Our newspaper has always paid a lot of attention to the subject of immigration; we have always published appropriate articles reacting to various changes of the Immigration Law, or notified our readers about new rules and regulations. Even so, we receive daily a lot of calls regarding different aspects of immigration to Canada. That is why we decided to start a column helping our readers to find answers prepared at our request by immigration experts from the Hohots $ Associates Law Office.
The first subject “Immigration from Israel” has not been chosen by chance. Almost every second call to our office concerns this subject and, unfortunately, this very group of people suffers most from fraud and deception at the hands of unqualified “advisors”. We often meet with people who desperately ask us to help them but nothing can be done to prevent deportation.
Canada is the last refuge, last hope and asylum for many people and for many different reasons. On the one hand, exemption from visitor visa requirements for Israeli citizens gives a false impression of an easily obtained goal. On the other hand, the reality turns out to be more difficult and less attractive once you arrive in Canada. Many people have left behind everything they had in Israel and come to Canada hoping for a new, better and stable life.
The first and the most frequent mistake made by 98% of newcomers from Israel is to apply for refugee protection. The so-called “well-wishers” and “advisers” depict the life in Canada as absolutely beautiful and effortless. Your children will be able to study immediately after your arrival, you will be able to work legally or for cash and receive welfare from the state, you will have immediate health insurance. In short, you will have everything to make your life wonderful. They tell you that it will cost you peanuts, they will take you everywhere, they will invent a good story for your refugee claim, and they will arrange everything for you. They just do not answer one small but very important question – what is next?
And the next thing is almost identical for everyone with very few exceptions. After 6-12 months – refugee claim hearing – refusal – appeal – refusal – humanitarian and compassionate application – refusal – Pre-Removal Risk Assessment program – deportation – tears – Israel again, and you have to start all over again in Israel after 2-3 years of stress and hardships, thousands or tens of thousands dollars, ill-spent time and poor health.
This happens because of the lack of information, inability to understand the essence of refugee protection, ignorance of Canadian immigration rules and regulations, and fraudsters who take advantage of people in the most difficult situation. You have to pay for any step, for any action. And if you leave them, new people come to replace you as fraud victims.
Canada treats Israel as a democratic country, which respects and defends the rights of its citizens, and which is able to protect the lives of the citizens.
Refugee protection is meant for people who are at risk of a life threat or personal persecution by virtue of membership in a particular political, social, religious or other group. If there is no personal threat to your life, if you were not subjected to persecution, torture or cruel and/or unusual treatment, you cannot declare that you seek refuge from the nation which leads a constant fight with terrorism. The Canadian immigration authorities will never accept as refugees a family seeking protection from Israel allegedly being persecuted there because the wife is Russian and the husband is Jewish, or vice versa. We will not discuss here various histories and versions because all of them are almost identical with slight variations. During the last nine years, I believe, there have been only two successful refugee claims of people from Israel, one of which being in the battered wives class. 99.9% of applications are refused.
Let us review other possibilities. They may seem not as simple as a refugee claim, but they are real and more reliable. The Canadian economy is booming at present. Many provinces such as Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario require skilled workforce in construction, oil production and other industries. You may review the possibilities of a work permit, skilled workers immigration, business immigration, live-in caregivers’ program, etc. Get advice from an experienced specialist, analyze all possible variants. Don’t burn all the bridges; choose a correct way to achieve your goal, and not a simple road to nowhere.
First of all, you must find an experienced and qualified immigration specialist. The golden rule in choosing your representative is to ask your friends, relatives, former clients of a company or a lawyer. The people who used their services and can vouch for the lawyer’s knowledge by their own experience.
If you have no one to advise, and you cannot choose anyone from the vast number of newspaper ads, be guided by a safe rule which will save you in the future from tragic errors – a lawyer or an immigration consultant must be a member of professional association and be licensed to work. It is easy to check. Lawyers are members of the Law Society, immigration consultants – members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants – CSIC). Professional associations control the level of professional education and knowledge of their members, conduct seminars, check professional ethics, regulate activity of members, review complaints and punish members in case of infringement of professional ethics.
As a rule, the first consultation is free. Do your homework, talk to several counselors, and compare the results. Have you received answers to all your questions? Choose a counselor who answered your questions fully and in detail, and trust your intuition.
