Approaching Members of Parliament

Meurrens LawUncategorized

A frequent question that people ask is what role their Member of Parliament can play in assisting them.

Requests

In my opinion, the biggest role an MP can play is getting a timely status update.  MPs typically can get an update in 48 hours, as opposed to 30 days for an Access to Information Act request or 14 days for a Case Specific Enquiry.

 

The following PDF which was obtained through an Access to Information Act request contains IRCC guidance on handling requests from Members of Parliament.

MP Assistance
MP Limits

Letters

MPs can also write letters on files. As Justice Ahmed noted in Nagarasa v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2018 FC 313, visa officers have to take these letters into consideration when assessing applications.