Joshua has a diverse background in immigration law, which includes litigating complex immigration matters and the processing of various temporary residence, permanent residence / citizenship applications, and labour market impact assessments (“LMIA”) to Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada / international Canadian visa offices, Canada Border Services Agency, and ESDC / Service Canada.

Joshua is well-known in the industry for accompanying clients to ports-of-entry across Canada to resolve admissibility issues, and to facilitate the processing of complex work permit applications. He also works with individuals and families – with an emphasis on employment, investment, humanitarian / compassionate and family sponsorship-based applications.

Joshua prides himself in his client-responsiveness, and endeavors to bring his positive and upbeat attitude to every file, regardless of the difficult circumstances that the client may find themselves in. Joshua is passionate about immigration law – and is committed to helping clients turn visions into working realities through creative and innovative immigration strategies and a client-focused approach.

Joshua graduated from law school in 2009 with distinction and a gold medal. He was first called to the Bar in North Dakota, and later called to the Bars in Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. Prior to joining Coal Harbour Law as a partner, Joshua practiced immigration law with other leading immigration firms in Canada. Joshua has been listed as a top-10 Vancouver immigration lawyer.

Joshua started law-blogging for The Huffington Post in 2012 – and is regularly consulted by media outlets regarding Canadian immigration law and policy. He previously sat on the Canadian Bar Association’s Executive Committee – Immigration Division, where he participated policy developments that impacted the Canadian legal profession. He has become a regular on the immigration-lecture circuit nation-wide, where he enjoys sharing his working knowledge of complex immigration issues with fellow and prospective immigration professionals and students. Joshua also serves as an adjunct-professor at Queen’s School of Law in Kingston, Ontario, where he teaches Family-Class Immigration.

Outside of work Joshua enjoys trying new restaurants, walking and sailing in the Gulf Islands and Puget Sound.

Joshua also has law offices in Surrey, Victoria and Abbotsford, British Columbia. He can be contacted at jslayen@coalharbourlaw.ca and 604-754-2405.