2021 Canadian Law Blog Awards Winner

IRCC Has Announced a Plan to Make a Plan

by Ronalee Carey Law

September 2022

On May 11, 2022, the Canadian parliament approved a Private Member’s Bill, M-44, brought by Randeep Sarai, a politician from British Columbia. The motion required the Immigration department to develop a plan to expand the economic immigration streams available to individuals with Canadian work experience. The motion required the government to develop the plan within 120 days.

As soon as the Bill was passed, I started getting emails from clients holding post-graduate work permits. Some have already set up an Express Entry profile, and others are waiting to obtain a full year of work experience to be able to do so. They wanted to know what documents they should have prepared so they could apply for the new program when it was announced.

Read more

Ronalee Carey Law Celebrates a Decade of Helping Clients Achieve Their Dreams in Canada

by Ronalee Carey Law

September 2022

Ten years ago, I ‘hung up a shingle,’ opening my own law firm exclusively focused on immigration and refugee law. It’s not where I expected my life’s journey to take me. I started law school keen on criminal and family law. I summered with a lawyer (now a judge) practicing in both areas of law and later articled for a general practice firm with a focus on family law.

The first bump in the road came only a year after starting work as an associate lawyer. A beautiful baby girl came into my life by way of adoption. Bumps two and three came shortly thereafter, also by way of adoption. With three children under the age of four, going back to work as a full-time lawyer didn’t seem feasible. I made the decision to be a stay-at-home mother.

Read more

New Measures to Tackle Backlogs Will There be Relief To Those Waiting?

by Ronalee Carey Law

August 2022

Last week, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced plans to hire 1,250 new employees to help address the backlogs that continue to plague the department. If you’d like to apply, here is the link. Of course, you must be legally entitled to work in Canada, and the advertisement states, ‘Preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.’

Read more

British Columbia Will No Longer Hold Migrants In Provincial Jails: Will Other Provinces Do The Same?

by Ronalee Carey Law

July 2022

I formerly assisted a refugee claimant who arrived from an African country through a human smuggler. He made his refugee claim at the airport upon arrival in Canada, immediately admitting that the passport he carried was not his and that the photo of the passport holder had been replaced with his own. My client had no identity document in his own name; the smuggler told him only to carry the false documents he had been provided. He was fleeing for his life and had done what he was told.

Read more