Information on Canadian Immigration Appeals

All refusals made by immigration authorities can be appealed. Canada Immigration Appeals will either be made to the Immigration Appeal Division or to the Federal Court of Canada. Your Canadian Immigration Lawyer can help you in both cases.

Canadian Federal Court Appeals
Any decision that you feel is unwarranted in your immigration can be appealed by requesting a Judicial Review in Canada’s Federal Court. An overseas immigration officer’s decision to deny a visa application or the Refugee Boards Immigration department deciding to deny a refugee claim would be two examples of appealable cases. In these cases the Court would evaluate each decision to determine their legality. The Court will look to see if the decision made was in the proper jurisdiction, if it was fair, and if it was reasonable, after looking at all available evidence. The person’s Canadian Immigration Lawyer can handle the process since the applicant is not required to appear before the Court in person.
If the court decides the decision made was improper, the case will usually be referred back to a different decision-maker for re-decision. The appeal must be filed within 15 days if in Canada; the applicant has 60 days if the refusal was made outside of Canada. A Canada Immigration Lawyer will advise that in either case, to preserve your appeal rights, you should act as promptly as possible.

Appeals Made to the Immigration Appeal Division
In specific cases a refusal of an immigration application will need to be appealed through the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), a Canadian administrative tribunal. Traditionally, these appeals must be filed within 30 days of a refusal for preservation of appeal rights. Listed below are the type of cases which can be appealed through IAD:

Appeals by Sponsors: Canadian citizens or permanent residents looking to become sponsors but have had their application denied by authorities at immigration can choose to appeal this decision. Once a refusal letter is received the applicant has 30 days in which to appeal.

Residency Appeals: A person not in Canada but who has permanent residency and it has been determined this person has not fulfilled the requirements of residency may have their residency denied. A Canada Immigration Lawyer can help file the appeal within the 60 day allotted timeframe.

Appeals by Permanent Residents: If a person holding a permanent resident visa (or permanent resident) is now being found inadmissible and must leave, or has been denied residence Canada, an appeal must be filed within 30 days of receiving written notice.

Appeals by Refugees: When refugee status was originally granted and ends up being revoked, in order to prevent removal from Canada, the appeal must be made within 30 days.

If you are appealing to the Immigration Appeal Division you will want your Canada Immigration Lawyer to provide any new information as evidence to support your case. You are even allowed to come in and personally testify before a Board Member. The IAD will then review all documents and testimony to determine the legality and fairness of the original decision. Humanitarian and Compassionate factors will also be taken into consideration. If it is called for, the original decision will be overturned. In these instances, the cases are re-submitted for review to another decision-maker. IAD can also choose to deny appeal, which will result in the applicant choosing to have their Canada Immigration Lawyer appeal to the Federal Court of Canada.

If you are considering appealing a negative decision made by the Canadian immigration authorities,
please contact the law office of Matthew Jeffery for more details: www.matthewjeffery.com