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Michelle Yau
Michelle Yau
Immigration Lawyer | British Columbia
604-974-9529
[email protected]
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Michelle Yau is an immigration lawyer with almost 15 years of experience specializing in a wide range of immigration law cases. She has:

  • More than 90% approval rate across the board of all her cases.
  • In some cases such as family sponsorships, she has had a near 100% success rate over the last 10 years.

She began her legal career when she was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2009 after graduating from the University of Toronto law school, ranked as the #1 Law School in Canada, consistently. She was also called to the Bar of British Columbia shortly after in the same year and has advised and represented hundreds of immigration law clients from all walks of life since.

Michelle has also prided herself in her human rights-centered volunteer work, having sat on the Board of Directors of the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture for 7 years, among other volunteer work with Amnesty International and various other human rights organizations.

See our flat fee immigration law pricing here. 

Immigration Law Clients

Michelle has represented clients from all walks of life, including: 

  • Clients from different countries (China, Mexico, India, Germany, Finland, the U.K., the U.S., Iran, Panama, Belize, Ecuador, etc.) 
  • Clients of different educational/professional backgrounds, including:  
    • students and new international graduates 
    • experienced science/tech professionals 
    • seasoned businesspeople including middle to upper management and entrepreneurs 
    • entertainment celebrities 
    • essential workers such as farm workers and front-line retail workers, etc. 
  • Clients of varied personal backgrounds (children/minors, homemakers, seniors/retirees, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, survivors of domestic abuse, refugees, etc.) 

She has also represented companies and organizations, from small local businesses to international corporate chains. 

*Michelle is an affiliate of YLaw and offers her services as a sole practitioner. 

APPROACH

Michelle’s golden rules when approaching any immigration law case she takes on is: attention to detail and unflinching honesty.  

She is a bit of a perfectionist, and always strives to present every facet and every fact of her clients’ cases in the best light possible for maximum chances of success. This is especially important in the field of immigration law, where the smallest detail can make the biggest difference for a client’s future. She gets great satisfaction from analyzing her cases in-depth, sharing her insight and advice with her clients, then watching their eyes light up as what was once a confusing and daunting process steadily becomes clear and manageable.  

Michelle firmly believes that one of the best feelings in the world is the feeling of new understanding, and she has seen this reaction in everyone from young international graduates to seasoned executives at large corporations. It is one of the things that connects Michelle deeply with her clients, and she works tirelessly to provide that for them and to constantly achieve it for herself.  

Education
  • Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Psychology and Philosophy, University of British Columbia 
  • Juris Doctor, University of Toronto
Languages
  • English 
  • Cantonese 
  • Mandarin (conversational)
Achievements
  • Graduated on Dean’s List and with induction as member of the Golden Key International Honors Society for academic excellence
  • Over 90% approval rate on all immigration law cases across the board over the last 15 years 
  • For some types of cases such as family sponsorships, close to 100% success rate over the past 10 years
  • 98% of cases approved without a need for a government interview  
  • Had sole responsibility for more than 30 full hearing refugee claims in 10 months during her articles as a law student 
  • Managed to achieve an approval rate double the national average approval rate across all refugee claims at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
  • On her first case at the Federal Court of Canada, applied for mandamus for client (an order by the court for the federal government to do something the client wants done) with the case eventually being settled in the client’s favour before a need for a hearing 
  • On her third case at the Federal Court of Canada, successfully got a “Serious Question of General Importance” certified by the Chief Justice of the Federal Court, allowing the case to move up and be heard at the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada

VICTORIES

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case Li v. Virk – 2023

Harry Saini was the successful counsel in the residential tenancy litigation case Li v. Virk at the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Story In December 2018, Ms. Li agreed to pay the Landlord of a Richmond property $2500 for monthly rent There was a problem with one of the rooms, so the Landlord and Ms. Li revised the tenancy…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: L.C vs. E.S – 2017

Child Removal, International Custody, Parenting Time This was a case which made local, national and international headlines. It spans several countries and took more than 5 years to resolve. During those 5 years, the mother did not allow the father or her brother to see her. She kept on feeling around the world to make sure the father does not…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? S.C vs L.H – 2017

Groundbreaking case on Child Abduction, Wrongful Removal of Children and Wrongful Retention of Children. YLaw's latest BC Supreme Court Case has become one of the most important cases in the entire history of British Columbia on Child Abduction and Wrongful Removal. This case was reported on CBC, the Vancouver Sun, multiple child abduction websites, and later Leena was published with her story…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Ting vs. Wong – 2017

In yet another groundbreaking case in 2017, YLaw was able to obtain more than $116,000 in contempt fines in addition to special costs. This marks the highest family law contempt award in the history of British Columbia.  The Story - Contempt of Multiple Court Orders Ms. T's story was heartbreaking but beautiful at the end. She was left alone with her…

A SLEW OF VICTORIES, BUT WHO’S COUNTING? Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020

Leena Yousefi and Abib Ngom were successful counsel in the precedent-setting case of Storey v. Terry.  In this case, the wife applied for an unequal division of family property, an unequal division of family debt. Her Appeal was unsuccessful. As per the Court of Appeal: The appellant appeals a summary trial order providing for the equal division of the parties’…

View All Victories
Case: Storey v. Terry – BC Court of Appeal – 2020
Personal life

Michelle is originally from Hong Kong, and moved to Canada with her parents and younger brother when she was 5 years old.  

During her off time, Michelle loves having good food with friends, hiking, kayaking, movies, exploring the whole city on her e-scooter, and generally taking in the beauty of the world.  Besides food, traveling is her absolute favourite thing. She has an insatiable wanderlust and wants to see as much of the world as possible.

Michelle has always been passionate about justice for those who are vulnerable and despairing. She has volunteered as a board member of the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture, a public outreach organizer and researcher for Amnesty International, and an emergency response volunteer for the Canadian Red Cross, as well as contributed to publications on global human trafficking and privacy rights of individuals. 

Get to Know Michelle

    • Favourite hobby: Currently, riding my e-scooter all around town. Always subject to change though! 
    • Favourite book: Brave New World
    • Biggest Pet-peeve: Annoying repetitive noises
    • Can’t live without: Good food
    • Favourite person: My aunt
    • Biggest role model: Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain
    • Favourite travel destination and why? The Caribbean and Japan. The Caribbean’s waters are some of the most spectacular examples of nature and Japan is one of the most intriguing examples of culture
    • What makes you happy? When the universe reminds me that everything happens for a reason and that there is purpose to our struggle

See our flat fee immigration law pricing here. 

*Michelle is an affiliate of YLaw and offers her services as a sole practitioner. 

To find out about our lawyers’ hourly rates and fee structures, click here.

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