ERRORS IN IMMIGRATION PROCESSING

As a firm who handles immigration litigation, one of our long time challenges has been to respond to clients who are told that pursuing litigation of negative decisions by immigration officials is futile. We have always stated that it is not. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) does make mistakes, and the following article by Nicholas Keung in the Toronto Star -  ‘High error rate’ found in Canada’s immigration processing - proves it.  To read the full article:

 

 http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2015/01/05/high_error_rate_found_in_canadas_immigration_processing.html

  

Of particular interest is this quote by a union representative for the CIC employees - “The government keeps changing its policies. It is a challenge to keep up with all the changes that come every other week". We have argued that precise fact before the Federal Court recently. We have long argued that these constant changes to policy are detrimental to the Rule of Law.  It goes against the fundamental Canadian value of good governance, as such changes bring uncertainty and confusion not only for the applicants and counsel, but clearly to those charged with administering the law as well.

  

It has long been a contention of luminary legal scholars such as Joseph Raz and Lon Fuller that such actions are in breach of the Rule of Law, and lead to the failure of legal systems (Lon L. Fuller The Morality of Law (Revised ed., Yale University Press, New Haven, 1969) 33–38). Professor Fuller criticized such government actions and believed that "inconsistent adjudication", failure to properly publicize changes in the law, rules that are hard to understand, retrospective legislation, contradictions in the law, unreasonable demands on the applicants, and inconsistency between the stated intent of legislation and the decisions made by those charged with making decisions under the legislation, all lead to the failure of a legal system. This article makes it clear that many of these criticized government actions seem to be happening with immigration here in Canada. So the question is: despite all of its touted successes, is the system on the way to failure if it keeps on its present course ?

MAJOR CHANGES TO THE CITIZENSHIP ACT

Beginning January 1st, 2015, the application fee to apply for citizenship will increase to $530 for each adult applicant.  Many other changes beyond application fees are being introduced that will have more significant impact on the nature of Canadian citizenship.

In the coming days, we shall post blogs in regard to the major changes that have been made in Canada’s Citizenship law, discuss what we believe the effects of these changes will be. To begin, we will outline some of the changes to be made.  When the law comes into force, to become a Citizen, a Permanent Resident will have to:

·         be physically present in Canada for at least 1,460 ( 4 years)  days during the six years immediately before the date of  the application ( the current requirement is 3 out of 4 years);

·         the applicant must be physically present in Canada for at least 183 days during each of four calendar years within this six years (this bring us back to the  residency requirements of the pre 2002 Immigration Act);

·         Must file a return of income in respect to the four taxation years within the six years; (logically proof of this will have to filed with the application);

·         MUST intend to reside in Canada once he obtained citizenship ( this in our view is a section that is highly problematic and our next blog will deal with it in great detail);

·         The age for which language and knowledge testing will be required will be raised to 65    (meaning that you will be expected to meet the language and knowledge requirements until that age);

·         It should also be noted that the language requirements will have to be met on the date of the application, and not when they call you in, it is our understanding that they will require applicants to submit test results (CELPIP-G, IELTS or TEF with the application);

·         ENFORCMENT will be a major focus. 

o    Grounds for the denial of citizenship for “reasons of national security” will be expanded ( it should be understood that one does not need to have a criminal record to be excluded for “reasons of national security”);

o    Revocation of Citizenship process will be streamlined (we expect that revocations will go up - meaning that they will go after individuals to revoke their citizenship- including we believe due to alleged contravention of the “ intent to reside” provision;

 

All of the above, we believe will have major impact on applicants and will be discussed in greater detail in our future blogs. 

There are also;

-New provisions to address various classes of people who have been left without citizenships due to previous changes in the law.

- Greater ability to share information with other departments (this will facilitate greater and wider investigations of the applications for fraud, misrepresentation etc).

-“allowance for alternative proofs of citizenship including establishing citizenship by electronic means “ .

Long Delay in Citizenship Processing

In a recent article,  Metro News  http://metronews.ca/news/canada/1249955/new-canadian-questions-reasons-for-long-delay-in-getting-citizenship/, questions the reasons for the long delay in citizenship applications.

We know the answer.

The answer is found (in large part) in an Operational Bulletin  which was released by Citizenship and Immigration  in May, 2012. Operational Bulletin  407, directs CIC to send out a second  Residency  Questionnaires to persons applying for Citizenship and to request more supporting documents to substantiate the claimed periods of residency in Canada.  This bulletin can now be found on the internet, http://residencequestionnaire.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/atip-op407.pdf , but it was not posted for public viewing on the CIC website. This Residency Questionnaire was sent out to so many applicants, that it inevitably slowed down the overall processing of the applications since that time, and created a backlog of cases.  In addition, there were many investigations, not only in regard to citizenship requirements but also in many cases, to whether the people applying for citizenship met their Permanent Resident residency requirements.

Clearly, going forward, with the many upcoming Citizenship changes, which we will discuss in our future blogs,  we can say that residency questionnaires and investigations into applicants permanent residency requirements, foreshadowed the reality of how Citizenship applications will be treated and processed under the new Citizenship law. It should be of great concern to those who are thinking of applying for citizenship. 

The only thing that we can say is that if you are thinking of applying for citizenship you should apply now before the new law comes in effect at the end of May, 2015, because it will not get better, or least it does not appear to be so.

POLYGAMOUS AND FORCED MARRIAGES

We have moved to our new offices at Hullmark Centre,  4773 Yonge Street, Suite 3F, at the south-east corner of Yonge and Sheppard. With priority to a particularly heavy case load for the past month,  and planning and executing our move, we unfortunately could not devote adequate time to some of our other functions. Posting blogs was one of them. Now that we have settled in, we will make a conscientious effort to post our blogs about the many developments in immigration law and policy on a regular basis.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chris-alexander-to-ban-immigrants-in-polygamous-forced-marriages-1.2824320

The announcement of changes to ban “immigrant in polygamous, forced marriages” seems to be little more than an election-time promise.  It has to be because the idea seems unnecessary and redundant, as the Act and Regulations already preclude spousal sponsorships by Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents who have more than one spouse at the time. R. 5 (b)(i) of the IRPR reads:

5. Excluded relationships -  For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered

 (b) the spouse of a person if

(i) the foreign national or the person was, at the time of their marriage, the spouse of another person, or …

Thus, the provision related to polygamy is "no news";  the Minister already has tools at his disposal to  deal with the issue.

The issues of  "honour killings" and "forced marriages" which  the above newspaper article discusses, is something else.  First of all, under the Criminal Code of Canada killing of any sort is murder for which punishment is already prescribed by the Criminal Code. So there is nothing new here either.

The question of "forced marriages", however, is new, and it will be interesting to see how the proposed legislation defines it and, better still, what methodology it will develop to identify such cases. Will it be limited solely to polygamous marriages or will it be "forced marriages" in general. Dare we contemplate the number of people worldwide who have been coerced , one way or another,  into a marriage "not out of love"!

However, the real issue, obscured by all this bureaucratic hoopla, is the fact that many people in non-polygamous marriages get caught up in this  problem, those from Islamic countries in particular, because they have separated and are in the process of divorcing their spouse, when they marry their new wife. Because the divorce is not finalized at the time of the new marriage, Immigration Canada refuses their application to sponsor their new spouse, based on 5 (b)(i) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Anchor Babies

The following article illustrates another example where the current government raises fear over a non-problem to change the very nature of Canadian citizenship.

 http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2014/08/18/ottawa_urged_to_remove_citizenship_by_birth_on_canadian_soil.html

The proposal seems to be yet another example of poorly conceptualized policy and law changes, without adequately thinking through the possible consequences they may occasion if implemented.

 

In this case, the "field" appears to have a firmer grip on reality than the "think-tanks" at the National Headquarters. The CBSA is correctly warning the government that these changes will end up costing the Canadian taxpayers disproportionately to the benefits they may realize, while creating operational nightmares. The Government and its “legal beagles”, however, set on their preconceived course,  appear to be deaf to these alarm bells.

 

The whole endeavor seems to be predicated on the irrational obsession with the guarding and protecting of Canadian citizenship. We are constantly reminded by the bureaucrats that "citizenship is a precious privilege" and that the abuse of "Canada's generosity" must be terminated. While one is hard-pressed to put forth convincing arguments against such noble intents, the fact is that this is all based on presumptions, presuppositions and "urban anecdotes". The sad truth is that no government agency keeps statistics on live births to non-status parents in Canada, how many of these babies accompany their parents if the parents are removed or otherwise leave Canada, nor how many of them return in adulthood to sponsor their parents and bring them to Canada. And given the moratorium on the sponsorship of parents, which has practically wiped out that entire class of immigrants, does it really  matter?

 

Canada has signed international conventions that commit us not to make people stateless. Canada is a signatory to the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Yet, the current government is apparently prepared to turn a blind eye and abrogate all those commitments. It finds justification for its intent in the fact that currently only Canada and the United States offer "birth on soil" ("anchor babies" is a disparaging terminology common in the United States) provisions, as if that in itself has no  intrinsic values which sets us apart from the rest of the world.

 

Let us look at an example. Palestinians, who for generations have been moving from country to country never acquire citizenship of any state. Under the proposed changes, children of Palestinians seeking protection  in Canada, would be born in Canada but would not have Canadian citizenship. Then, if the claim of their parents fails, there would be no government to give these babies citizenship and travel documents, hence making it impossible for them to accompany their families if the parents are required to leave Canada and return to the country they came from. Canada, in that scenario, would in fact be engaging in the breaking up of families and making these children a ward of the state.

 

This could also happen to a family that is here on temporary purposes, with no intention of immigrating to Canada, or seeking protection.

 

Losing Canadian Citizenship and Permanent Residence

As if to confirm our last blog posting, the Federal Court recently not only allowed the removal of Canadian citizenship from a family, but also imposed $63, 000 of costs on them. Costs which are very high in Citizenship and Immigration litigation.

 

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/28/blatantly-lying-loses-family-its-citizenship-but-earns-them-a-63k-bill-from-canadian-government/

 

This article illustrates the reality that our warnings are not us “crying wolf” but a true reflection of today’s reality when it comes to Canadian Citizenship and Permanent Residence. The final piece of advice, while seemingly self-serving, is as true. It is wise when dealing with such matters to seek the assistance not only of experienced litigators but of litigators experienced in Citizenship and Immigration matters, and the Federal Court, because such litigation is highly specialized and unique.

 

For those interested this is link to the actual decision of the Federal Court,

 

http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fc-cf/decisions/en/item/70932/index.do?r=AAAAAQAISG9jaGFpbWUAAAAAAQ

 

Finally, a warning to many clients who have been misled by  so called “professionals” .  Lets just say that maintaining status and citizenship in Canada, is no longer “easy” as you were made to believe, and if you wish to remain Canadian Permanent Residents and Canadian Citizens you better take proactive steps to protect your status. We also believe that criminal prosecutions in certain cases will be a growing reality.

Detentions & Deportations

Recent articles dealing with different subjects, one on deportation of a long-time Canadian and the other about detention, reflect the new reality of Canadian immigration; the focus is no longer on attracting people to Canada, but rather, on kicking people out.

http://www.truenorthtimes.ca/2014/06/16/government-deporting-man-whose-citizenship-revoked-media-grants-sainthood/

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/they-march-in-ottawa-to-push-for-end-to-immigration-detention

Few are safe from this trend. As can be seen from the deportation story, even people who have been citizens for decades are not exempt from losing their citizenship, and facing deportation.

Permanent Residents should be aware that they are most vulnerable to this problem when they are applying for citizenship, as the government is checking carefully not only that you meet the residency requirements for citizenship, but also going back to check for other problems of possible misrepresentation (for example failing to declare a spouse at the time of landing).

The government is also evaluating other inadmissibility criteria including examining whether individuals have met the residency requirement for maintaining one’s PR status. In fact, it seems that the government  is deliberately delaying processing of citizenship applications across the country, not only to ensure that persons have maintained the Permanent Residency requirement prior to applying for citizenship, but also ensuring that they have stayed in Canada and maintained their residency requirements after they applied for citizenship. That is, if you applied in 2012, and the application is not processed until 2014, the government may check whether you have been out of the country since 2012, and may look as far back as five years prior to your date of application, in this case, looking to 2009, if during that time period, you have been out of the Canada.

As for detention, it is becoming a reality for an increasing number of people, including tourists.  It is not only alarming  that tourists who happen to be confused at the port of entry and do not answer questions to the satisfaction of the very aggressive CBSA are increasingly  being detained, but even more alarming is the length of time for which they are being detained. They are often being detained for  a month or more without being allowed out on bond and then deported back.  Even when released, their bonds are often astronomical compared to what you see in criminal cases. In these detention cases, bonds are often in the tens of thousands of dollars. The new reality of Canadian immigration is casting an increasingly wider net and legitimate applicants, even Canadians, may risk being caught up in it.