Thomas Richards
1 lawyer · City of Toronto, York Region
One of 2,345 law firms listed in Toronto, and one of 425 handling Immigration Law.
About Thomas Richards
Thomas Richards is a solo immigration law practice run by Thomas G. Richards, a Barrister and Solicitor called to the Law Society of Ontario in 1988. Richards was born in Toronto and has also lived in Germany, Italy and China. From 1999 to 2002, Richards practiced Canadian immigration law while based in Guangzhou, in mainland China. After returning to Canada in 2002, the practice covered both criminal defence and cases under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), and it has since narrowed to focus solely on IRPA matters.
The firm now concentrates on opposing IRPA removals and inadmissibility findings, representing clients at hearings before Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) and the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), and in appeals to the Federal Court. Richards also appeals IRCC refusals of temporary resident, sponsorship, extension and other application types. The practice keeps two Toronto-area offices, a downtown location at Brookfield Place and a second office in Markham with a phone line answered in Cantonese and Mandarin. A consultation costs $400, waived if the firm is formally retained.
Practice areas
Good to know
Wheelchair accessible
By appointmentWho handles what
Offices 2
The neighbourhood
The downtown office sits on the 27th floor of Brookfield Place at 161 Bay Street, a highrise complex on Bay Street in Toronto's financial core. It's a Bay Street address for a practice that spends most of its time in front of federal tribunals and the Federal Court rather than in a storefront setting clients might expect from a neighbourhood law office.
The second office, on the sixth floor at 15 Allstate Parkway in Markham, keeps its own phone line answered in Cantonese and Mandarin, and the firm's site is published in Simplified and Traditional Chinese as well as English. That reflects a client base the practice built in part during Richards' 1999 to 2002 stretch practicing Canadian immigration law while living in Guangzhou.
Frequently asked questions
- I received a removal order. Can Thomas Richards help me fight it?
- Yes. The practice focuses on opposing removals and inadmissibility findings under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), including detention review hearings, deportations and permanent resident revocations, with appeals taken to the Immigration Appeal Division and the Federal Court.
- IRCC refused my application. Does the firm handle appeals of that?
- Yes, Thomas Richards appeals IRCC refusals of temporary resident, immigration, sponsorship, extension and other IRPA application denials.
- Do you offer service in Cantonese or Mandarin?
- The Markham office has a phone line answered in Cantonese and Mandarin, and the firm's website is also published in Simplified and Traditional Chinese.
- How much does a consultation cost?
- A consultation is $400. The fee is waived if you formally retain the firm afterward.
- Where are your offices?
- Thomas Richards keeps a downtown Toronto office at Brookfield Place, 161 Bay Street, and a second office in Markham at 15 Allstate Parkway.
- Does the firm still handle criminal cases?
- No, not anymore. Richards practiced criminal defence after returning to Canada in 2002, but the practice is now limited to IRPA removal, inadmissibility and appeal matters.
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