Ontario's Trusted Refugee Lawyers
We work with Legal Aid and accept clients with Legal Aid certificates.
More than 32 years of experience.
We have helped refugees from more than 50 countries.
Our lawyers speak English, French, Chinese, Spanish, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Russian, Korean, and Japanese.
100%
Covered by
Legal Aid
If you are approved by Legal Aid Ontario, your certificate covers all the work your lawyer or our staff needs to do for your refugee claim.
Legal Aid Ontario covers ALL your legal expenses.
Request A Free Consultation(416) 924-2227
About Us
Experienced Immigration Lawyers
Lewis & Associates LLP was founded in 1991 by Jacqueline Lewis. With over 32 years of immigration experience, this boutique law firm serves clients from all over the world on a wide range of Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law matters. The firm prides itself on the care and attention each client is personally served with.
Ms. Lewis has dedicated her practice to ensuring that her clients receive an unparalleled level of service. Starting out in Family Law, she later switched gears to head up a high volume Refugee Law practice consisting of over 30 lawyers and students; she has a proven history of successful appeal applications before the Federal Court, Permanent Resident Applications based on Humanitarian and Compassionate Grounds (H&C), Pre-Removal Risk Applications (PRRA), and has represented more than 3000 clients appearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board.
Her team of lawyers process more refugee claims and appeals than any other firm in the country. The Immigration Department does every type of immigration application with the attention of over 15 lawyers dedicated to ensuring your success.
We work with Legal Aid and accept clients with Legal Aid certificates. For those who do not qualify for Legal Aid, we can provide interest-free payment plans.
Practice Areas
No matter how difficult your immigration situation is, we can help you immigrate to Canada.
We Can Help You With:
How We Can Help
If you are in Ontario and qualify for Legal Aid, here are some of the services our lawyers can provide, covered entirely by Legal Aid:
Refugee Process With Us
Why Choose Us?
Frequently Asked Questions
Refugee lawyers focus their practise on enforcing the legal rights of refugees and immigrants. They assist with filling out and filing applications, prepare you for hearings and can also represent you at hearings. It is highly advised to obtain a lawyer to assist with your refugee claim as it includes complex paperwork, strict timelines and can be challenging to navigate.
Yes, lawyers can help refugees with their claims, although it is not legally required to obtain a lawyer. It is strongly advised to retain one however, as these matters are often complex and can be difficult to navigate. Refugee lawyers can assist with claims and hearings at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, humanitarian and compassionate applications, pre-removal risk assessment applications (PRRA), judicial review of unsuccessful claims and loss of refugee status.
Asylum lawyers is another term for refugee lawyers, used in the United States. They essentially have the same responsibilities as refugee lawyers in Canada, except deal with U.S. government bodies.
A removal order is a legal decision issued by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) or the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) that mandates the departure of a foreign national from Canada.
A detention review in court involves assessing the grounds for an individual’s detention, whether due to immigration, national security, or criminal matters. An independent decision-maker, often from the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), reviews the detention’s justification and human rights compliance. The detainee or their representative can present evidence against detention reasons.
CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
What Our Clients Are Saying?
I am so grateful for lawyer Lorna and Omar for helping me to win my refugee case. They were always there for me, showing amazing dedication and expertise. They made me feel supported and heard. I can now start a new chapter in my life safely. I am so grateful for them. Thank you so much Omar and Lorna
Tahir Altayib
Working with Talar Chit Jian of the Lewis & Associates has been so helpful and amazing. I will never forget our first meeting. She was so kind to me, and she assured me that she would help me throughout this process of my refugee application. She has played a big role in this positive decision, and I am so grateful. I also thank and appreciate Mr. Paul Humphrey of the Lewis and Associates who helped me in the initial stages of preparation.
Anale Lucy
I had the pleasure of working with Ruslan Bikenov from Lewis & Associates LLP during my refugee claimant hearing. His dedication, expertise, and compassionate approach were instrumental in helping me secure permanent residency. Ruslan Bikenov meticulously prepared my case, provided clear and consistent communication, and offered invaluable support throughout the entire process. I highly recommend him to anyone seeking legal assistance. Thank you for your exceptional service!
Lara studio
I am very glad to have been represented by Attorney Ruslan Bikenov. He was very calm and very thorough in this case with depth of knowledge in case studies that are relevant. His preps to the case were also very eye opening and exhaustive. Very encouraging and always willing to sort things out. Very detailed to the point. I would recommend him anytime to any refugee claimant case. Thanks you Ruslan
Mike Olulo
I am here very appreciate that all the work that Ms. Lewis and the lawyer Ariel Hollander had been done, in order to keep my dad stay in Canada after the cessation of refugee, they had done great jobs, finally my dad got his confirmation of permanent residence again. I would like to recommend you all to choose Lewis’s team to help you for such cases, they are the best team.
Johnny