements of completing the program of study. This DOES NOT always mean (and usually does not mean) the actual date of your graduation. Most programs (and inquiries should be made with your institution if this is not the case) issue letters or notices indicating that you have completed your requirements and are now eligible for graduation. This is the date the clock starts ticking.
For many individuals their study permits may extend beyond the period of their full-time studies. This can also be very deceiving for an individual preparing to apply for a PGWP. Since June 2014, the new study permit requirements have created an oft-confusing provision that allows you to work full-time during regularly scheduled breaks (i.e. summer/winter/spring vacations) as long as you maintain full-time status as a student. Importantly, this DOES NOT cover the summer after you graduate UNLESS you have a pending application for a PGWP.
Right now PGWP Applications (submitted online) are also taking several months. CIC does not specifically post processing times for PGWP but from several individuals, I have heard this has taken up to 4-5 months. If the PGWP Application is made before the study permit expires, this will give the Applicant the ability to work (accordingly to the terms of their study permit, until a decision is made on their PGWP. While this is all good, the waiting period can be particularly challenging on students who had accompanying spouses who had their open work permits tied to the PGWP applicant’s expiring study permits. There is no implied status for the accompanying spouse and their own ability to receive a further open work permit will be tied to the PGWP Applicant receiving their PGWP and demonstrating their employment in a NOC 0, A, B position.
Resultantly, Individuals who have the ability to apply for a work permit at the port of entry and/or flagpole are strongly advised to look into the option and seek advise from competent counsel prior to attempting to make the application. The process, if done properly, could save several months of worry. I recommend reading my colleague Steven Meurren’s excellent piece on flagpoling and its potential risks here.
Problem 2: Poorly-Prepared Application
The challenge with PGWP is that they are a “one shot deal.” Whereas a refusal for a temporary-resident visa or initial study permit can often be addressed through a new application, which may cost an Applicant a few months or a semester of wait time, a failed PGWP Application can possibly alter by several years, a potential foreign students plans in Canada.
For example, let us assume an Applicant is informed in May 2016 that their program is completed. That Applicant duly submits an online Application for a PGWP right away. Their study permit expires in July. Should they receive a refusal in September 2016, they will now be out of the range to apply for a PGWP (more than 90 days). Furthermore, they will be ineligible as they no longer hold a valid study permit. The Applicant’s restoration of temporary resident status would only be possible on the basis of a study permit extension (which will require a new acceptance) or switching to visitor status.
Again, I think this is a major gap/flaw in the way the PGWP program currently operates but it gives way to possible strategies (that I have not yet myself explored) that may be employed to try and mitigate the situation. The way the rules currently operate, I am advising most of my clients to have a “back up plan” ready (i.e. further studies or other work permit options) in the event something goes array with the PGWP Application.
Please note the recent decision in Nookala v. Canada (MCI) 2016 FC 1019 where Madam Justice Mactavish explicitly rejects the strategy of restoring to a study permit for the purposes of obtaining a new post-graduate work permit where no program of study has been entered into at the time of restoration.
Generally speaking the PGWP Application is quite straight forward, and CIC does give further information requests to facilitate this process. However, I can certainly foresee with the new study permit regulation’s greater scrutiny of work and study during the validity of study permits, more PGWP refusals down the road. PGWP Applicants would be wise do double and triple check that all fees, documents, and especially dates before submitting their Application.
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My Value Proposition
My Canadian immigration/refugee legal practice is based on trust, honesty, hard-work, and communication. I don’t work for you. I work with you.
You know your story best, I help frame it and deal with the deeper workings of the system that you may not understand. I hope to educate you as we work together and empower you.
I aim for that moment in every matter, big or small, when a client tells me that I have become like family to them. This is why I do what I do.
I am a social justice advocate and a BIPOC. I stand with brothers and sisters in the LGBTQ2+ and Indigenous communities. I don’t discriminate based on the income-level of my clients – and open my doors to all. I understand the positions of relative privilege I come from and wish to never impose them on you. At the same time, I also come from vulnerability and can relate to your vulnerable experiences.
I am a fierce proponent of diversity and equality. I want to challenge the racist/prejudiced institutions that still underlie our Canadian democracy and still simmer in deep-ceded mistrusts between cultural communities. I want to shatter those barriers for the next generation – our kids.
I come from humble roots, the product of immigrant parents with an immigrant spouse. I know that my birth in this country does not entitle me to anything here. I am a settler on First Nations land. Reconciliation is not something we can stick on our chests but something we need to open our hearts to. It involves acknowledging wrongdoing for the past but an optimistic hope for the future.
I love my job! I get to help people for a living through some of their most difficult and life-altering times. I am grateful for my work and for my every client.
Awards & Recognition
Canadian Bar Association Founders' Award 2020
Best Canadian Law Blog and Commentary 2019
Best New Canadian Law Blog 2015
Best Lawyers Listed 2019-2021
2023 Clawbies Canadian Law Blog Awards Hall of Fame Inductee
Best Canadian Law Blog and Commentary 2021
Canadian Bar Association Founders' Award 2020
Best Canadian Law Blog and Commentary 2019
