Complex Canadian Immigration Cases

Complex Canadian Immigration Cases: Overview

Those looking to make a temporary visit to Canada or to make it their home will need to meet set immigration requirements to be granted a Canadian visa. Criteria vary based on the program; some types of visas are straightforward, while others are more complex, either due to an applicant’s background and personal circumstances or due to the overall program requirements. The overall trend is that Canadian immigration law, including the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (S.C. 2001, c. 27), Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (SOR/2002-227), and court decisions, is becoming more complex.

Complex Cases: Solutions

Even a simple short-term visa application to Canada may be refused if the application lacks information, supporting documents, has technical issues, or even due to a visa officer’s mistake. The good news is that there is no limit on the number of attempts or concurrent applications (as long as they are submitted under different programs) that can be made. However, the approach to address a difficult immigration case will be defined by the visa/program’s requirements, matching against the applicant’s background, available supporting documents, and, if it has already been refused, the grounds, which all must be assessed in combination. Generally, there are a few options post-refusal: submit a request for reconsideration, file a new application (reapply), apply for a judicial review of a decision, or appeal a decision, if eligible. Learn more about Canadian visa refusal and the circumstances that would justify a particular course of action.

Some foreign nationals who are inadmissible to Canada on one of the grounds defined in the immigration legislation (health, financial, criminal grounds, misrepresentation, security reasons, or human or international rights violations), or who have not complied with Canadian immigration legislation while they stayed in Canada, must address inadmissibility or such non-compliance before they can be granted a visa. While it may be possible to resolve inadmissibility and non-compliance in some cases, in others, it may take years or be not viable at all. For those in this situation, who need to visit or stay in Canada and cannot resolve their inadmissibility quickly, might be eligible to apply for a temporary resident permit or for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Learn more about inadmissibility grounds.

A Temporary Resident Permit is a document that may help someone who is inadmissible or not in compliance with Canadian immigration legislation to come or stay temporarily in Canada if their purpose is justified in the circumstances and if they can persuade an officer that the grounds on which they were found inadmissible will not recur. In general, the risk should be nil while the need to be in Canada for such a person must be significant and provable. Learn more about a Temporary Resident Permit.

Some people who have humanitarian and compassionate grounds to stay in Canada permanently may use them to apply for permanent residence. This, however, would only be possible if it is not viable for them to immigrate under current Canadian immigration programs. Those who were refused a Canadian permanent residence visa because of inadmissibility, which they cannot resolve quickly but have humanitarian and compassionate grounds, can use this program, subject to some exceptions. Learn more about permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

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