CBA LAW SERIES 2018

Presented by the CBA Immigration Law Section, Family Law Section, and the Children's Law Committee

Resolving Problems at the Crossroads of Immigration, Family, and Child Law

Immigration law and family law each have their own complexities. When they intersect, the work of lawyers and the lives of the clients they represent can become far more complicated.
 
This webinar will examine the impact of certain family law matters -- in particular, the breakdown of families -- on immigration and citizenship. The issues include separation, divorce, child abduction, domestic violence and incarceration. They encompass political instability and financial need.

The preliminary issue is whether a family relationship is bona fide or real, and not a product of misrepresentation. If it is real, the family may then be able to succeed in acquiring immigration or citizenship, despite destabilizing factors. The speakers will describe their ideas as to how lawyers can address these factors when advocating for their clients.

In addition to substantive and procedural issues, our speakers will address practice management and professional ethics issues at the nexus of immigration, family, and child law.

The speakers will present solutions to these and other questions: 

• Does lack of immigration status affect a parent’s ability to acquire access or custody of a child in Canada?
• Are orders by the Canada Border Services Agency that a family be removed from Canada halted by family court or child protection proceedings?
• What are the legal implications of domestic violence for an immigration or citizenship application?
• How does a pending refugee claim or a positive determination on a refugee claim, affect an application for the return of a child pursuant to The Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction?
• Can individual family members proceed with their immigration or citizenship applications when the family unit breaks down and, if so, how?

Presenters