People who would not normally be eligible to become permanent residents of Canada may be able to apply on humanitarian and compassionate (“H&C“) grounds. Humanitarian and compassionate grounds apply to people with exceptional cases. Here are 2020 approval statistics for humanitarian & compassionate class applications. Sample Decisions Below are sample H&C decisions that were used … Read More
The Inside Canada vs. Outside Canada Sponsorship Process
One of the quirkier features of Canadian immigration law is the distinction between what is generally referred to as the “Inside-Canada Sponsorship” process and the “Outside-Canada Sponsorship” process. The biggest myth is that if a couple is residing in Canada then they must use the “Inside-Canada Sponsorship” process. This is not true. However, each program … Read More
Labour Market Impact Assessments – The Genuiness and Actively Engaged Factors
Section 203(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR“) requires Service Canada to only issue a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) when it is satisfied that an employer’s job offer is genuine. The IRPR lists several specific factors which Service Canada officers must consider in a genuineness analysis. The Genuineness Factor In addition to … Read More
Cessation of Refugee Status
There are 2 ways that refugee protection can be removed. A person can cease to hold their refugee status if, for example, they voluntarily reavail themselves of the protection of their country of nationality or obtain protection from another country. They can also have their refugee status vacated if they obtained that status by directly … Read More
Artificial Intelligence and Canadian Immigration
When people submit applications to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada they typically have spent significant time carefully completing forms and assembling documents. They expect that their applications will be processed by visa officers who carefully review the information before them. However, applicants need to understand that their artificial intelligence is playing an increasing role in visa … Read More
Definition of Work and Paid
In Ogundiran v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 1397, Madam Justice Heneghan stated that in Pathway for Health Workers the definition of “paid” could include stipends. It is important to note that the Department of Justice pointed to the Help section of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) website which defines “paid” as … Read More
Procedural Fairness Where Credibility is an Issue
In an application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) the burden is on the applicant to put forward a complete, convincing and unambiguous application which provides sufficient evidence to establish that the requirements of Canadian immigration legislation are met. Visa officers are not under an obligation to ask for additional information where the submitted material … Read More
Temporary Residence Training Guide
The following is a 2014 training manual for processing temporary residence applications. Although it is quite old it is one of the better pieces of training materials that I have seen, and I recommend it for anyone looking to understand temporary resident processing, or a refresher.
Humanitarian & Compassionate Applications – The Establishment Factor
Subsection 25(1) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides immigration officers with the flexibility to grant on humanitarian and compassionate (“H&C“) exemptions to overcome the requirement of obtaining a permanent residence visa from abroad and/or to overcome class eligibility requirements and/or inadmissibilities. H&C applications may be based on a number factors, including: establishment in Canada; ties to Canada; the … Read More
H&C And Keeping Families Together
There are several humanitarian & compassaionte (“H&C”) decisions involving family reunification. In Gao v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2019 FC 939, Justice Manson wrote: This erroneous approach is further evidenced by the IAD’s repeated mention of testimony by the Applicant and her husband that if one parent were forced to return to China, the entire family … Read More