Appeals
|
 |
Any type of refusal
by the immigration authorities may be
appealed in court in Canada. These
appeals will be made either to the
Federal Court of Canada, or in certain
types of cases, to the Immigration
Appeal Division.
|
If your
immigration case has been
rejected and you wish to know
whether you have good chances of
success on appeal, please fax
the decision to our office
416-944-1675, or scan it and
e-mail it to
info@matthewjeffery.com.
Attach a letter or e-mail
briefly explaining why you think
the decision is incorrect, and
give us your return e-mail
address. We will review the
decision and get back to you to
describe your appeal options and
chances. There is no fee for
this service. We will keep all
information provided strictly
confidential. |
|
Canada Immigration
Appeal to the Federal Court |
Any immigration decision may be
challenged by way of Judicial
Review in the Federal Court of
Canada. As examples, a decision
made by an immigration officer
overseas to refuse a visa
application, or a decision of
the Immigration and Refugee
Board to refuse a refugee claim,
are both reviewable
administrative decisions. This
means the Court can review the
decision to decide whether it
was lawfully made. Issues the
Court will consider include
whether the decision-maker acted
within jurisdiction, whether the
decision was fairly made, and
whether the decision was
reasonable in light of the
evidence. It is not necessary
for the applicant to appear
before the Court in person, the
case can be managed entirely by
an immigration lawyer including
any appearances at the Court.
If the Court decides the
decision was not properly made,
the case will be sent back to be
re-decided by a different
decision-maker. This type of
appeal to the Court must be made
within 15 days of a refusal made
in Canada, or 60 days of a
refusal made outside Canada, so
it is important to act promptly
to preserve your appeal rights. |
|
 |
|
Mandamus at the
Federal Court |
|
While most
appeals at the Federal Court
level seek to overturn a
decision that has already been
made, in some instances the
appeal is seeking the making of
a decision. For example, where
the immigration authorities have
unreasonably delayed the
processing of a visa
application, an appeal to the
Federal Court can be made
requesting that the Court order
the immigration authorities to
complete the processing of the
application immediately. This
type of court order is called
“mandamus” which is Latin for
“we command”. As the Canadian
court with authority to review
the actions of federal
tribunals, which includes the
immigration authorities, the
Federal Court can order the
immigration authorities to do
anything that they are legally
obliged to do but have not so
far done.
If your immigration application
has been delayed far beyond
normal processing times you may
wish to bring an appeal to the
Federal Court seeking an order
of Mandamus compelling the
making of a decision. Matthew
Jeffery’s law office can assist
you.
|
|
Appeals to the
Immigration Appeal Division |
|
In certain
types of immigration cases a
negative decision can be
appealed to the Immigration
Appeal Division (IAD) of the
Immigration and Refugee Board,
which is a Canadian
administrative tribunal. Usually
an appeal must be made within 30
days of the negative decision so
in these situations it is
important to act quickly in
order to preserve your appeal
rights. The types of cases which
can be appealed to the IAD
include:
|
Appeals by
sponsors. Where
a Canadian citizen
or permanent
resident has
attempted to sponsor
a family member and
the application was
rejected by the
Immigration
authorities, an
appeal may be made
within 30 days of
receipt of the
refusal letter.
|
|
Appeals by
permanent residents.
If a permanent
resident or a person
holding a permanent
resident visa has
been found to be
inadmissible and is
ordered removed from
Canada, an appeal
may be made within
30 days of receipt
of the removal
order. |
|
Appeals by
refugees. Where
a person who has
been granted refugee
protection is
subsequently been
found to be
inadmissible and is
ordered removed from
Canada, an appeal
may be made within
30 days. |
|
Residency
appeals. In a
situation where a
permanent resident
who is outside
Canada is determined
not to have
fulfilled the
residency
requirement, and has
lost their permanent
residence as a
result, an appeal
can be made within
60 days of the
decision. |
Persons who
appeal to the Immigration Appeal
Division will be permitted to
present new evidence in support
of their case and may personally
testify before a Board Member.
The IAD will consider whether
the negative decision was
legally made, and may also
consider Humanitarian and
Compassionate factors related to
the case. If the IAD decides the
decision was wrongly made, or
there exist compelling
Humanitarian and Compassionate
factors, it will overturn the
original decision and send the
case back to be re-decided in
accordance with its findings. If
the IAD dismisses the appeal, a
further appeal of the IAD’s
decision may be made to the
Federal Court.
|
|
If your
immigration or sponsorship case
has been rejected or delayed and
you wish to appeal your
application, please
contact
us for further information.
If you wish to
e-mail or fax our office a copy
of the refusal letter in your
case, we will review it and get
back to you as to your chances
of success. |
 |
Disclaimer: the information on this website
is intended to be of a general nature and does not constitute legal advice.
|
