Hello Everyone,

I would appreciate a few replies to my queries below.

1. If some one is a Lawyer in India, under which Immigration Category can the person immigrate to Canada?

2. If the person immigrates in Canada experience Class, one needs either 1 yr of study and 2 yr of work experience or 2 yr of study and 1 yr of work experience in Canada. If a person comes for a 1 yr LLM study program, one gets a 1 yr post graduate work permit which cannot be extended? So what are the options? Do another certificate?

3. Also, the above process is for immigration. The NCA process is different. Any idea how many NCA exams an Indian Lawyer has to give and how long it takes? How difficult are they?

So, basically how long will a person take to become a permanent resident and qualified to work in Canada?

After that, what kind of jobs can a person get?

Look forward to replies. Thanks.

There's no immigration route for lawyers anywhere unless you've done your bachelors in the country you're wishing to relocate to and even then you must have someone to sponsor you as in give you work there after you graduate.

In case you have contacts there who are ready to take you in after you graduate then its worth considering the move. Other than that the legal job scene is down at the moment, its hard for locals to get jobs let alone foreigners unless you have a PHD or something.

In any case if you need more info, I could link you to a senior of mine who's an immigration lawyer in India.

Thanks. I would highly appreciate if you could connect me to your senior!

Hi gks,
I intentionally waited to your post to see first the responses of other posters.

I hope I can help you with accurate response to your questions, if I can know whether you are a fresh law graduate or with some work exp.

-LegalIndia

Fresh Law Graduate, 5 yr Integrated LLB, leading university of India. Look forward to your reply. Thanks.

the NCA will require to take anywhere from 7-12 courses, it really depends, if its 10 courses you can finish that in 1 year. But it really depends on each applicant.

Also, you'd have to article (work for a lawyer) for 10 months after you complete your NCA courses, to be called to the Bar in Ontario.

Honestly, the job market here is very poor, and most of the firms that pay well, do their recruiting two years in advance. And prefer law graduates from Canada. Go onto a lot of the big firm sites, and look at the list of their articling students, almost all will be from Canadian law schools (i.e. McCarthys, Borden Ladner Gervais, Bennett Jones etc...).

Hi,
I agree with nadalaw that there is no immigration route for lawyers to canada and it will come under general category which may take any time between 3-6 years time. So, the best option to immigrate to canada is as a student.

You cannot immigrate under canadian experience calss as you dont have any prior work exp in canada. If you opt to have your graduation (LLM) from canada which will be of one year duration after completion of your LLM, you can get work permit of one year duration during which time you can work there and get some canadian experience. Thereafter if you can manage to get a job there then you can apply for your PR and work there. Normally one can apply for citizenship only after staying and working there for at least 3 or 4 years.
Please note that studing LLM and NCA both are different faces of the same coin. Becuase even though you did your LLM you can not work there in core legal field unless you have finished your NCA requqirement and enrolled as attorney there. So, during the time you have your LLM you have finish your NCA and need to undergo articling for 10 months and there after you can be called to the bar of any procince of your choice. Graduates from India will normally have to give 5 or 6 exmans (in cases even more) in NCA, however its all depends on your grades in your LLB.

So, for all this, initially one has to suffer and struggle initially for 2 or 3 years. Don't expect the moment you land in Canada somebody will extend redcorpet welcome with good job with hefty salary. If you read the experiences of various people of various nationalities on CIC Canada website, then you can see how they struggled initially to settle in their dream life in Canada. So, one should have that mch commitment before deciding for this step. As a fresh graduate without any family obligations one can dare to achieve this, that's the reason for my question in the earlier post.

As far the Jobs are concerned, yes, I heared from different sources, right now the legal jobs scenario is not that much good. But people are there who achieved this by their sheer commitement for excellence. The crex of the matter will in there where you will do your LLM. U of Toronto, Osgoode, UBC are best known univ in Canada.

This is all entirely my personal views depending on my research done earlier last year.

Hope my views are of some help to you.
-LegalIndia

Hello,

I am a lawyer from India (called to the bar in 2006). I did my masters from singapore. worked in singapore and India for 3 years and then moved to Toronto last June. I had 5 papers to give though most of the Indians have been given anywhere between 4 to 5 papers.

People usually split the exams between 2 sessions. The best route for u would be to apply for ur L.L.M and then get an open work permit and then apply for immigration.

The scene for foreign lawyers is quite bad. There are jobs available in the market (legal assistant,paralegal, compliance, contract management etc). Once you have Canadian experience it would be easier finding a job.

Since u r a fresher, my suggestion wud be to work for a year or 2 get some experience and then apply for ur L.L.M.

Hello,

I am a lawyer from India (called to the bar in 2006). I did my masters from singapore. worked in singapore and India for 3 years and then moved to Toronto last June. I had 5 papers to give though most of the Indians have been given anywhere between 4 to 5 papers.

People usually split the exams between 2 sessions. The best route for u would be to apply for ur L.L.M and then get an open work permit and then apply for immigration.

The scene for foreign lawyers is quite bad. There are jobs available in the market (legal assistant,paralegal, compliance, contract management etc). Once you have Canadian experience it would be easier finding a job.

Since u r a fresher, my suggestion wud be to work for a year or 2 get some experience and then apply for ur L.L.M.

Hi,

The placement scene in Singapore is good after an L.L.M. I moved to Canada because I got married and my husband was based here.

Thank you so much tanushree.tiku for your reply, would help me in making my decision, really appreciate it :)

Hello,

I am a lawyer from India (called to the bar in 2006). I did my masters from singapore. worked in singapore and India for 3 years and then moved to Toronto last June. I had 5 papers to give though most of the Indians have been given anywhere between 4 to 5 papers.

People usually split the exams between 2 sessions. The best route for u would be to apply for ur L.L.M and then get an open work permit and then apply for immigration.

The scene for foreign lawyers is quite bad. There are jobs available in the market (legal assistant,paralegal, compliance, contract management etc). Once you have Canadian experience it would be easier finding a job.

Since u r a fresher, my suggestion wud be to work for a year or 2 get some experience and then apply for ur L.L.M.

Hi.
I'm a 2nd year commerce student and I'm planning to do my llb from mumbai and llm from canada.
Other than the obligatory entrance exams do I have to give any and is it worth studying business law in Canada because I'm pretty much interested in corporate law itself. Also, will I be able to work there in a law firm with these degrees or do I have to pass another exams as I don't want to practice as a lawyer but a solicitor or something.
If not in Canada, where can I study law with all situations viable and not like the recent London rules?
Thanks.

Please help.

@Karishmar,
better do your Business Law LLM after you have NCA equivalence exams passed. The problem would be if you stuck after graduation working in who knows what capacity and trying to pass your NCA exams. This all is applicable to people with status in the country.

If with the question about law firms you had Canada in mind, than probably no. Not before you have your bar membership.

So can I give NCA exams after I've completed my LLB from India? And these exams would grant me the bar membership even if I have to solicit?

I do not think anybody with foreign LLB can do it without taking additional courses in Canadian law. ALso, the Nca exam is equivalence exam , it does not substitute articling. They may theoretically recognize your experience as lawyer admitted to bar in other common law jurisdiction, but this remains at the discretion of the evaluating organization.

Unless you are absolutely determined to move to Canada, or already have a future job offer, it's not a very good plan. As an earlier poster mentioned, Canadian employers recruit locally and two years in advance. Even the Canadian students who have done their law degrees abroad at great law schools (usually in Australia and the UK) are at a huge disadvantage when applying to jobs. Getting through the NCA is just one hurdle, you would still need to find an articling principal who will take you on for a year. And they may not want to take on the additional burden of sponsoring someone's work visa. I know Canadian graduates that have done split articles or articled for free because no one had a spare desk for an articling student.

So what do you think should be done?

KarishmaR-- With an Indian LLB, I don't think a Canadian LLM would help you that much. There are a few programs (UBC, U of A, and U of T) that cater to foreign law graduates preparing for the NCA. They are expensive but their students are exempted from some NCA exams based on credit for their study at the Canadian law school. Otherwise a Canadian LLM won't get you any closer to legal practice in Canada. I know foreign lawyers who did the NCA but they were already permanent residents (married to Canadians). And I know some Canadians who went overseas for law school (99% of the time it's because they couldn't get into a Canadian law school) and came back and had to the NCA. Unless you went to a place like Yale or Oxford, there's a huge stigma attached to going abroad. It's not fair but that's just the truth. A foreign degree is a big barrier to finding a law job in Canada...Anyhow, none of the foreign-educated lawyers I know had immigration issues. Still, they had challenges finding work. I also know foreign lawyers who did an LLM in Canada but wound up doing the JD program afterwards. They would have been better off financially skipping the LLM. Law is not a very portable degree. Accounting or engineering, for example, are a lot easier.

So you think it would be at least a bit easy in other countries? I thought of UK but then the new visa requirements came up. I'm pretty confused now as to where to do my LLM from as I don't want to settle in India. Any ideas?
Thanks for helping me :)