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We can help with your immigration matter from anywhere in the world.
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Suite 6060 - 3080 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3N1, Canada
Jain Immigration Law is online! We can assist you and communicate with you at your convenience via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or by telephone. Contact us to book a consultation.
It is important to understand that most immigration lawyers practice in this area due to a kind of calling. We have seen a humanitarian impulse in the vast majority of immigration lawyers. There is a keen awareness of world issues and the hopes and dreams of immigrants and refugees. Those of us who also practice corporate immigration law also derive satisfaction from assisting employees and their families with a smooth transition as they start a new life in Canada.
After spending many years immersed in immigration law as a practitioner, Mr. Jain began writing publications and speaking at conferences as well as to the international and national media. For instance, Mr. Jain has commented for The Economist, Maclean’s Magazine, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, Hill Times, The Lawyer’s Daily, Canadian Lawyer Magazine, Law Times, The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, India Abroad, The National (CBC), CTV News, CTV Canada AM, OMNI South Asian News, CFTO, Goldhawk Live (Rogers Cable 10), CBC Radio and the Indian Television Network.
Interacting with colleagues across Canada, collaborating on papers and speaking on panels with colleagues and immigration officials allowed Mr. Jain to highlight issues he was seeing in his practice both from a legal, practical and ethical perspective.
This led to appearances before Parliamentary Standing Committees and then a significant volunteer role from 2017-2021 when he took a leadership position with the Canadian Bar Association Immigration Section. He is the Past National Chair having served as Secretary in 2017-2018 and then Treasurer until he was promoted to Vice-Chair in 2018-2019. He served as Chair in 2019-2020 and Past Chair in 2020-2021. Mr. Jain’s volunteer work over these 4 years was a significant commitment. Though there are 41 other Canadian Bar Association Sections, the Immigration Section typically makes up over 50% of all CBA Parliamentary/Senate appearances and meetings and almost 25% of all CBA submissions. The Section volunteers also put on an annual conference hosting hundreds of lawyers, judges and academics. Together with 4 other “Table Officers,” Mr. Jain made several strong connections in Ottawa during government meetings. Mr. Jain remains active with the Section which continues to produce numerous submissions, appearances and meets with senior officials, Members of Parliament and Senators. Simultaneously, Mr. Jain also volunteered for three years as an Agenda Co-Chair, responsible for the agenda and speakers for the national CBA conference. Notably, he volunteered to co-lead CBA advocacy on non-lawyer immigration consultants.
He also led an initiative to compile a list of lawyers, including himself, willing to volunteer pro bono to assist the family members of victims of the airplane shot down by Iran on January 8, 2020, as was reported by The Lawyer’s Daily here: https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/articles/17612/immigration-bar-offers-pro-bono-legal-help-to-families-of-air-passengers-shot-down-in-iran:
“Immigration lawyers generally I would say are attracted to this area of law … out of a humanitarian impulse … to really help people, especially vulnerable people from differing cultural backgrounds,” remarked citizenship and immigration law specialist Ravi Jain… who has organized the initiative in his role as chair of the CBA’s immigration law section.
Jain suggested a pro bono ethos is part of the DNA of many immigration lawyers. “I think it’s in their professional nature to want to help people who are in need,” he said of the bar’s latest volunteer initiative. “We just know how complex the [immigration] system can be, and some people do try to navigate it on their own, or unfortunately they get the wrong kind of advice,” he explained. “And we just felt it can avoid problems down the road if they just get the right kind of advice from the get-go.”
“Essentially what we thought was that it would be potentially helpful for victims’ family members to be able to get strategic legal advice” — including on issues related to entering or leaving Canada or Iran, Jain said.
He noted the Iranian government takes the position that Iranian-Canadians who are dual citizens are Iranian only.
As well, for any funerals held in Canada, family members in Iran will require visitor visas to attend which may raise some legal issues. A lawyer could provide advice, for example, if the would-be visitor is retired, or does not have significant assets in Iran, or otherwise can’t otherwise demonstrate significant ties to Iran. “Visa officers are sometimes concerned that people are going to come [here] and make refugee claims,” Jain advised. “So [we can provide advice on] how do we disabuse them of that; [on] what kind of evidence would be helpful for that.”
Jain pointed out there might be Iranians here on student or work permits who want to go to Iran temporarily to attend a funeral, comfort their relatives, or visit the site of the tragedy. “They may not even realize they need to get a visa to come back.”
Essentially, after spending many years practicing and trying to master all the complexities within immigration law, Mr. Jain wanted to learn more about how immigration law is seen by politicians, civil servants and other stakeholders. Interacting with policy and operational issues has been particularly beneficial for him and his practice. He has been asked to conduct numerous interviews with the Minister of Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety on behalf of bar associations.
This has led to what may be Mr. Jain’s main legacy as an immigration lawyer: his instrumental role in founding the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (www.cila.co). He initiated and held meetings with 6 prominent co-founder immigration lawyers across Canada to form this new national organization for Canadian immigration lawyers and was elected as CILA’s first President in 2021 during the founding process. Mr. Jain and his fellow co-founders wanted to be able to respond rapidly to requests for input by Ministers and senior civil servants on policy and operational matters. There was also a need to provide timely commentary to reporters given immigration law matters are covered daily in the media. CILA is also able to lead coalitions and conduct test litigation to the benefit of all immigrants and refugees.
Furthermore, Mr. Jain has volunteered with a global organization, assisting as an Agenda Committee member for the annual American Immigration Lawyers Association Global Migration Section conference which is attended by immigration lawyers from around the world. This has resulted in key connections to fellow immigration lawyers in the U.S, U.K, India, Australia and many other countries.
He has also reached out to the larger South Asian legal community and was elected to serve as a Board Member of the South Asian Bar Association (SABA) for a two-year term. The chair of the North American entity then asked him to co-chair the Immigration Section for the continent and he has enjoyed co-hosting webinars comparing the Canadian and US immigration systems. More webinars are in the works and are open to all!
We can help with your immigration matter from anywhere in the world.
Please fill out the form below and one of our team members will reach out to book a consultation. We can handle all inquiries online.