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
Read more ›Manitoba is located in the prairies. Its population is the fifth largest in Canada, at 1,232,654. It’s capital city is Winnipeg, where 60% of Manitoba’s population live, and is where four of the province’s five universities are located. It also has Canada’s most successful provincial nominee program.
Read more ›In addition to the family class stream and the availability of an exemption to a visa requirement based on humanitarian & compassionate grounds, it is possible for low-skilled workers to immigrate under provincial programs designed to facilitate permanent residency for people in certain “low-skilled or semi-skilled” occupations. In British Columbia, this program is known as the “Entry-Level and Semi-Skilled Pilot Project”.
Read more ›Effective August 23, 2010, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program is no longer accepting applications under either the AINP U.S. Visa Holder Category or the Family Stream. Any applications that were postmarked before August 23rd will continue to be accepted.
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According to CIC, during the past 12 months the approval rate for different application streams for permanent residence has been as follows:
Immigration Category
Approval Rate
Economic
Quebec Skilled Workers
97%
Federal Skilled Workers (Pre-C-50)
57%
Federal Skilled Workers (Post C-50)
21%
Entrepreneurs
76%
Self Employed
45%
Investors
82%
Provincial Nominees
96%
Live-In-Caregivers
99%
Canadian Experience Class
85%
Family
Parents and Grandparents
91%
Spouses & Partners
83%
Dependent Children
80%
Family Class (Other)
70%
Humanitarian
Government Sponsored Refugees
76%
Private Sponsored Refugees
69%
Refugee Dependents
86%
H&C Applications
70%
FCH – Family Relations – H&C
90%
» Read more about: Live in Care Givers, PNP Acceptance Rates »
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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 the applicant’s salary and benefits. The applicant argued that the Canadian embassy should have told the applicant that this information was missing, and given her a chance to provide what was missing. However, the Court noted that there is no duty to advise an applicant of a deficient application. As Justice Mandamin noted, the process is clear. An applicant must provide a complete application.
As such, and to reiterate, visa officers do not have the obligation to notify applicants of inadequacies in their applications nor in the supporting documents.
» Read more about: When Procedural Fairness Requires a Fairness Letter »
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