By Stephen Fogarty
A new wave of talented young citizens of Ireland aged 18 to 35 will be coming to Canada starting in April and May under the latest incarnation of the Working Holiday Program (WHP) through the International Experience Canada initiative between Canada and Éire, the Republic of Ireland.
The quota of places available to Irish nationals for Canada jumped by 1,000 up to 6,350 for 2013. Even with this increase, demand was extremely high. The WHP opened on-line at 3:30 P.M. Dublin time on January 29th, and less than 36 hours later, the quota was met. On February 1st, Canadian officials announced that they would permit an over-subscription to allow for possible cancellations and refusals among the pool of applicants, but the demand continued to be so high that no new applications were permitted starting February 4th. This situation contrasts sharply with the 2012 program which took until May 28th to fill the then 5,350 places. Read More
Fogarty Law Firm is pleased to announce that the Irish Ambassador, His Excellency Dr Ray Bassett, has appointed Stephen J. Fogarty, member of the Bar of Quebec and of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), to the post of Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy of Ireland in Canada. The appointment took place in Ottawa on 6th March 2013 at the offices of the Embassy.
Irish Ambassador to Canada Dr Ray Bassett signs appointment documents for Stephen Fogarty as Honorary Legal Advisor to the Embassy
Mr Fogarty will be providing advice to the Ambassador on a wide range of legal issues. Read More
On-line applications are expected to open in January for the 2013 International Experience Canada / Working Holiday Program for Irish citizens aged 18 to 35 wishing to visit and work in Canada. The launch date was to have been January 15th. That has now been delayed due to administrative reasons since the entire application process is slated to be handled by officials inside Canada for the first time. As in the past, successful applicants will receive their acceptance by email authorizing them to request their Open Work Permit upon arrival in Canada. Read More
Legislation is expected in autumn 2012 to close a loophole which had allowed persons who apply for citizenship to request that days spent outside of Canada be counted to satisfy residency requirements.
Under the current rules, a permanent resident may apply for citizenship if he or she has, “within the four years immediately preceding the date of his or her application, accumulated at least three years of residence in Canada”. The term “residence” was not defined in the law, with the result that some judges were approving citizenship applications by individuals who might work for long periods outside Canada, for example, but otherwise kept significant ties to the country, such as the presence of a home, spouse and children. Read More
On Friday, 20 April 2012, I attended a luncheon hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in Montreal at which Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister, the Honourable Jason Kenney, announced two major changes coming to Canada’s Citizenship legislation. The luncheon's start was delayed by close to half an hour by so-called "immigrant rights" protesters who tried to prevent it from taking place. Some of them attempted to storm the entrance way and intimidate attendees, but they were held back by security. Others managed to find their way into the dining hall and were said to have overturnrd some tables but they were removed. Read More