On March 21, 2024, Marc Miller, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, alongside Randy Boissonnault, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, held a press conference to announce what may be considered one of the most substantial changes to Canadian immigration law in years. Canada is set to implement a limit on the temporary residents. Canada’s immigration department has for the past several decades set limits on the number of new permanent residents admitted each year. Its detailed plans are publicly available on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) website. In 2024, for example, Canada plans on welcoming 485,000.00 new permanent residents. Of these, 281,135 will come through economic immigration programs, 114,000 will be through family sponsorships, 76,115 will be refugees or protected persons, and 13,750 will be visa compassionate consideration streams and other public policies. Unlike the fixed limits for new permanent residents, Canada has historically not imposed a specific cap on the temporary residents – such as students, temporary workers, or visitors – that are admitted each year. Instead, the demand from non-governmental entities like businesses and educational institutions has largely determined the number of temporary residents accepted. While IRCC may reject applications for reasons … Read More
IRCC Case Code Types
Here is a list of the IRCC case codes.
Canada Lifts Visa Requirement Against Mexico; Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil Soon to Follow
On December 1, 2016, the Government of Canada lifted the requirement that Mexican nationals obtain a temporary resident visa (a “TRV”) prior to travelling to Canada. As with all TRV exempt travellers, excluding Americans, Mexican nationals are still required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (an “ETA”) prior to boarding aircraft to travel to Canada. The Government of Canada has also committed to gradually expanding eTA eligibility in 2017 to citizens of Bulgaria, Romania, and Brazil. Electronic Travel Authorisation The eTA is a new electronic document requirement for visa-exempt air travellers to Canada, excluding citizens of the United States. Travellers apply online for an eTA by providing basic biographical, passport and personal information, and includes questions about their health, criminal history, and travel history. An automated system then compares this information against immigration and enforcement databases to determine if the traveller is admissible to Canada. The vast majority of applications are approved automatically, with a small percentage referred to an officer for review. Typical reasons for a further review include a previous denial of admission to Canada, a criminal record, or a pending permanent residence application. The cost to apply for an eTA is $7.00. Applicants must have a … Read More
IRCC ENF2 – Evaluating Inadmissibility
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Enforcement Manual 2 / Overseas Processing 18 – Evaluating Inadmissibility (“ENF2“) is not publicly available on the IRCC website. “]
The Difference between an H&C and a TRP Application
In Mpoyi v Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship), 2018 FC 251, affirmed in Lee v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), the Federal Court of Canada stated: The Officer was correct to conclude that he lacked the authorization to consider the Applicants’ alternative TRP request. However, his assertion that a separate application should be submitted for the TRP request constitutes a reviewable error. The Officer should have forwarded this request to the proper decision-maker upon refusing the Applicants’ application for permanent residence in Canada on H&C grounds. For this reason, and with the consent of the Respondent, the Applicants’ judicial review is granted on this issue. I find the H&C decision to be reasonable. The judicial review in relation to that matter is dismissed. In Kaur v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 337, the Federal Court held that the best interests of a child analysis in H&C jurisprudence does not apply in the temporary resident permit context.
Borderlines Podcast #100 – What Being a Judge is Like, with Peter Edelmann
Peter Edelmann was a founder of the Borderlines podcast and immigration lawyer who was appointed to the British Columbia Supreme Court in December, 2019.
Borderlines Podcast #99 – When will Express Entry Points Decrease, with Amandeep Hayer
Amandeep Hayer is the founder of Hayer Law, a Vancouver immigration law firm. The Express Entry points requirement is currently higher than it has ever been. In this episode we discuss when they are likely to decrease. We also discuss a recent Ontario court decision which struck down Canada’s two generation limit on citizenship by descent. Finally, Steve recently listened to a podcast which stated that the following are five signs that a lawyer is not taking their practice seriously. They are: (1) the lawyer answers their own phone rather than having calls go through a receptionist, (2) they use a non-professional e-mail account like gmail, (3) they meet potential clients at coffee shops, (4) they lower their fees when pressured, and (5) they have many practice areas. We also discuss not having a website, Law Society sanctions and Google reviews. 00:00 – Introduction and Express Entry 28:00 – Ontario decision striking down citizenship by descent limitation 37:00 – Are these signs that a lawyer is not taking their practice seriously?
De Novo Jurisdiction and the IAD
“Does the Immigration Appeal Division have an obligation to determine the genuineness of a marriage on a de novo appeal from a removal order on the basis of a misrepresentation, when the genuineness of the marriage was the misrepresentation alleged in the subsection 44(1) report and was relevant to a determination by the IAD of whether the person concerned made the misrepresentation in issue before it?” This was the question before the Federal Court of Appeal in Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) v. Peirovdinnabi, 2010 FCA 267. In answering it, the Court reflected on the nature of a de novo hearing. The matter pertained to an individual whose application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds was granted, in part because of the applicant’s marriage at the time. The application was approved despite the fact that the applicant’s ex-spouse approached immigration authorities advising them that the marriage was a sham entered into solely for immigration purposes. Shortly thereafter, the applicant applied to sponsor a spouse. This got the attention of immigration authorities, who made a s. 44(1) report to the effect that the applicant was inadmissible for having made a misrepresentation in his H&C application, and that the marriage was … Read More
Borderlines Podcast #98 – The Ban on Islamic Adoptions, with Warda Shazadi Meighen
Warda Shazadi Meighen is an immigration lawyer in Toronto and the founder of Landings Law. Canadian immigration legislation states that adoptions that can lead to immigration must create a legal parent-child relationship and sever the pre-existing legal parent-child relationship.Many Islamic countries have adoption, or guardianship, regimes based on kafala law, by which adoptive parents become the sponsor or guardians of a child, but the pre-existing legal parent-child relationship is not severed. As a consequence, adoptions from many Muslim countries are not recognized under Canadian immigration law. Warda has launched a Charter challenge to change this.
Extending a COPR or a Landing Visa
Visa officers have the discretion to extend the time limits on visa that have been issued. The 2018 decision in Austin v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) illustrates this point. There, a person was issued a permanent resident visa that expired 35 days after it was issued. The person booked an airline ticket, however, she was unable to depart as scheduled because her car broke down. She booked a new ticket but was not allowed to board a plane to Canada because her visa had expired. She then wrote to Canadian immigration officials asking that they extend the validity period of her visa. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada refused, writing that: An immigrant visa was issued to you with an expiry date of October 25, 2017. The onus was on you to travel prior to the expiry date of your visa or to notify this office if you were unable to travel prior to the date of expiry. Your medicals have now expired and we are unable to re-open your file. We regret to advise that your file is now closed and no further processing can be carried out. The internal Global Case Management System notes further stated that: FILE REVIEWED Rec’d the … Read More