Case Sharing

2020 June

G immigrated to Canada with the parents as a young child. After staying for a short time, the family moved back to their homeland. G graduated from university in 2016 and planned to work in Canada. In the meantime, the family thought that they had lost their permanent resident status because they had been away for such a long time. G consulted with us on how to apply for a work permit.

After thorough reviewing the case of G, we believed that G still had the permanent resident status. With our expertise service, G came back to live and work in 2017, got the Permanent Resident Card in 2019 and is now applying for citizenship in Canada.

【EXPLANATION】Losing your permanent resident status does not happen automatically. You cannot lose your permanent resident status simply by living outside of Canada for a long time. You may lose your permanent resident status only if:
(1) an adjudicator determines that you are no longer a permanent resident following an inquiry; or a visa officer determines you do not meet the required residency.
(2) you voluntarily renounce your permanent resident status.

For those who had immigrated but stayed away for a long time, it is very crucial to seek professional advice before returning to Canada. There may be irreversible impact if you oversee some pitfalls in the process.

2018 January

Madam C paid her friend assisting to submit application to sponsor her mother in 2010. The application was refused in 2016 for reason that her mother had not provided documents as requested. Madam C came to us, as policy changed in 2014 and income requirement for parents and grand-parents sponsorship had increased substantially, it was impossible for Madam C to re-apply again. On the one hand, we notified Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) of the appeal, whilst on the other hand requested for the file record from Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Upon receipt of the file record, we were confident that the appeal would be successful. Prior to IRB set the hearing date, IRCC took the initiative to suggest Madam C to withdraw the appeal and they would re-open her file for processing. We finally represented Madam C to withdraw the appeal with IRB.

【Explanation】 First of all, if Madam C had retained service from a qualified Immigration Consultant or Lawyer, the case might not be refused like this. Secondly, according to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Section 91, only authorized persons may represent or advice for consideration on immigration matters. Anyone who contravenes this will be subject to a maximum fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for 2 years. That means, Madam C’s friend had breached the law.
When we reviewed the file record received from IRCC, we noticed that Madam C as the Sponsor had signed the authorization appointing her friend as her representative, but her mother as the Applicant did not. When IRCC requested the mother to submit further documents, they sent the notification to Madam C’s friend who had not been authorized representing the mother. The friend did not informed Madam C and her mother of the request and they missed to submit the documents. The appeal for sure would be allowed because of the administrative error made by IRCC. The outcome indeed was the best resolution for both Madam C and IRCC without having gone through the hearing.

2017 September

Mr. K came from the Caribbean’s and has been working in Canada as a foreign worker for the past 7 years.  During this period, he married to an overstayed lady with no status and their son was born soon after.  Mr. K continued to work in Canada while his wife and his child returned to their home country. Subsequently, Mr. K applied for permanent residency through the Express Entry platform as a skilled worker, and united with his family.

【Explanations】 The Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada applies different criteria on processing permanent residency and temporary residency visa (including visitor, student and worker) cases.  Application of a temporary residency visa will be rejected once the applicant is believed by the authority that he or she will not remain in Canada after visa expiration.  On the contrary, when deciding on a permanent resident application, the authority will look at the eligibility of the applicant, the medical examination and background check results.  Despite of the fact that Mrs. K had overstayed record, there was no negative impact on their permanent residence application.  However, had she applied for visitor visa to come to Canada visiting Mr. K, she would be declined.