Much of the media attention towards Bill C-31 – the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act – has been focused on its shortening of the time periods for processing refugee claims and its removal of some appeal rights for refugee claimants that were supposed to be introduced under the Balanced Refugee Reform Act. This past week, members of the immigration bar raised concerns about another questionable change. In short, Bill C-31 will make it so that refugees who became permanent residents of Canada will lose their permanent residence status if their refugee status ceases. Currently, the Immigration and Refugee Board may cease a person’s refugee status. Amongst other reasons, it may do so if the reasons for which the person sought refugee protection have ceased to exist, or if the person reavails himself to the protection of his country of origin. Until now, the cessation of refugee status did not result in the loss of permanent resident status. Accordingly, ceasing a refugee’s refugee status was rarely pursued where the refugee had become a permanent resident. Bill C-31, however, changes this. It provides that when the IRB ceases a refugee’s refugee status, then the former refugee also loses his/her permanent resident status. … Read More
Denied Entry into Canada for DUI
Are you an American citizen who was recently denied entry to Canada while attempting to cross the border? Were you told that you were “inadmissible for criminality” and that you were “not allowed to enter Canada for 2, 3, 4, or even up to ten years?” Many Americans are often stunned to discover that they are inadmissible to Canada for offenses that are just misdemeanors in the United States. Examples that our office has recently dealt with include: Negligent driving in Washington State (easily the most common reason that an individual is denied entry); Fishing off limits in Alaska; Trespassing in Nevada; Reckless driving in Wisconsin; Possession of cocaine in Oregon; and the list goes on and on. You Have Options If you have been denied entry into Canada because of a criminal record, or if you are wary of even attempting to cross because you believe that you will be denied entry, then it is important to know that you always have options. Our offices regularly assists individuals who have been told that they are inadmissible to Canada. Amongst the services that we can help you with include: Determining whether you were actually “convicted”. Many people mistakenly think that … Read More
Pending Criminal Charges and Immigrating
I have previously written that criminal convictions for foreign offenses can result in individuals being inadmissible to Canada. I was recently asked what the implication of charges or pending charges that have not yet been adjudicated.
Income Tax Statements and Inadmissibility
On December 8, 2010, the Federal Court released its decision in Masych v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 1253 (“Masych“) The case involved an individual whose work permit application was denied because she did not produce income tax statements from 2002-2006 after an immigration officer (the “Officer”) requested that she do so. The reason that the Officer wanted copies of her tax statements was not to confirm her employment history for determining whether or not she was qualified for the job that she was applying for, but rather to determine whether or not she was inadmissible for having ever committed tax evasion. The applicant had never been convicted of a criminal offense. No evidence was ever presented that she had been charged with a criminal offense. Finally, it is important to note that the applicant lived in the United Kingdom from 2002-2006, a country with a legal system similar to Canada’s. The applicant did not produce the income tax statements as requested, and her application was rejected on the grounds that the Officer was unable to determine whether or not she was inadmissible to Canada for having committed an offense abroad that would constitute an indictable offense in Canada (tax … Read More
Canada Sharing Biometric Data
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has released Operational Bulletin 226, which discusses the sharing of biometric information further to the Five Country Conference (FCC) High Value Data Sharing Protocol. The FCC (Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand) meets annually at the Deputy Minister level to discuss ways to improve immigration. In 2007, Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia (New Zealand was not yet a member) to committed to work towards the systemic exchange of biometric data for immigration purposes.
Biometric sharing has now commenced.