Although you may not qualify for permanent residence in Canada, it’s important to know that you still have options that are available to you. What To Do If You Don’t Qualify For Canadian Permanent Residence If you don’t qualify for Canadian permanent residence status, you still have the option to fill out a Humanitarian & Compassionate Grounds Immigration Appeal (H&C). This option allows people to apply for permanent residence in Canada even if they don’t otherwise qualify. The immigration officer will take a variety of different factors into consideration when it comes to your application. These include: Whether the applicant has family The best interests of the children (if there are any) Any difficulties that the applicant will face in their own country This appeal is, however, considered to be for exceptional cases. As such, final decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. It is also important to note that…

Below you will find information regarding the process to qualify for refugee status in Canada. In order to qualify for refugee status in Canada, you must currently live outside your home country (or the country that you spend a lot of time) and be unable to return due to the risk involved. For example, you may be at risk for being persecuted whether because of your race, religion, political views, nationality and so on and so forth. The process is as follows: Make a Refugee Claim The first step is to make a refugee claim. The length of time it takes to process your claim depends on the location of where you made your claim and whether your country is a Designated Country of Origin. If your claim is eligible, as determined by immigration officers, it will be referred to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. You can submit…

A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) is a chance for those who are at risk of having to leave Canada to outline the ways in which they would be put in danger if they were forced to leave. Danger can come in a variety of forms; they could be at risk for being persecuted, they could be at risk for experiencing cruel behaviour or their life could be threatened. How To Know If You’re Eligible To Apply An immigration officer is ultimately responsible for determining whether or not you are eligible to apply for a PRRA. However, you may be eligible to apply for a PRRA if: You Have Not Applied For Refugee Status Or A PRRA That Was Rejected In the Past 12 Months In the majority of cases (there are exceptions, as you will see below), if you have applied for refugee status or a PRRA and your application…

Ever since it was created in 1989, the Immigration and Refugee Board and the refugee determination system that it administers has been a work in progress. Successive governments have tinkered with the system – reducing the number of Board Members hearing individual claims from two to one, designating so called safe countries, expediting straightforward claims and then cancelling the expedited program, etc. In December 2012 the rules of the game changed dramatically again with mandatory time frames requiring new refugee claims to be heard within sixty days. Claims made prior to December 2012 and not yet heard became known as “legacy” claims, as opposed to backlog claims, lest the government be accused of creating a new refugee backlog. The Harper government’s plan was to hear the remaining legacy claims until the legacy/backlog was cleared. However for the last couple of years legacy claims are simply not being scheduled. To date…

Embassy Magazine – August 3rd, 2011 Kristen Shane The possible imposition of visas on Hungary to cut off an influx of asylum seekers was serious enough to be included in a briefing note to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in advance of a meeting with the UN high commissioner for refugees, newly released documents show. And while the measure was never introduced, the documents have once again highlighted the sensitivities surrounding visa requirements and the anticipation with which some countries are waiting for the government’s new “safe-country” list. High Commissioner António Guterres met Immigration Minister Jason Kenney during a March 23 to 25, 2010 visit to Ottawa. Media reports had earlier flagged a skyrocketing number of Hungarian refugee claims since the Canadian government lifted previous visa requirements on the country in the spring of 2008. At that time there had been between 20 and 40 a month, but with the visas…