Henry J. Chang will be speaking on an audio seminar sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association on February 23, 2010. The title of the seminar is E Visas: Strategies for Treaty Traders/Treaty Investors in a Down Economy.

The panel will discuss various issues related to E-1 treaty trader and E-2 treaty investor visa applications and petitions before the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with a particular focus on how these visa categories are affected by the current global economic climate. This discussion will cover the following topics, among others:

1. Overview of the Treaty Trader/Treaty Investor Categories
2. Substantial Trade for the E-1 Treaty Trader
3. Amount of the Investment for the E-2 Treaty Investor
4. Change of Status with USCIS vs. Processing at the Consular Post
5. Principal Investor/Trader vs. Employees, Who Qualifies as an Essential or Supervisory Employee? Is Availability of U.S. Workers an Issue?
6. Preparing the E Visa Applicant for the Interview
7. E Visa Registration and Processing Changes with the Advent of Form DS-160

This Audio Seminar takes place Tuesday, February 23, at the times noted below:

1. 2:00 pm-3:30 pm Eastern Time
2. 1:00 pm-2:30 pm Central Time
3. 12:00 pm-1:30 pm Mountain Time
4. 11:00 am-12:30 pm Pacific Time

Further details, including information on how to register for the seminar, appear here.

Our friend and colleague Paul Mayer, the current Consular Section Chief at the United States Consulate General in Montreal, has recently posted a blog on his experiences while serving as Acting Consul-General at the United States Embassy in Port-au-Prince Haiti, during the days following the January 2010 earthquake. He mentions the Embassy’s priority to evacuate United States citizens during times of emergency. However, he also talks about the difficulty he faced each day, having to turn away applicants who had no claim to United States citizenship but who had arrived at the consulate with their suitcases packed, hoping that the United States government would feed them, house them, and evacuate them from Haiti. I urge you to read Paul’s blog, which is available here.

An amusing YouTube video is currently going viral on the Internet. The video shows an individual singing the questions that typically appear on USCBP/USCIS/DOS forms and which are intended to determine whether you are legally inadmissible to the United States.

I feel the need to clarify that these questions do not actually appear on the Customs Declaration Form, as is suggested by some individuals. A sample image of the declaration form appears here; the questions are nowhere to be found on this form.

On the other hand, some or all of these inadmissibility questions appear on Form I-94Ws used by aliens entering the United States under the visa waiver program, Forms DS-156 and DS-160 used by DOS in nonimmigrant visa applications, Form DS-230 Part 1 used by DOS in immigrant visa applications, and on the Form I-485 adjustment of status application used by USCIS in permanent residence applications. As a result, these questions may be surprising to United States citizens, who complete the Customs Declaration Form each time they enter the United States but who will probably never see the above USCBP/USCIS/DOS forms.

The YouTube video appears here.

Citing government and law enforcement sources, the Globe and Mail has reported that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) is investigating allegations of fraud at dozens of immigration consulting companies across the country. The probes target unlicensed and unscrupulous immigration consultants who trade in helping foreigners establish themselves in Canada.

Registered members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants are authorized to represent clients in Canadian immigration cases (this authorization does not extend to other types of law, including United States immigration matters). Immigration consultants are clearly not lawyers. However, many lay persons, especially those from other countries, are not aware of this distinction.

The Globe and Mail reported in a recent article that more than 300 people who claimed to live at the same address in Mississauga, Ontario, were being investigated by the RCMP in what police suspect may be a massive case of citizenship fraud. The RCMP investigation of this case is just one of many similar investigations currently under way.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney vowed to crack down on immigration consultants this week. However, New Democratic Party immigration critic Olivia Chow has stated that the minister has been promising reform for more than a year and has yet to deliver.

The Globe and Mail article appears here.

The Globe and Mail reported today that there are more unregistered immigration consultants in Canada than registered members of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC). According to the article, CSIC investigators have tracked nearly 2,000 “ghost” consultants in Canada who are providing unethical advice and in some cases counseling prospective immigrants to commit fraud for fees that range between $1,200 and $30,000 each. CSIC itself has only 1,655 registered members.

We have previously raised the issue of immigration consultants in our article on choosing a legal representative for a Canadian immigration matter. Unlike in the United States, registered Canadian immigration consultants are deemed not to be engaged in the unauthorized practice of law (UPL) if they represent clients in Canadian immigration matters (practicing U.S. immigration law is still considered UPL). However, CSIC has no authority to enforce ethical rules against unregistered consultants and has been only marginally successful in disciplining its own members.

The Globe and Mail article is available here.

As the 2010 Vancouver Olympics will begin on February 12, 2010, it is important to remind travelers of several important issues that may affect their ability to enter Canada.

Visa Requirements

The first thing that foreign visitor should determine is whether he or she will need to obtain a temporary resident visa. The following individuals do not require a temporary resident visa to enter Canada:

1. A citizen of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden or Switzerland (Mexico and the Czech Republic were recently been removed from this list);
2. A British citizen;
3. A British overseas citizen who is re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
4. A citizen of a British dependent territory who derives his or her citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
5. A person holding a British National (Overseas) Passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom to persons born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;
6. A person holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China;
7. A person holding a passport or travel document issued by the Holy See;
8. A national of the United States or a person who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence;
9. A foreign national holding a national Israeli Passport;
10. A citizen of Lithuania or Poland if they hold a machine readable passport issued by one of these countries, which contains a contactless integrated circuit chip; and
11. A holder of a passport that contains a diplomatic acceptance, a consular acceptance or an official acceptance issued by the Chief of Protocol for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on behalf of the Government of Canada and are a properly accredited diplomat, consular officer, representative or official of a country other than Canada, of the United Nations or any of its agencies, or of any international organization of which Canada is a member;

With only limited exceptions, all other foreign travelers must obtain a temporary resident visa from a Canadian consulate prior to seeking admission to Canada.

Identification Documents

Virtually all non-Canadians are required to present a valid passport or equivalent travel document to enter Canada. However, some exceptions to this rule appear in Subsection 52(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. The two most notable exceptions are United States citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States.

United States citizens are not required to present a United States Passport to enter Canada. However, they must present proof of their identity and United States citizenship (e.g. photo identification and a United States Birth Certificate, Certificate of U.S. Citizenship, or Certificate of U.S. Naturalization).

Similarly, lawful permanent residents of the United States are not required to present a valid passport to enter Canada from the United States. However, they must present their Form I-551s (green cards) to be admitted to Canada. In addition, Form I-551s are only acceptable when entering from contiguous territory and are not valid for international flights from outside Canada, unless accompanied by a valid passport or travel document.

Notwithstanding the above, as a result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (“WHTI”), United States citizens are now required to present one of the following documents to United States Customs & Border Protection in order to re-enter the United States:

1. United States Passport;
2. A passport card;
3. A valid trusted traveler program card (FAST, NEXUS, or SENTRI);
4. An enhanced driver’s license;
5. A Military ID with official travel orders; or
6. A U.S. Merchant Mariner Document.

U.S. permanent residents are also required to present valid passports to be readmitted to the United States. Therefore, regardless of Canadian laws, United States citizens and U.S. permanent residents should be in possession of a valid passport or other WHTI-compliant document to ensure their readmission to the United States at the end of their trip.

Children Traveling without both Custodial Parents

In order to discourage international child abduction, parents who share custody of their children (and who are not traveling with the other custodial parent) are required to present:

1. Copies of their legal custody documents; and
2. A letter from the other custodial parent, authorizing them to take the child on a trip to Canada. The other parent’s full name, address and telephone number should be Included in the letter of authorization.

Adults who are not parents or guardians should have written permission from the parents or guardians to supervise the children. The permission letter should include addresses and telephone numbers where the parents or guardians can be reached.

Inadmissibility to Canada

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act contains several grounds that may render a person inadmissible to Canada. A full discussion of these grounds of inadmissibility appears here but the most frequently encountered grounds involve criminal offenses and medical problems.

An individual who has committed (even if not convicted) or been convicted of a criminal offense should obtain a legal opinion from a qualified Canadian immigration lawyer prior to applying for admission to Canada. Even a single drunk-driving offense is considered a ground of inadmissibility to Canada (a full discussion of drunk-driving convictions and inadmissibility appears here).

An individual may be inadmissible for health grounds if his or her health condition:

1. Is likely to be a danger to public health;
2. Is likely to be a danger to public safety; or
3. Might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services.

As a result, any foreign national who suffers from a serious medical condition should obtain a legal opinion from a qualified Canadian immigration lawyer prior to applying for admission to Canada.

Conclusion

Foreign nationals planning on attending the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics should take early action to ensure that their travel plans are not adversely affected by any of the above issues.