Q: I have a worker who is having immigration problems. Can you give me some advice?
A: Immigration is a specialized area of law, and you or your worker need someone skilled and knowledgeable to give you proper assistance.
Doing immigration work is like removing your appendix. Don’t do it yourself or enlist the assistance of an amateur.
Immigration was important in settling the West and remains important today.
Between July and October of 2010, Canada’s population grew by more than 129,000 people, and more than two-thirds of those were immigrants.
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In particular, skilled workers are in demand.
In 2010, there were about 265,000 visas issued by the federal government. Nurses, health technologists, social workers and food service industry workers are among the skills being sought.
Some problems encountered by new Canadians result from getting bad or unscrupulous advice. Canada has introduced new legislation to protect immigrants against fake immigration or ghost consultants.
The new law tries to make sure that only authorized lawyers and consultants can offer advice and assistance with immigration applications and other matters. Any ghost consultant can be charged with criminal charges if giving advice.
Canadian immigration minister Jason Kenney said “…crooked consultants have displayed a wanton disregard for our immigration rules and duped too many people out of their hard earned dollars.
“When crooked consultants encourage prospective immigrants to cheat the system, it slows down the immigration system for those following the rules.”
The Canadian government offers guidance on immigration at www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/representative/index.asp.
To get meaningful assistance, your worker needs a representative who is authorized to legally practise in this area, and who is skilled and experienced.
Rick Danyliuk is a lawyer with McDougall Gauley LLP in Saskatoon.
