Agraria v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2013 SCC 36 This is a Supreme Court of Canada decision so there is much to take from it, and I will barely be able to begin to scratch the surface in this post. Mr. Agraria submitted an IRPA s. 34(2) application for ministerial relief in 2002. The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness refused this application in 2009, concluding that it was not in the national interest to admit individuals to Canada who had had sustained contact with known terrorists and/or terrorist-connected organizations. Mr. Agraria’s role in the organization was apparently to engage people in political discourse, deliver envelops, and raise funds. The Canada Border Services Agency actually recommended to then Minister that he admit Mr. Agraria, as, in their words: He appears to have been a regular member who did not occupy a position of trust or authority within the LNSF. He does not appear to have been totally committed to the LNSF specifically as he indicated to the immigration officer at CIC Oshawa that he would support anyone who tried to rmeove the current regime in Libya through non-violent means. The Minister overruled his Department, and determined that … Read More
Bill C-43 Comes into Force
In June 2012 I wrote about how the Conservative government had introduced Bill C-43, the Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act (“Bill C-43“). Amongst other things, Bill C-43 increases the penalties for misrepresentation, removes appeal rights for permanent residents who are sentenced to a length of imprisonment of six months or more, gives the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada the power to let otherwise inadmissible people to Canada into the country based on his discretion, and prohibits visa officers from considering humanitarian & compassionate factors in certain scenarios. On June 19, 2013, Bill C-43 received Royal Assent. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) has now begun rolling out Operational Bulletins to instruct visa officers of its implications. Operational Bulletin 532 – Coming into Force of Bill C-43 – Inadmissibility on Security Grounds (“OB-532”) Subsection 34(1)(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA“) previously provided that a permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible to Canada on security grounds for: engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they are understood in Canada IRPA 34(1)(a) has been reworded to provide that a permanent resident or a foreign national is inadmissible to Canada … Read More
RIMBits Revealed (July 2010)
The following are some excerpts from the July 2010 RIMbits. RIMbits are messages sent from National Headquarters to missions overseas. The July 2010 RIMbits on admissibility consisted of eight questions and answers or bulletins. I have reproduced three of them for free below. Please note that the questions and answers below should not be viewed as legal advice. Rather, they are simply reproductions of how CIC senior management answered specific questions from visa offices in July 2010. Canadian citizen Visiting Forces Act applicant Q. We ask for your opinion on the process for a Canadian dual citizen and his family who wish to enter Canada under the Act on Visiting Forces at the request of the ________ government. The applicant and spouse currently have official _____ passports. The sons, also dual citizens, have an ordinary ____ passports stating “son of government agent.” With what documentation should the applicant and his sons travel? Obtaining proof of Canadian citizenship for the children could take 14-16 months. Also, the spouse has no status in Canada. The Foreign Worker Guide indicates that dependents of people who are in Canada under the Visiting Forces Act qualify for an open work permit. As the spouse of … Read More
RIMbits Revealed (June 2010)
The following are some excerpts from the June 2010 RIMbits. RIMbits are messages sent from National Headquarters to missions overseas. The June 2010 RIMbits on admissibility consisted of six questions and answers. I have reproduced two of them for free below. Please note that the questions and answers below should not be viewed as legal advice. Rather, they are simply reproductions of how CIC senior management answered specific questions from visa offices in May 2010. Appeals Allowed and Resumption of Examination Q. Our FC1 case went to appeal at the IAD and was allowed. The decision states that the Panel is disgusted with the behaviour of the appellant and the applicant and that their behaviour cries out for further investigation, but it is not within the mandate of this panel to carry out such an exercise. In light of this written comment in the decision, we would like to know if we can re examine and refuse the application as a marriage of convenience. We originally refused under A40(1)(a). A. When the application for admission of a member of the family class is refused, the sponsor may appeal to the IAD on either legal or humanitarian grounds. Since the refusal … Read More
RIMbits Revealed (May 2010)
The following are some excerpts from the May 2010 RIMbits. RIMbits are messages sent from National Headquarters to missions overseas. The May 2010 RIMbits on admissibility consisted of seven questions and answers. I have reproduced three of them for free below. Please note that the questions and answers below should not be viewed as legal advice. Rather, they are simply reproductions of how CIC senior management answered specific questions from visa offices in May 2010. Seized Travel Document Q) We were notified by the authorities that a permanent resident travelling on a Canadian travel document has been charged with: (1) ______ (2) _____ and (3) _____. According to local authorities, the permanent resident has been released on bail with the condition that she surrender her travel document and that “Stop Orders” are placed with the Immigration exit controls at airports. We have been formally requested not to issue a new travel document to this permanent resident “until the matters have been disposed.” As the charged person is not a Canadian, the Consular Section has referred this case to us. Although she has not done so at this point, it is possible that in the near future, this permanent resident … Read More
List of Organizations where Membership can Cause Admissibility Issues
Being a member of certain organizations can result in a person being inadmissible to Canada. In going through internal CIC documents I obtained through an Access to Information and Privacy Act request, I came across a list prepared by the Canadian Embassy in Paris. It lists every court case (to 2006) involving people who were declared inadmissible to Canada for membership in an organization. Although the list is obviously dated, individuals who were members in any of the groups which appear below should contact a representative before submitting applications or making refugee claims. Country (Organization) Case Name Judgment Type of Organization Afghanistan (Air Force) Khan 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Afghanistan (Police) Mohammad 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Afghanistan (PDPA) OFUQ 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Afghanistan (Secret Police -Khad) Raduli 1F(a) Exclusion Brutal Afghanistan (Secret Police -Khad) Zadeh 1F(a) Exclusion Brutal Afghanistan (Secret Police -Khad) Moshen Insufficent Evidence for 1F(a) Brutal Afghanistan (Secret Police -Khad) Hamidi 35(1)(a) overturned Brutal Albania (Secret Police – Shik) Lalaj 1F(a) Exclusion Algeria (Police) Kiared 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Algeria (Police) Allel 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Algeria (FIS) Chougui 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Algeria (GIA) Ikhlef Security Certificate Upheld Terrorist Angola (MPLA) Goncalves Insufficent Evidence for 1F(a) Non-Brutal Angola (ANP) Januario 1F(a) Exclusion Non-Brutal Angola … Read More
Proposed Regulations Add Teeth to the CIC/Service Canada Employer Blacklist
On June 7, 2013, the Government of Canada introduced regulatory changes which will take soon effect at a date to be determined (the “New Regulations”). The New Regulations will impact all employers of foreign nationals in Canada. Specifically, the New Regulations will impose new conditions on employers and increase the government’s ability to ensure compliance with those conditions. Previous Announcements The New Regulations follow a previous Government of Canada announcement on April 29, 2013, in which it announced the following changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which will also soon take effect at a date to be determined: The Government of Canada will begin working with employers to ensure that temporary foreign workers are relied upon only when Canadians genuinely cannot fill those jobs; Increasing the recruitment efforts that employers must make to hire Canadians before they will be eligible to apply for temporary foreign workers, including increasing the time span and reach of advertising; Helping employers who legitimately rely on temporary foreign workers, due to a lack of qualified Canadian applicants, find ways to ensure that they have a plan to transition to a Canadian workforce over time; Restricting the identification of non-official languages as job requirements when … Read More
Enforcing Removal Orders and Authorization to Return to Canada: Scenarios, Questions, and Answers
One of the more common questions that I am asked is when people who have been told by the Government of Canada to leave Canada need to submit an Application for Authorization to Return to Canada (“ARC”) before they return. I have obtained a copy of internal Citizenship and Immigration Canada material which addresses some of these questions, and which I have adapted and produced below. Please note that the material below has been adapted from a document dated 2009-10. It is from an official work by the Government of Canada which was obtained through Access to Information and Privacy Act Request. I have reviewed it and believe that it is correct and current. However, the scenarios below should only be used for informational purposes. It is NOT legal advice. As well, the reproduction of the training materials has not occurred with the affiliation of the Government of Canada, nor with the endorsement of the Government of Canada. Scenario 1 Tiger Johnson, a citizen of the USA,was issued a Departure Order on August 4, 2008. When he left Canada, he did not confirm his departure with the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”). In 2012, he shows up at the Canadian … Read More
Operational Bulletin 315 (Internal) – Cancellation of Visas in Crisis Situations
Not all Citizenship and Immigration Canada Operational Bulletins are public. Our firm has a small collection of internal bulletins. I have published one below which provided guidance to officers on how to cancel visas. The bulletin appears to have been motivated by the Arab Spring.
Forget China, the Future of Immigration to Canada Appears to be the Philippines
When I tell people that I specialize in immigration law many people automatically assume that all of my clients must be Chinese. This is because during the latter quarter of the twentieth century, and for most of the first decade of the twenty-first, China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) was the number one source country of immigrants to Canada. However, as I first noted two years ago, this is changing. The Philippines has emerged as the dominant source country for immigrants to Canada. I have witnessed this in my practice, and my anecdotal observations have been confirmed by recent Citizenship and Immigration Canada data. The trend is clear: the future of immigration to Canada belongs to the Philippines. History The Filipino community does not have as long a tradition in Canada as does the Chinese and Indian populations. Indeed, the first Filipino immigrants did not arrive in Canada until 1945. Between 1946 and 1964, only 100 Filipinos immigrated to Canada. However, in 1981, Canada introduced its first foreign domestic-worker program. These caregivers could eventually apply for permanent residency and citizenship. In 1992, this program was renamed the Live-In Caregiver Program. Since its inception, the Live-in Caregiver Program has been predominantly … Read More