Visiting Canada? How to fill out a successful temporary visa application

Meurrens LawTemporary Resident Visas

In recent years, more than one million people annually have been applying for visitor visas to visit Canada. Several hundred thousand more apply for work permits or study permits each year. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will refuse around 20 per cent of these applications, sending a generic refusal letter, providing vague reasons off a checklist. What most refused applicants don’t realize is that behind these decisions are additional, often very detailed reasons that aren’t provided in the refusal letter. These internal reasons can range from a few short sentences, to sometimes even more than a page of reasoning that IRCC does not share with the applicant. It is important for refused applicants to apply for and obtain the full internal reasons for IRCC’s refusal of their application before they try to reapply. (Learn how at canadianimmigrant.ca/immigrate “Application refused? What CIC states in refusal letters is not the whole story.”) It is also important to understand the numerous factors that visa officers consider when assessing temporary residency applications to determine whether someone will leave Canada by the end of their authorized stay. By knowing what these factors are, applicants can maximize the likelihood of successfully assembling a strong visa application. … Read More

Open Spousal Work Permits

Meurrens LawWork Permits

In a previous blog post I wrote about how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) was increasingly focusing on genuineness in open spousal work permits. On September 27, 2021 IRCC updated its webpage to reform the open spousal work permit program.

Borderlines Podcast #139 – Practice Tips and Resolutions for 2025

Steven MeurrensUncategorized

  Deanna and Steve discuss some practice tips and resolutions for 2025, including going back to a world of online applications with the end of flagpoling, focusing on practice areas that one likes, using artifical intelligence, client interactions and getting out of one’s shell and embracing the broader community.

Mexican Visa Q&A

Steven MeurrensUncategorized

The following is an IMMRep Q&A about whether Mexican children whose parent are eligible for eTAs need TRVs if they are not independently eligible for eTAs.

Study Permit Financial Sufficiency

Meurrens LawStudy Permits

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Guidelines state: Students are required to demonstrate financial sufficiency for only the first year of studies, regardless of the duration of the course or program of studies in which they are enrolled. In other words, a single student entering a four-year degree program with an annual tuition fee of $15,000 must demonstrate funds of $15,000 to satisfy the requirements, and not the full $60,000 which would be required for four years. Officers should be satisfied however that the probability of funding for future years does exist (i.e., parents are employed); scholarship is for more than one year. Applications for extensions made to CPC-E must also meet this requirement. In assessing the adequacy of a student’s financial resources, officers may exercise discretion in the documentation they request from applicants. In situations where student applicants generally pose a very low risk regarding funds, officers may choose to limit or waive routine requirements for documentary evidence. Low-risk applicants are more likely to be exempted from the requirement to obtain a temporary resident visa. Based on the known incidence of indigent and non-bona fide applicants, reliability of financial documentation, and so forth, individual visa offices are best placed … Read More

Buying a Business that Has Foreign Workers

Meurrens LawWork Permits

As an increasing number of Canadian employers employ foreign workers, and the Government of Canada is taking an increasingly strict approach in enforcing the rules regulating the employment of foreign workers, the issue of how companies can protect themselves when they buy companies that employ foreign workers is becoming increasingly significant. As well, as explained in detail on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) website, corporate restructurings, mergers and acquisitions may themselves trigger work permit-related issues for employer compliance. It is accordingly important for all companies that are considering merging with or acquiring another company to consider whether (a) the transaction will result in the need for new work permits for existing employees and (b) whether the company that will be employing these foreign workers will become liable for any non-compliance of the previous entity. Understanding the “Successor in Interest” Concept While the IRCC website is clear that employers become responsible for compliance post restructuring, merger or acquisition, the issue of whether the new employers become liable for previous non-compliance is more nuanced, and depends on whether the new employer has become the “successor in interest” for the portion of the organization where the temporary foreign workers were employed. … Read More

Borderlines Podcast #137 – Gifts from Amin, Ugandan Asian Refugee Resettlement to Canada, with Shezan Muhammedi

Steven MeurrensUncategorized

  Shezan Muhammedi is an Acting Assistant Director at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and an Adjunct Research Professor at the University of Carleton. He is the author of Gifts from Amin – Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada. In 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of nearly 80,000 Asians, predominantly of Indian descent, giving them just 90 days to leave the country. Many of these individuals, whose families had lived in Uganda for generations, were stripped of their assets and forced to flee. Canada, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was one of the countries that responded by welcoming approximately 7,000 Ugandan Asians. Meera Thakrar is a Partner at Larlee Rosenberg, Barristers & Solicitors. Her father was one of the Asian Ugandans expelled by Idi Amin. Shezan is continuing to collect the oral histories of Ugandan Asian expellees as part of a study. If you would like to share your story with him please contact ShezanMuhammedi@cunet.carleton.ca