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 is insufficient. As well, as demonstrated by the decision in Omitogun v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 719, visa officers are under no obligation to review an applicant’s previously submitted applications. However, where there is a concern regarding the credibility or the genuineness of the evidence submitted, as opposed to the sufficiency of, or weight to be given, to that information, then the duty of fairness generally requires that the applicant be given the opportunity to address the concern. The Federal Court succintently set out the test in Fard v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 1403, writing: Where an officer suggests that the applicant’s supporting documents serve a “demonstrative purpose” amounting to a “deceptive façade” (Taeb v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) 2023 FC 576 at para 6) or where, as here, the officer states that the applicant’s financial data has been “inflated” … Read More