Travel Struggles: Visa and Immigration Law in 2019
Thirty to forty years ago, studying abroad or pursuing professional development in a new, or foreign country, may not have seemed like such a conundrum. In fact, in the 1970s and 80s, Canada and the United States had fairly open Immigration policies, which continued throughout the 90s. It was a matter of pick which school you wanted to attend, endure minimal procedures, and get on your flight. In fact, some people who arrived in New York in the 70s even remarked that information on how to secure a green card was so readily available, that customs officers would jokingly offer this information to people entering at the border.
In the digital age, one can pick, choose and learn about an almost infinite number of foreign universities, while enrolling in courses from the comfort of their own home. However, if they want to get on the plane to attend in person, the process can get quite complicated. This applies to those intending to move abroad for work as well, as work permit and work based categories are even more cumbersome to navigate.
In the past 2 years, particularly, visa and immigration laws are becoming increasingly complicated. Brexit, the election of Trump, and the revitalization of nationalism globally, has made this area of the law particularly tricky for students, visitors and job seekers, and therefore, immigration procedures can become quite tricky for students in particular. For example, in Canada, stricter implementation of student visa regulations and a shortage of staff, caused backlogs in applications for many students this year. This meant that some applications were taking over three months to process. Having access to competent representation in such circumstances is extremely valuable to clients, in light of these kinds of occurrences. Immigration documentation is no longer a straightforward task.
Family sponsorship applications in the US and Canada can also take a number of years to process under the current system, and the current crackdown on H-1B workers in the United States is well documented. As a result, legal representation is becoming more and more important for even routine visa applications, and even tourists.
Oftentimes, even tourist visa applications can get rejected, for things like a failure to adequately list the complete travel history of an individual (which could be hard for those who travel a lot). This requires a clearly outlined letter, with evidence based assertions of travel history, and complete explanations, addressing not only the immigration officers concerns, but the points in the law which the officer is allegedly “enforcing.” Many times individuals can get discouraged, without being aware that a second application, or “appeal” can yield better results with stronger documentation and a convincing cover statement.
In addition, there is the huge elephant in the room of “discrimination” in the Immigration process itself. In the United States, there is a legal debate over the extent to which the constitution applies at consulates and embassies abroad, as well as at the border. The infamous “Muslim ban” is a key example of the steps the government has taken to stretch constitutional limits. In Canada, it is also unclear how effectively the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would be enforced, without an absolutely clear example of discrimination.
Toronto from afar
To make matters more interesting, the right wing nationalist rhetoric does not seem to abate. The world is becoming smaller due to the spread of digital information, and rather than making people feel more at home, it is making many insecure. This has repercussions on Immigration law quite often. Oftentimes politicians respond to this populist rhetoric by increasing the strictness of the Immigration policy in place at the time. In countries like the US and Canada, the government has significant statutory power to control and dictate the general direction of Immigration policy. This has led to an almost closed Immigration system in the United States (though the number of Immigrants still increases significantly year on year!), and arguably, a backlogged system in Canada.
However, in order for globalization and global commerce to truly function, and work with the digitization of the world economy, people still need to travel! Therefore, there are a number of legal ways individuals can get to their aims, whether it is study, work or tourism. Business must go on, and therefore, corporations and individuals have found ways to navigate and influence the system so that international business does not grind to a halt.
For example, many would-be migrants choose professional development as a route to migration. Studying in Canada can open the door for future work and residency opportunities. In the US, unless an individual studies until the PHD level, this is not as straightforward. Many individuals also choose to open businesses and then self-sponsor themselves in various countries, or invest abroad.
The nationalistic tone in Immigration policy is not limited to the United States and Canada however. The United Kingdom, most European countries, and even countries in the Middle East are getting tougher in their laws. Visa processing, background checking and business inspections are a routine part of doing business in the Middle East these days.
Cost of living and Economic competition are at the forefront of the concerns motivating some of these patterns, and with a string of elections coming up in the coming years, in both Canada and the United States, as well as the implementation of Brexit, it will be interesting to see how this area of law continues to develop.
(For a consultation on your immigration matter, get in touch today!)