When someone sponsors their spouse or common-law partner to immigrate to Canada, it can often be difficult to determine how detailed one’s application should be. Should one include every aspect of their relationship history, including marital difficulties? What about instances of fidelity? Several Federal Court of Canada decisions involving cases of alleged misrepresentation against applicants offer guidance on this topic. In Chen v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2010 FC 584),(“Chen“), Mr. Chen, a Chinese citizen, married Ms. Zou, a Canadian permanent resident. Ms. Zou then sponsored Mr. Chen for permanent residence. While Mr. Chen’s application was in processing, a friend told him that his wife had been seen “in the company” of another man in Toronto. When Mr. Chen arrived in Canada, he discovered that his wife pregnant with another man’s child. According to Justice Harrington, Mr. Chen was willing to forgive his wife, and asked her to get an abortion. She refused. On many occasions she made sexual overtures to him but he was both unwilling and unable to perform. Ms. Chen “taunted Ms. Zou’s lack of manhood.” As one would expect, the marriage shortly dissolved thereafter. After the divorce, Mr. Chen married an old flame in … Read More
The Federal Skilled Trades Class
On January 2, 2013, the Federal Skilled Trades Class (“FSTC“) began accepting applications. This is a new program from Citizenship and Immigration Canada. From January 2, 2013, to January 1, 2014, the FSTC will be limited to 3,000 applications. As described in more detail below, the program will also contain numerous occupation specific sub-caps. To be eligible for the FSTC, applicants must: Have twenty-four months of work experience (after being qualified/certified in the country where the work was performed, where applicable) in an eligible skilled trade during the five year period preceding the application; Have an offer of employment for continous full-time work for a total period of at least one year from up to two employers in that skilled trade occupation, or possess a Certificate of Qualification from a provincial or territorial Apprenticeship Authority; Satisfy employment requirements as described by the occupation’s National Occupational Classification, except for certification and licensing requirements Meet or exceed the minimum language threshold; and Intend to reside in a province other than Quebec. Eligible Occupations Forty-three occupations are eligible under the FSTP. Within the total FSTP cap of 3,000 applications, seventeen of the forty-thirty occupations are further capped at 100 applications per occupation. These occupations are: … Read More
Refugees, Article 1F, and Rehabilitation
Article 1F of the 1951 Refugee Convention excludes individuals who have committed serious crimes from being eligible for refugee status under the Convention. It states: Article 1F of the 1951 Refugee Convention states: F. The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: ( a ) He has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; ( b ) He has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; ( c ) He has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Section 98 of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the “Act“) provides that a person encompassed by the 1951 Refugee Convention is not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection pursuant to the Act. In Hernandez Fables v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2011 FC 1103, the Federal Court certified the following question: When applying article 1F (b) of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of … Read More
Study Permit Restrictions to Take Affect January 1, 2014
The Government of Canada has introduced amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations which will restrict which schools are eligible to have international students study at them. Effective January 1, 2014, the issuance of study permits will be limited to international students attending designated learning institutions. Currently, most provinces and territories have a mix of public educational institutions, private degree-granting institutions, and private non-degree-granting career colleges. The latter are subject to varying degrees of regulations, and private language schools are generally not regulated at all. Previously, any of these institutions could host international students on study permits. Under the new regulations, however, only students attending designated institutions can receive study permits. Designated institutions include: a learning institution that is administered by a federal department or agency; if a province has entered into an agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in respect of learning institutions that host international students, a learning institution in Canada that is designated by that province under the agreement; and if a province has not entered into an agreement with Citizenship and Immigration Canada in respect of learning institutions that host international students, then any of the following: a public post-secondary learning institution in Canada that is recognized … Read More
Enforcement Flag Removal Policy Change
Many people entering Canada find themselves at customs being constantly referred to secondary examination. There, they are often told by the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA“) that their referral to secondary examination was the mandatory result of an enforcement flag being on their file. Referral to secondary examination is time consuming. Unnecessary referrals are a burden on both travellers and CBSA. Because of this, CBSA was traditionally quite facilitative when it came to individuals requesting that an enforcement flag on their file be removed. As a supervisor from the CBSA explained to me in an e-mail, enforcement flag removal works as follows: The flag removal process doesn’t delete information, it merely closes the connection between the immigration database and the integrated system on the primary inspection line on that specific client. The process is not visible to the naked eye – I use this analogy: You get a lamp for a wedding present from “her” mom. You hate it. It’s a motion sensor lamp and it is hardwired into the wall. You can’t get rid of it, you can’t unplug it, you can’t take the light bulb out but you want the thing to stop lighting up every time you … Read More
Federal Skilled Trades Class to be Capped at 3,000 Applicants
As previously discussed here, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) will be introducing a new Federal Skilled Trades Class (“FSTC”), which will facilitate the immigration of certain skilled tradespersons in Canada. The Government of Canada originally “announced” the creation of the FSTC in August through the publication of regulatory changes, however, CIC today released new information which will be relevant to prospective applicants. The FSTC will be open to individuals with experience in the following National Occupation Classification (“NOC“) B occupational areas: Industrial, Electrical and Construction Trades; Maintenance and Equipment Operation Trades; Supervisors and Technical Occupations in Natural Resources, Agriculture and Related Production; Processing, Manufacturing and Utilities Supervisors and Central Control Operators; Chefs and Cooks; and Bakers and Butchers. Applicants to the FSTC will be required to meet the following four minimum requirements: Be working in Canada, or possess a LMO-supported offer of employment from up to two employers in Canada of at least one year duration, or possess a Certificate of Qualification from a provincial or territorial Apprenticeship Authority; Meet the same minimum language threshold as required by the concurrently to be introduced new Federal Skilled Worker Class, namely a 7.0 on every language ability; Have twenty-four months of work experience … Read More
Biometric Regulations
It is commonly accepted that identification documents which rely on a person’s name, date of birth, and even photograph, are increasingly inadequate to detect fraud or to accurately confirm a person’s identity. As such, the Government of Canada today announced regulatory changes which specify that certain foreign nationals will have to provide biometric information when applying to enter Canada and when actually entering Canada. As indicated in the table below, starting in 2013, temporary resident visa applicants, study permit applicants, and work permit applicants from prescribed countries will have to have their biometric information collected overseas before they arrive in Canada. This information will then be checked by the Canada Border Services Agency when the applicants arrive at a Canadian port of entry. As well, the RCMP may analyze whether the person has previously made a refugee claim or been deported from Canada. The biometric information which will have to be provided include fingerprints and a facial image. Applicants will have to provide this information at Visa Application Centers. The prescribed countries, and the dates by which foreign nationals holding travel documents from these countries will have to submit biometric information at Visa Application Centers, are: List of Countries Whose … Read More
First Designation of Irregular Arrivals
On December 5, 2012, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (the “Minister“) made his first designation of irregular arrival under Bill C-31, the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act. The Washington Post is reporting that the 85 people were designated, including 35 children. Thirty of the irregular arrivals have already been arrested thus far. The refugee claimants appear to be Romanian, and arrived in Canada between February and October.
BC PNP Suspends Fast-Track Option
Demonstrating once again why it is important for representatives to contain “change of law” clauses in their retainer agreements, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (“BC PNP“) has effective immediately suspended the Fast Track nomination option in the business immigration stream. The suspension will affect applications in processing. Applicants with applications in processing who as of November 15, 2012, had not signed performance agreements with the Province of British Columbia (the “Province“) will not be eligible for the Fast Track option. Such applicants can either (1) continue under the regular nomination process, or (2) withdraw their application and receive a refund of their application fee. Through the Fast Track option, BC PNP business applicants who obtained PNP supported work permits and who had arrived in British Columbia to set up their respective businesses could request immediate nomination for permanent residence if they posted a $125,000 performance bond with the Province. The bond was returned without interest to Fast Track nominees when they fulfilled their respective PNP performance agreements, but was forfeited by nominees if they failed to meet their performance obligations. According to the Province, since 2007, only 26 Fast Track nominees successfully completed their performance agreements, compared with 261 business applicants nominated through … Read More
Conditional Permanent Residency for Some Spousal Sponsorships
On October 26, 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) implemented conditional permanent residency for certain people who immigrate to Canada under the spousal-sponsorship program. The implementation of conditional permanent residency took affect on October 25, 2012, the day prior to CIC publicizing it. The change was not retroactive, and will not affect sponsorship applications which were received by CIC prior to October 25, 2012. CIC has stated that the goal of introducing conditional permanent residency is to reduce instances of marriages of convenience. What Conditional Permanent Residency Is, and Who it Applies to Conditional permanent residency applies to individuals who are the spouse, common-law, or conjugal partner of their sponsor for two years or less when they submit their sponsorship applications and who do not have children in common with their sponsor when they submit the sponsorship applications (“Conditional Permanent Residents“). Conditional Permanent Residents are required to cohabit in a conjugal relationship with their sponsors for a continuous period of two years after the day on which they become permanent residents (the “Condition“). If CIC determines that Conditional Permanent Residents have breached the Condition, CIC will declare them inadmissible to Canada, and removal proceedings will be initiated. Conditional Permanent Residents are able to appeal such decisions to the Immigration … Read More