Newsletter:

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons who are interested in immigrating to Canada may have particular concerns about Canadian immigration. For example, these are questions one might have:  

• I am a transgendered male to female who fears persecution in my own country and am looking to Canada for asylum. Will Canada accept me as a refugee? How would I qualify?
• I am a lesbian in a committed same sex relationship with a Canadian and want to be able to live in Canada with my Canadian partner. Is this possible when I do not otherwise qualify for immigration?
• I am a gay man in a committed same sex relationship. My partner and I have different citizenship (neither being Canadian) and cannot immigrate to each others' country so we are seeking a third country we can both immigrate to. Is it possible to immigrate based on our relationship if one of us does not otherwise qualify for immigration?
• I am living with HIV and want to know whether I might have any problems with immigrating to Canada. Are HIV tests part of the Canadian immigration process? What happens if I test positive?

OUT/LAW Immigration is designed to give a general overview of the ways Canadian immigration law can affect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. For further information, see our Publications and Hot Links sections.

Take our Online Assessment Questionnaire:

Online Assessment Questionnaire For Permanent Residence In Canada
(HTML version for sending only)

Online Assessment Qzuestionnaire For Permanent Residence In Canada
(PDF version for printing, saving and sending)

Out/Law Immigration Publications

• Same-Sex Marriage and Immigration
  
• Canadian Immigration Law and Policies on HIV
• Sponsorship of Same-Sex Partners or “Do you believe in love at first sight?”
• Refugee Claims Based on Sexual Orientation
• Immigration for Same-Sex Couples Where One Partner is Canadian and One Partner is Immigrating
• Immigration for Same Sex Couples Where Neither Partner is Canadian and Both Partners Are Immigrating
  

Related Articles of interest

A Personal Story

Former Smith & Hughes clients, Stan Gabriszeski and Eric Chan, met in San Francisco, California in 1999.  Although Stan served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer for five years, the couple was forced to immigrate to Canada in order to continue to be together because Eric is a native of Hong Kong and U.S. immigration laws don’t recognize same-sex couples.  After they exhausted all options for obtaining status for Eric in the U.S., they used our services to immigrate to Canada.  See them together in their home in Canada describing their saga.  http://www.10couples.org/stories.php?cv=Eric

Another same-sex couple who were former Smith & Hughes clients write on their website, www.ourlovematters.com:

We retained Rob Hughes of Smith-Hughes in Vancouver. . . Rob turned out to be great and we highly recommend him should you feel you want an attorney to guide you.

For our American friends who might need a place to stay briefly while job or house hunting in our country, drop us a line. Please zindicate what province and city you are interested in. This is a totally free service!
click here for more information

We welcome suggestions for links: contact us. The inclusion of links does not mean that we endorse the contents of these websites.