Chantal and Cathryn welcome Lisa Middlemiss, an immigration lawyer at Gomberg and Dalfen in Montreal to discuss the opportunities and obstacles of Canada’s new virtual citizenship process.    With processing times longer than pre-pandemic and the sense of ceremony diminished for applicants, Chantal, Cathryn, and Lisa discuss the transition of interviews, tests, oath ceremonies, and some application processes to online platforms. Do e-citizenship processes just need a few improvements, or should we return to in-person citizenship events after the pandemic?   We then dive into a discussion of IRCC’s new permanent residency/citizenship application portal. Lisa and our hosts examine the benefits and drawbacks of the portal’s self-representation model for both legal representatives and applicants. They offer helpful hints for walking clients through the digital process and advice on documents to upload in the portal. Will the IRCC enable the role of legal counsel in the future?   In this episode’s segment of “Things I Wish I Knew,” Chantal and Cathryn breakdown bulletproofing. They discuss the importance of challenging clients on their statements and evidence before they face opposition.  Other topics include: 

• Access to information requests. 
• Misrepresentation vs. Innocent Mistakes 
• Residency fraud in citizenship applications. 
• Managing client expectations. 

Guest Star: Lisa Middlemiss, an immigration lawyer at Gomberg and Dalfen in Montreal who specializes in matters relating to residency and a member of the Executive of the Citizenship and Immigration Section of the Canadian Bar Association.

Explicit content rating due to coarse language.