Canadian immigration law applies to people who want to visit Canada, study in Canada, work in Canada, and live in Canada. People living with HIV may have questions or concerns about Canadian immigration law. Immigration law is complex and is a very specialized area of law.
HALCO provides a variety of free immigration law services for people living with HIV in Ontario (see Getting legal help below).
Watch for our HIV and Immigration law booklets, which are coming soon.
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network produces Canada‘s immigration policy as it affects people living with HIV Question and Answer publication that is available on the Legal Network’s website: www.aidslaw.ca/publications/publicationsdocEN.php?ref=97
Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) has pamphlets and fact sheets about Canada’s immigration and refugee law on the CLEO website or in print: www.cleo.on.ca/english/pub/onpub/subject/refugee.htm
The Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) website also has information about Canadian immigration law: www.legalaid.on.ca/en/getting/type_immigration.asp
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is the Government of Canada department that is responsible for citizenship, immigration and refugee law in Canada. The CIC website includes citizenship, immigration and refugee information: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp
Immigration Law Updates:
Canada delays implementation of Immigration Law Changes
In our Spring 2011 newsletter, we reported that the Canadian government made important changes to some of Canada’s immigration laws in June 2010. The changes concern the process for refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, humanitarian and compassionate grounds applications, and deportations.
The changes were to take effect on December 1, 2011, but the Canadian government recently announced that the new system will come into effect on June 29, 2012. The final details of the changes are still not known. When the final details are announced, we will post more detailed information on our website.
You can visit the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) website for information: http://ccrweb.ca/en/refugee-reform
Sponsorship of Parents and Grandparents suspended
As of November 5, 2011, Immigration Canada will no longer accept applications from people to sponsor their parents and grandparents for permanent residence in Canada. Applications that have already been filed will still be processed. The suspension will last for up to two years while the government reconsiders the immigration process for parents and grandparents.
New “super visa” for visiting Parents and Grandparents
Immigration Canada has also announced that starting in December 2011, there will be a new type of visitor visa for parents and grandparents who wish to visit their family in Canada. These “super visas” will be valid for 10 years and will allow for multiple trips and stays in Canada of up to 24 months at a time. A requirement for the “super visa” will be that the parent or grandparent will need private health insurance to cover any health care necessary during their time in Canada. For more information about these new announcements, please contact HALCO.
Getting legal help
If you are living with HIV in Ontario and have questions about Canadian immigration law, please contact us for advice.
If you are living in Ontario, you can also contact your local community legal clinic. If your local legal clinic does not assist with immigration law matters, the clinic may give you information and provide referrals to other services.
You can also contact the Ontario Lawyer Referral Service for a referral to a lawyer for up to 30 minutes of free legal advice: www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=654