Our Recent Immigration Success Stories

BLG Makes History: Success with First “Start-Up Business Class” Federal Court Judicial Review

Bellissimo Law Group is proud to announce a recent successful outcome in Federal Court challenging a Start-Up Business Class (SUBC) permanent residence visa refusal. This is the first time an SUBC application has been the subject of a Federal Court Judicial Review. The case involved an inventor who had established a solar energy company in Canada and had the support of a Canadian business incubator, making him eligible to apply for permanent residence under the SUBC program. His application was refused because a Visa Officer concluded that he had applied to the SUBC program primarily for immigration purposes, and not to operate his business.

BLG argued that the decision was flawed due to procedural breaches. In particular, a poison pen letter had been received but was not disclosed to the applicant while the file was in process, and concerns about his immigration and work history were not put to him either. As the applicant was denied an opportunity to respond to these crucial issues, the decision was found to be unfair and the decision was overturned. As a result, the applicant will get a second chance to pursue his SUBC application! Our congratulations to all those involved.

Certificate of Rehabilitation Granted – Couple Reunites!

After previous refusals on a sponsorship application and an appeal for criminal inadmissibility filed independently, we were recently successful in receiving a Certificate of Rehabilitation for our client, which served to remove his inadmissibility to Canada from a very dated criminal history outside of Canada. The Certificate of Rehabilitation will allow the client’s spouse to proceed with a sponsorship application to reunite permanently in Canada.

Caregiver LMIA application approved in one month!

Our office assisted a client who wished to hire a caregiver for his children under the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) requirements.  Given all the recent changes that occurred to this program, it was essential that all advertising was submitted properly.  We assisted our client to complete recruitment, submit a LMIA application, and make submissions as to why a foreign hire was required.  Our submissions were accepted and his application was approved in one month.

Challenging Study Permit Approved!

We just received an approval of a study permit. This was a challenging application, as the client previously applied on his own twice and both times he was refused.  We undertook an extensive review of our client’s history, conducted in depth meetings and prepared detailed submissions as well as collected extensive evidence and then linked the submissions to the evidence in a concise and thorough manner. It was a lot of hard work but overcoming two previous study permit refusals requires careful preparation.  Our client is thrilled and we are happy to be have been of assistance that made a difference.