Already Inadmissible to Canada? H&C Might Still Be a Real Path Forward One of the most common things I hear from people is some version of: “I know I’m inadmissible, so there’s nothing I can do.” That’s rarely true. It’s harder, slower, and requires a much stronger case but a Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application […]
A Family Member Was Detained by CBSA – What Happens in the First 48 Hours, 7 Days, and 30 Days Of every call I get, the ones about detention are the hardest, because they usually come from someone in a state of pure panic, a spouse, a sibling, a parent who just found out their […]
“De Facto Family Class”: The Family Category That Isn’t Officially a Category If you searched IRCC’s website for a sponsorship stream called “De Facto Family Class,” you wouldn’t find an application form for it. There isn’t one. And yet, I’ve used this exact concept to help families stay together when nothing else in the regulations […]
The “Lonely Canadian” Program: The Sponsorship Rule Almost Nobody Knows Exists If you’ve spent any time researching how to bring family to Canada, you’ve read about spousal sponsorship, parent and grandparent sponsorship, and dependent children. What you probably haven’t read about is the rule that exists for the person who has none of those relatives […]
Sponsoring a Relative With a Past Refusal? Here’s What Most People Get Wrong Every week, someone comes to us with a version of the same story: ‘My spouse/parent/sibling was refused a visa before for Canada or for another country entirely. Does that ruin our sponsorship application now?’ The honest answer is: it depends entirely on […]
You Received a Procedural Fairness Letter From IRCC, Now What? Of all the letters an applicant can receive from IRCC, the Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL) is the one most likely to cause panic and, in my experience, the one most likely to be responded to badly. Here’s the thing most applicants don’t realize: a PFL […]
When Love Isn’t Enough on Paper: Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications for Spouses and Partners There’s a particular kind of heartbreak I see in couples who come to me after being told, in one way or another, that their marriage doesn’t count not in their hearts, but on government form. They did everything right or they […]
Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications: The Path Forward When There Doesn’t Seem to Be One There’s a moment I see over and over again in this work. Someone sits down across from me, and before they even explain their situation, they say some version of the same thing: ‘I don’t think there’s anything that can be […]
When a Child’s Whole World Is Canada: Understanding Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications for Minor Children I have sat across from a lot of parents. Some of them cry before they even finish their first sentence. Others hold it together right up until they mention their child’s name and then something in their voice breaks. That’s […]
