Have you submitted an immigration application, gotten a negative response, and cannot figure out why?
Interpreters and Translations
People appearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board (the “IRB“) come from all over the world, and often communicate in a language that their counsel, the hearings officers, and members do not understand. Accordingly, translators and interpreters are often used during IRB proceedings. Translators and interpreters have a very serious and important role in proceedings. Section 14 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides that a party or witness to any proceeding who does not understand or speak the language in which the proceeding is conducted or who is deaf has the right to the assistance of an interpreter. This section applies to immigration and other administrative proceedings. Accordingly, the IRB and the courts take the right to proper interpretation seriously. A person appearing before the IRB has a right to an interpretation that is continuous, precise, competent, impartial, and contemporaneous. An applicant does not have the burden to show that a determinative prejudice arises from a breach of his Charter right to such interpretation. Jurisprudence Singh v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 1161, provides a more comprehensive summary of the common law principles governing translation. These principles are that: a. The interpretation must … Read More
Judicial Review of Refugee Decisions
It is devastating for a refugee claimant than when the Refugee Protection Division rejects their claim. At that point, the person essentially has two main options: make a pre-removal risk assessment application or seek judicial review. The objective of a judicial review is to convince a judge that the Refugee Protection Division’s rejection of your claim was either unreasonable or incorrect in law. Applicants cannot introduce new evidence, and are limited to the evidence that was before the Refugee Protection Division Member that heard your case. In this post, I outline some possible grounds that you may use to successfully seek judicial review of a decision. While I strongly recommend that you hire a lawyer to conduct your judicial review, I hope that this post will provide you with some initial ideas to discuss with your counsel. Did the RPD misapply credibility during the section 97 analysis? Under section 96 of IRPA, a claimant must establish the existence of a well-founded fear of persecution tied to a 1951 Convention ground. However, under section 97 of IRPA, a claimant must show on a balance of probabilities that removal from Canada would subject them personally to specified dangers and risks. The evidence … Read More
Appealing IRPA Decisions to the Federal Court of Appeal Without a Certified Question
Generally, when the Federal Court makes a decision on an immigration matter, the decision is final. As most lawyers tell their clients at the outset, there is no right to appeal a Federal Court decision unless the Federal Court certifies an issue raised in the litigation as being a question of general importance. However, it is important that representatives be familiar with some exceptions to this rule.
Chinese Immigration and Vancouver Real Estate
The topic of the relationship between wealthy, primarily Chinese, immigrants and their effect on Vancouver’s housing market has recently become a bit of a hot topic in the city. I was recently quoted in Vancouver Magazine on the topic, and specifically on the relationship between the Canada and Quebec immigrant investor programs and immigration to Vancouver. The answers to such questions lie largely in the numbers, though not necessarily the obvious ones. Anyone in real estate will tell you the wealthy arrivals dominating the market are mostly from mainland China, yet immigration from there has been dropping in recent years. In 2009, just under 9,000 mainland Chinese arrived in Vancouver, down from almost 13,000 in 2005. But, says Steven Meurrens, an immigration lawyer with Larlee Rosenberg, official numbers don’t necessarily reflect reality. About half the Chinese immigrants arriving in Vancouver are in the investor class and thus must prove a net worth of at least $1.6 million (doubled since new rules were instituted in late 2010). That number might mean only 1,200 or 1,500 households-not terribly significant in a region where sales exceeded 40,000 in 2010-but Meurrens says the number of investor immigrants from mainland China landing in B.C. is … Read More
Persuassive Decision on Tamil Refugees (Updated)
A persuasive decision is a decision that is considered to have persuasive value in developing consistent jurisprudence. They provide clear, complete, and concise reasons with respect to the particular element that is thought to have persuasive value, and consider all of the relevant issues in a case. Other members are encouraged to rely upon persuasive decisions in the interests of consistency.
Immigration and Health Care (British Columbia MSP)
We are often asked whether getting a student permit, work permit, visitor visa, etc. will result in an individual being eligible for MSP in British Columbia.
Information Technology Workers to British Columbia
CIC has announced a change in the salary range for BC and Quebec companies wishing to hire foreign workers in the IT sector. A work permit will not be issued unless the prospective foreign worker’s salary is in line with the following salary ranges:
Jason Kenney’s Statements on the Roma – Implications for Bias at the IRB?
On July 14, 2009, Canada imposed a visa requirement on the Czech Republic. At the time, Jason Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, took to the air waves defending the decision, repeatedly stating that a high percentage of the Czech refugee claims were bogus.
H&C Applications: The Provincial Restriction
The ability of an applicant to be admitted to Canada despite not meeting the requirements for an immigration program is one of the more complicated areas of immigration law. Section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that an immigration officer may grant a foreign national permanent resident status or an exemption from any applicable criteria or obligations of the Act if doing so is justified by humanitarian & compassionate considerations. Section 25(2), however, contains an important exception, which states that: Provincial criteria (2) The Minister may not grant permanent resident status to a foreign national referred to in subsection 9(1) if the foreign national does not meet the province’s selection criteria applicable to that foreign national. Section 9(1) of the Act provides: Sole provincial responsibility — permanent residents 9. (1) Where a province has, under a federal-provincial agreement, sole responsibility for the selection of a foreign national who intends to reside in that province as a permanent resident, the following provisions apply to that foreign national, unless the agreement provides otherwise: a) the foreign national, unless inadmissible under this Act, shall be granted permanent resident status if the foreign national meets the province’s selection criteria; (b) the foreign … Read More