ABOUT US
There is no requirement that visa-applicants retain counsel. In fact, for those whose educational and employment histories are clear, counsel would only be needed if
- they have better ways to allocate their time than dealing with imperious immigration functionaries,
- if processing stalls or
- if anything goes wrong.
Unfortunately, however, it is impossible to know whether any of these contingencies will occur and, if they do, remedying them is more difficult than avoiding them in the first place.
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WHY
The reasons, therefore, for retaining competent counsel are:
- to receive proper counseling so that only those likely to be approved submit an application and pay non-refundable Immigration fees;
- to convince the visa-officer to approve the application without an interview, thereby expediting visa-issuance by at least one year;
- to package you in order to achieve the best result by highlighting the strengths while endeavouring to overcome any negative factors;
- to prepare a complete submission so that processing starts immediately, rather than having it delayed until the minimum documentation is sent;
- to co-ordinate matters between the visa-post and client;
- to prepare the client for interview;
- to address any problems which arise;
- to move the file forward if it has been stalled
Having legal counsel will not guarantee visa-issuance for an unqualified applicant. However, qualified applicants who fail to “put their best foot forward” may be refused, whereas, had competent counsel submitted the case, the refusal might have been averted. Therefore, how we “package” you may make all the difference in a marginal case or where the employment history or educational background does not clearly correspond to what Immigration requires.
Although hiring competent counsel will not cause an applicant to “jump the queue”, applicants who fail to submit all required documents promptly will cause the process to be prolonged. Thus, owing to our experience, we may be able to cause a visa to be issued earlier simply because we know what to do, how to do it and when to do it.
Furthermore, having handled immigration matters since 1989, Mr. Leahy has learned how to prepare a case so that, should a visa be refused, he will likely be able to have the refusal overturned. Thus, we may be able to avert a refusal or, if we cannot, lay the groundwork during processing so that, should litigation ensue, you will be successful. As the renowned U.S. trial lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, observed: “A trial is not won in the courtroom . . . it is won in the preparation”. We know how to prepare a file properly whatever the contingency.
Finally, in addition to Breat Britain, we also can handle, or refer to our affiliated offices, immigration to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Thus, we can advise you on alternative destinations should your first choice prove not to be a viable option.
In summation, we can assist you in putting together a complete submission, emphasizing your strengths while seeking to overcome any deficiencies, improve the likelihood of smooth processing or, when delays ensue, prompt action and, if problems arise, address them effectively by deploying proven methods or accessing senior or home-office personnel. After all, our continued success depends on our clients’ success. Thus, because assisting you inures to our benefit, too, you can be assured that we will do our best to achieve the optimum result for you.
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ABOUT US
| LEFT: |
Rt. Hon. Paul Martin Jr.,
Prime Minister of Canada
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| RIGHT: |
Timothy E. Leahy |
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Forefront Migration, Ltd. (U.K.)
operates offices in London, Doha, Toronto and Beijing and is affiliated with Forefront Migration Ltd. (Australia) which has offices in Melbourne, Southeast Asia and India and specializes in migration to Australia. The London-based operation is headed by Tim Leahy, who, prior to applying for an HSMP work-permit himself and relocating to Britain, had been practicing Canadian and U.S. immigration since 1989 in Toronto, Ontario.
Mr. Leahy was admitted to practice law Canada and in the United States after having passed the bar examinations in Ontario (1991) and Michigan (1986) and, owing to his high examination score, being admitted without examination to the District of Columbia (1987). A member of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section, Mr. Leahy was elected to the Executive Committee of the Ontario Immigration Law Section and has been a speaker at its conferences as well as those of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. In addition speaking to other immigration lawyers in Canada and the United States, he has held seminars for prospective migrants in China, Dubai, Qatar and India and has been interviewed on Canadian television networks and radio stations and quoted in Canadian and Indian newspapers.
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Mr. Leahy’s experience in the Federal Court of Canada led competitors to ask him to represent their clients and inspired one to promote him across India as “Chief Litigator”, a title he never used himself. In 2002, the Federal Court of Canada appointed him lead counsel in the first successful collective action in immigration, involving lawyers from three provinces and resulting in Immigration Canada having to assess these lawyers’ clients before its self-imposed deadline for applying new, more restrictive selection-criteria on immigrant-visa applicants whose application pre-dated the new regulations. As a result of this victory, 7,000 more Federal Court applicants petitioned the Federal Court, causing in the Minister to agree to eliminate retrospective application of the new selection-criteria on over 100,000 pre-2002 applicants, thereby keeping to door open to Canada for approximately 250,000 future immigrants.
Mr. Leahy entered the private practice of immigration law after resigning his commission as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer (Political). Prior to becoming a diplomat, Mr. Leahy, who is a Chartered Life Underwriter and Licensed Insurance Counselor, and previously held U.S. securities licences, designed group programs and set up pensions for small businesses while doing estate-planning for the owners.
In addition to his business experience, Mr. Leahy has an extensive academic background. During his junior year as an undergraduate, Mr. Leahy studied in Bogotá, Colombia, where his classes were in Spanish, and in Vienna, Austria, where he also sold student trans-Atlantic charter airplane tickets, amassing the second highest record of sales in Europe. Graduating a semester early and magna cum laude (with high honours), placing him in the top ten percent of his class, Mr. Leahy was named a ‘Michigan Scholar’ and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the United States’ most prestigious academic honourary. He earned a Master's degree at the University of Michigan where he fulfilled all the requirements for a Ph.D. except for the most daunting, the dissertation. In 1983, Mr. Leahy entered Detroit’s Wayne State University Law School and again was graduated a semester early but this time only cum laude (with honours), placing him in the top quarter of his class. He fulfilled the academic requirements for being called to the Ontario Bar by attending class in Toronto while working in the State Department in Washington, D.C.
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