JANUARY 2005

January 21, 2005 – New Passport Office in Brampton, Ontario

The city of Brampton is getting a new passport office.  The new office will open its doors to the public on January 24, 2005.  Passport offices in the Greater Toronto area issued more than 604,000 passports in the fiscal year 2003-2004.  The passport office forecasts another 15 per cent increase for passport services in the Greater Toronto area during the 2004-2005 fiscal year.  

January 14, 2005 – New Citizenship and Immigration Minister

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced on January 14, 2005 that she was stepping down as the Minister.  The Minister for the last few months has been plagued by various questionable ethical decisions.  The Prime Minister announced the appointment of the Honorable Joe Volpe as the new Minister of Citizenship & Immigration.   

January 3, 2005 – Citizenship & Immigration Canada responds to the crisis in South East Asia

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is fast-tracking existing applications of Family Class applicants under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act who have been and continue to be seriously affected by the disaster and who have immediate family members in Canada. 

December 29, 2004 – Safe Third Country Agreement Comes into force today

The safe third country agreement with the United States came into force on December 29, 2004.  Generally, certain asylum seekers in Canada and the United States will be required to make their claim in the country where they were last present.  This means that the asylum seekers arriving in Canada at the land border from the United States will not be eligible to have their refugee claim determined in Canada, unless they fall within an exception as outlined in the amended regulations governing the agreement.  Similarly, the agreement allows the United States to return to Canada asylum seekers attempting to enter the United States from Canada.  The agreement applies only to refugee claims made at a land border port of entry, and not refugee claims made at airports, marine ports or inland offices.    

If you have any questions about Canadian Immigration laws please contact Leonard Pearl at our Canadian office (lpearlvisalaw@sprint.ca or 905-764-8767).