HomeAuthor Victor Ing

Since March 11, 2020 when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, nearly all aspects of immigration processing have been negatively affected. The closure of many immigration visa offices, visa application centres, and biometrics collection points have exposed some of the flaws and limitations of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) current application processing system. Specifically, IRCC continues to rely on paper-based applications, which are not easily processed in the era of COVID-19 when much of its workforce is working from home. As a result, the processing of paper applications like those made under the Family Class to sponsor loved ones for Canadian permanent residency are expected to suffer from lengthy backlogs.

Over the past two months, millions of workers in Canada have lost their jobs or experienced dramatic changes in their working conditions due to widespread business shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. During this crisis, foreign workers who hold employer-specific work permits face additional challenges because they do not have the option to look for new employment if they lose their current jobs or to accept a different position within the same company to stay employed.

One of the biggest challenges in my work as a Canadian immigration lawyer is to simplify the immigration process and make it easy to understand for somebody who has little to no experience with immigration matters. This can be difficult at times because there are many terms and phrases that exist in Canadian immigration law that have no meaning for the average person.

For the past two years I have delivered a presentation in December on the most interesting and influential immigration court decisions released during the calendar year. Preparing for these presentations has given me the opportunity to look at general trends in immigration cases rather than focus on specific issues for my clients as a Vancouver immigration lawyer.

Canadians and permanent residents who want to sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence will have to wait longer this year for instructions on how to participate in the popular program. On December 30, 2019 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that they have postponed the launch of the parents and grandparents (PGP) sponsorship program for 2020 until further notice. New instructions may not be released about the implementation of the 2020 program until as late as April 1, 2020.

In my immigration practice I meet people everyday who are interested in coming to Canada or staying to study, visit or work, or to obtain permanent resident status. Some of my clients come very prepared and have done a lot of independent research, while others are just beginning to learn about the available options to meet their immigration goals.

We are more and more frequently being consulted by individuals seeking advice as to how to remedy their situations in Canada where they have received improper or even illegal advice from immigration professionals. Frequently, the circumstances facing the individuals coming to see us are due to unreasonable expectations about how to remain in Canada or obtain status that is not generally permitted.