Refugee Reform now a Reality!

The Honourable Minister Jason Kenney and Mario D. Bellissimo discuss the Implications in this TV Feature

From ListenUp TV: Immigrants. They leave home – and often family – and all that’s familiar to start over in a new land. Canada has been built on them. Still is. Twenty years from now, it’s projected that one quarter of all people in this country will be foreign born. More than three-quarters will have a mother tongue that is neither English nor French. With immigration levels at historic highs, how is Canada treating its newcomers? Watch the full video at our homepage at www.obr-immigration.com or on youtube.

Case of the Month

In Van Nguyen 2010 FC 852 the essential point of the Applicant’s submissions is that the Officer failed to appreciate the serious health risks the Applicant would face in Vietnam, including a very real chance of death; pain, suffering, and a serious threat to the Applicant’s life is the height of unusual, undeserved, and disproportionate hardship. Without the production of the interview notes by Citizenship and Immigration Canada it cannot be said the H&C officer considered all of the relevant evidence. The Court agreed:

[10] However, the Applicant refers to evidence in the CTR that indicates that an interview was scheduled for the Applicant on March 30, 2009 (subsequently postponed to April 10, 2009). In his affidavit, filed with this application for judicial review, the Applicant describes the areas of discussion with the Officer during the one-hour interview. According to the Applicant, many of the matters raised at the interview were relevant to the very question of whether the Applicant could afford to pay for anti-rejection medication if he were deported to Vietnam. The Applicant was not cross-examined on his affidavit. The Applicant’s responses during the interview appear to address many of the concerns raised by the Officer, in his decision, about the insufficiency of evidence on the Applicant’s ability to pay for medication in Vietnam. The problem is that the CTR, which would normally contain the Officer’s interview notes, does not do so. Further, the interview is not referred to in the Officer’s decision. Nor did the respondent obtain an affidavit from the Officer to explain the absence of the notes. In short, I cannot be satisfied that the Officer had regard to the evidence obtained from the interview. On this basis, I will allow the judicial review.

For more on this case, visit our website here.

Should Conrad Black Be Permitted to Return to Canada?

Mario Bellissimo was recently interviewed by CBC News regarding Conrad Black's potential return to Canada. There was discussion regarding the implications of his criminality and potential legal strategy including an application for a resumption of citizenship. Watch the full video here.

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In This Issue:

Frequently Asked Questions

Establishing Paternity

Q: I sponsored my husband as a fiancée back in 2000. We married the following year and he is now a Canadian citizen. Before he left Jamaica, his ex-girlfriend had a child and he added his name on the birth certificate. There was a lot of confusion about the paternity and she did not provide a blood test for DNA testing. As a result the child was not included on his sponsorship papers. We would now like to sponsor her as we believe she is his and she is not living in good conditions.

Click here for Mario D. Bellissimo's answer.

Mario D. Bellissimo recently elected National Secretary of the Canadian Bar Association!

Jennifer Lalonde, Associate Director, Sections and Conferences announced that Mario D. Bellissimo of Bellissimo Law Group has been elected National Secretary of the Canadian Bar Association (Immigration Section). Mr. Bellissimo has been an Executive Member of the Canadian Bar Association for a number of years but now steps into a much larger role as National Secretary. “I am very excited and humbled by my colleagues’ show of support in electing me to this important position. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves to continue the critical work we do in collaboration with Citizenship & Immigration Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, the Federal Court, the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Department of Justice” said Mr. Bellissimo. Congratulations from your team!