Immigration and Citizenship Our Immigration Department advises and prepares applications for business people, investors, workers, and their families who wish to immigrate or obtain temporary work permits, examines our clients' visa applications for compliance with legal criteria before submission to immigration authorities, prepares, writes and follows up on these applications, and defends our clients' interests until a final decision has been made. We act for both employers and individuals. We also assist Canadian companies with employee or executive transfers, obtaining the necessary authorizations and visas for temporary entry or permanent residence in the United States, Europe, Latin America or other countries within the terms of various international trade agreements such as GATS (WTO) or free trade agreements such as NAFTA. Our department provides the following services for permanent residence or temporary entry: - Analysis of each individual's specific situation before application submission; - Advice on realistic prospects; - Advice on potential risks, depending on the nature of the application; - Recommendation of alternative approaches better suited to the applicant's objectives when appropriate; - Writing, filing and following up on applications until final decisions have been made by the visa office; - Advice on potential appeal before Canadian courts when final decisions are ill founded in law or fact. More specifically, our immigration specialists act as business advisors in immigration or investment matters. Their services to investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed workers include: - Advice on the form of business or corporation best suited to their business needs; - Drafting the legal documents required for incorporation and shareholders' or partners' agreements; - Support for business development; - Advice on relevance and eligibility of business or company projects; - Assessment of funds and business experience based on acceptance criteria set out in the law; - Advice before investment agreement signature; for family members, fiancés and parents: - Advice on the legal responsibilities associated with signed agreements; - Work experience or educational background check to make sure the application will be successfully processed; - Advice on legal criteria for the recognition of spouses and members of the family. For employers: - Analysis of job offers based on legal criteria for jobs in high demand; - Advice on exemptions provided for in the law; - Preparing and writing requests or applications for: Confirmation of job offers Employment authorizations for foreign workers Authorizations required for employee transfers under the international agreements Canada is party to: North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA) World Trade Organization's (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Visitor or student visas for members of the immediate family of transferred employees Extension of permits and authorizations For students or other temporary visitors: Advice on acceptance criteria for work permits; Preparing and writing applications for visitor or student permits; Extension of visitor or student status when visas expire or residence conditions change; For citizens and permanent residents: Advice on applicable rules for granting or revocating Canadian citizen or resident status and for recognition of dual citizenship in Canada; Preparing and writing citizenship applications; On request, appeal negative Citizenship Court decisions or minister's notices of revocation of resident or citizen status before the Federal Court of Canada; Representing our clients in cases of: Revocation of resident or citizen status Application for humanitarian reasons Application for reinstatement For judicial reviews or appeals: Filing appeals or applications for judicial reviews when citizenship applications have been denied by immigration officials in Canada and in other Canadian or Québec offices around the world; Rapidly accessing official files in Canada or abroad to prepare applications for review, appeals or judicial reviews, as the case may be, before the appropriate court: Federal Court of Canada, Immigration and Refugee Board or the Bureau de révision en immigration. Areas of expertise: Areas of Expertise: drafting and negotiating international sale contracts for goods and services; drafting and negotiating distribution contracts or manufacturer's agents contracts; drafting and negotiating joint venture and codevelopment agreements; incorporation of foreign companies (subsidiaries, branch offices, joint ventures, etc.) and acquisition of foreign businesses; international taxation, establishment and organization of offshore companies and foreign trusts; drafting of agreements in connection with technology transfers and intellectual property, trademarks, patents, copyrights, industrial designs and know-how; international transportation and customs transactions; interpretation and application of antidumping laws on countervailing duties and other commercial laws; international financing; resolution of transnational disputes and arbitration; manufacturer responsibility at the international level; product-related regulations; business immigration; establishment of legal domicile; analysis of commercial policies and national regulations; analysis of the legal and political impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement and the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) affecting business and government activities.