Description
Book SynopsisA renowned sociologist gains unprecedented access to Canadian immigration offices and reveals how visa officers determine who gets into Canada and who stays out.
Trade ReviewThis carefully researched and well-written book makes a major contribution to the field of immigration policy and its implementation.
-- D.A. Chekki * CHOICE, February 2016 *
Satzewich’s first-hand account of the inner workings at the Department of Immigration is not merely timely, it is excellent. Satzewich visited 11 Canadian visa offices abroad, interviewed 128 staff and witnessed 42 interviews with immigrants. It was unprecedented access … Points of Entry is crisp and compelling, written with objectivity and an extraordinary eye for detail. To read it is to understand why Syrian boys died on a beach, and why politicians lament that “doing the right thing is not always easy” — and then feel slightly ashamed.
-- Holly Doan * Blacklock's Reporter, September 2015 *
Points of Entry is an ethnographically rich study which brings to life, at times sympathetically, the remote experiences of immigration officers. While offering an entree to the broader implications of how discretionary powers and the organizational culture of visa offices oscillate alongside experiential accounts of racism within Canada’s immigration system, the study also calls for further research into the motivations and intentions of immigration officers.
-- Sonia D'Angelo, York University * International Journal, Vol. 71 No. 4, December 2016 *
Points of Entry is a well-written, accessible volume. It makes transparent the formerly hidden exercise of decision making on the part of Canada’s admissions officers and, in so doing, challenges an often critical literature that has presumed entry bias without the test of evidence.
-- David Ley, University of British Columbia * BC Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1 Stated and Hidden Agendas
2 Delegated Discretion
3 Immigration Policy
4 Visa Offices and Officers
5 Approval and Refusal Rates
6 Spousal and Partner Sponsorships
7 Federal Skilled Workers
8 Visitor Visas
9 The Interview
Conclusion
Appendix
Notes, References, Index
