On July 2, 2015, the British Columbia Provincial Nomination Program (“BC PNP“) re-launched with new program requirements and processes. The BC PNP remains divided into the Skills Immigration stream and the Entrepreneur Immigration stream. The most significant changes to the BC PNP include: Introducing an online application process with an electronic payment system; Streamlining the Business Skills and Regional Business programs into one Entrepreneur Immigration stream based on an expression of interest model similar to Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (“CIC”) Express Entry program; Capping the intake in the Skills Immigration program to 200 new applications in 2015 (Express Entry BC, the Health Care Professionals Stream, and the North East Pilot Project are excluded from this cap); and Requiring in the Skilled Immigration Stream that applicants with job offers in National Occupational Classification (“NOC”) B positions pass an English language test. Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC The Skills Immigration is divided into the following substreams: Skilled Worker Health Care Professionals International Graduates International Post-Graduates Entry Level and Semi-Skilled North East Pilot Project As well, the Express Entry BC stream is divided into the following substreams: Skilled Worker Health Care Professional International Graduate International Post-Graduate Most of the requirements to the Skills Immigration … Read More
When Procedural Fairness Requires a Fairness Letter
One of the most complicated topics in immigration law is determining when procedural fairness will require an immigration officer who is assessing an application to seek clarification in the form of a fairness letter or interview. As the Supreme Court of Canada noted in Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) the the concept of procedural fairness is eminently variable and its content is to be decided in the specific context of each case. When a visa officer does not rely on third party extrinsic evidence to make a decision it can often appear unclear when exactly it is necessary for an officer to afford an applicant an interview or a right to respond to the officer’s concerns. However, there will be a right to respond under certain circumstances. Requirement to Provide Complete Applications Visa officers do not have any legal responsibility to advise applicants of incomplete or inadequate applications. In Kaur v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 758, for example, the Federal Court dismissed a judicial review application of a visa officer’s refusal of an applicant under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. A visa officer determined that the application was deficient as it failed to include required information regarding … Read More
Yes, IRCC Can Deny PNP Nominees Permanent Resident Visas
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR“) provide that an immigration officer may issue a negative substituted evaluation and refuse an application where the officer is not satisfied that a provincial nomination certificate is an appropriate indicator of whether an applicant will be able to successfully establish themselves economically in Canada. Subsections 87(3) and (4) of the Regulations state that: Substitution of evaluation (3) If the fact that the foreign national is named in a [provincial nomination certificate] is not a sufficient indicator of whether they may become economically established in Canada and an officer has consulted the government that issued the certificate, the officer may substitute for the criteria set out in subsection (2) their evaluation of the likelihood of the ability of the foreign national to become economically established in Canada. Concurrence (4) An evaluation made under subsection (3) requires the concurrence of a second officer. I have reproduced below an excerpt from the recently decided Federal Court decision Kousar v. Canada, 2014 FC 12, which illustrates this point. Because Kousar was a Federal Court case, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (“IRCC”) refusal reasons become part of the public record. Accordingly, while I was not the lawyer involved with either the initial … Read More
Applying to Immigrate During COVID19
During the last two weeks of March, 2020, the Government of Canada implemented many measures in response to the COVID19 pandemic. In the immigration context, these measures included travel bans, the suspension of biometrics and the transition of most Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) officers to remote work. The changes were frequent, dramatic and difficult to keep up with. They have left a lot of prospective immigrants wondering what exactly is open with regards to Canada’s immigration programs. Please note that this article was written on April 1, 2020. Travel Bans Canada is currently denying boarding to most foreign nationals on flights to Canada. There are, however, numerous exemptions to this. First, individuals who are travelling from the United States who have been in the United States for at least 14 days before they try to travel to Canada by land, sea or air, can travel to Canada if they are asymptomatic. Such individuals must show that they are coming to Canada for essential reasons and not for reasons that are optional or discretionary, such as tourism, recreation or entertainment. Second, all temporary foreign workers, as well as international students who have a valid … Read More
Refugee Claimants from China
China is one of the top source countries for temporary resident visa applications to China. In 2016, the number of people who applied for temporary resident visas was 492,370. Of the people who were granted visas, 822 declared refugee status. The number is unbelievably small, and represents what Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada calls a risk ratio of 0.16%. I have reproduced an internal Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) report titled 2016 Annual Refugee Claim Trend Analysis Summary report below. Notwithstanding this, IRCC is extremely diligent in monitoring which Chinese provinces have the highest amount of refugee claimants. This can apparently lead to refusals for borderline cases.
Biometric Requirements to Enter Canada
On July 31, 2018 Canada is imposing new biometric requirements on individuals wishing to visit Canada. Biometrics refers to the taking of fingerprints and a photograph. Biometrics collection is being expanded to include all persons (with certain exemptions) applying for temporary or permanent residence, including all those applying for a temporary or permanent resident visa or status, work permit, study permit, or temporary resident permit. The Government of Canada is also introducing systematic fingerprint verification for all biometrically enrolled travellers at Canada’s major airports and expand fingerprint verification capacity at additional ports of entry. Finally, Canada will enhance biometric information sharing between Canada and the United States and introduce biometric information sharing with other the Migration 5 partners, which are Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The change is part of a worldwide trend. More than 70 countries worldwide have implemented or are planning to implement biometrics in their immigration and border programs, including allies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union. Who is Required to Provide Biometrics Since 2013, citizens of 29 visa-required countries and one territory have been required to provide biometrics. Biometrics have also been collected from overseas refugee … Read More
Meaning of Dependent Child
A “dependent child” is defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, SOR/2002-227 as: dependent child, in respect of a parent, means a child who (a) has one of the following relationships with the parent, namely, (i) is the biological child of the parent, if the child has not been adopted by a person other than the spouse or common-law partner of the parent, or (ii) is the adopted child of the parent; and (b) is in one of the following situations of dependency, namely, (i) is less than 22 years of age and is not a spouse or common-law partner, or (ii) is 22 years of age or older and has depended substantially on the financial support of the parent since before attaining the age of 22 years and is unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition. (enfant à charge) In setting 22 as the limit, the Government of Canada stated that its rationale was: The Government of Canada has established as a priority for the immigration program the goal of family reunification, which is about giving family members the opportunity to live with or near each other, instead of being separated by borders and long … Read More
The BC PNP Skills Immigration Programs in 2016
On January 27, 2016, the British Columbia Provincial Nomination Program (“BC PNP“) re-opened its Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC programs, and introduced the Skills Immigration Registration System. The Skills Immigration Registration System is an expression of interest system to manage BC PNP Skills Immigration application intake. It is similar to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (“IRCC”, previously “CIC”) Express Entry system, as only registrants who are invited by the BC PNP to submit full nomination applications can actually apply for nomination certificates. Simply meeting program requirements does not guarantee an Invitation to Apply for nomination. The BC PNP determined that an application intake management system would be necessary in 2016 as the BC PNP had to frequently suspend intake to its programs in 2015. On March 31, 2015, the BC PNP announced a 90-day pause on intake to its Skills Immigration programs. On July 2, 2015, the BC PNP re-opened its Skills Immigration program to limited intake, and the programs were full within 36 hours. On September 1, 2015, the BC PNP suspended intake to its Express Entry BC programs, and, with the limited exception of a 50 spot opening in November, the BC PNP has not accepted applications to … Read More
The Upcoming Litigation Over Immigration, the TFWP, and Privacy
Last month, a British Columbia Provincial Nomination Program (“BC PNP”) officer requested that one of my employer clients provide payroll documents for individuals who were not a part of the BC PNP application. We politely pointed out that the employer could not do this without the third party employees’ consent, as to provide the documents without their consent would be contrary to BC’s Personal Information Privacy Act. Alternatively, the BC PNP had to at least provide the statutory authority to compel the production of these third party documents The British Columbia Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner confirmed that we were correct. The BC PNP officer respected our position, and the events left me confident in the Province of British Columbia’s respect for personal privacy. We were of course not the first to navigate the complicated intersection between the government’s administering its immigration programs the right to privacy, which pursuant to numerous Supreme Court of Canada is a quasi-constitutional right. For example, as noted in the following “Findings under the Privacy Act,” Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) recently agreed with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that it was an unreasonable breach of privacy for CIC to request the tax information of potential employers of … Read More
PNP Nominees Denied Entry at the Border
During the past couple months, our office has received several frantic phone calls from people (often real estate agents or bankers) telling us that a family who was immigrating to Canada under a Provincial Nominee Program was detained by the Canada Border Services Agency
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