Immigration AppealAppeal
A successful immigration application is naturally the best result. However, there will always be times when things go wrong and many applicants don’t know how to deal with situations such as visa refusal, entry denial, and deportation. Canada is a country that emphasizes procedural justice. In theory, at every step, you will be informed of what actions you can take next.
The Federal Department of Immigration and Border Protection (IRCC) and the Border Services Agency (CBSA) are the two real authorities involved in visas and admissions. What should I do if I disagree with their decision?
First, you can seek help from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). This committee has four branches, each dealing with different issues.
Immigration review branch ID: Immigration Division, which is mainly used to re-examine the opinions of the Border Bureau, confirm the border access conditions (Admissibility Hearing), and review immigration detention bail.
IAD: Immigration Appeal Division, mainly used to challenge this branch. This is the branch we want to focus on. The functions of this branch are at least: appeals for reunification immigrants, appeals for permanent residents who have not met their residency obligations, and removal orders. appeals etc.
RPD: Refugee Protection Division, determines whether a person is a refugee.
Refugee Appeal Division RAD: If the RPD determines that a person is not a refugee, the applicant (in certain circumstances) can appeal to the RAD.
The IRB is a relatively independent organization and does not take orders from the Department of Immigration, so the decisions it makes are usually fair and objective. In an IRB case, the applicant (appellant) and the Immigration Department are equivalent to the plaintiff and the defendant. Both parties insist on their own opinions. The applicant provides his or her own evidence. The Immigration Department may question the applicant's evidence or provide contrary evidence. , and the IRB members (Members) act as judges, making decisions and giving reasons.
The immigration law clearly stipulates which cases have the right to appeal, and the rest of the cases do not. As long as you have the right to appeal, even if you ultimately fail, you will get detailed reasons from the IRB.
What's the use of giving a reason if you fail? it works! First of all, you will know where you have shortcomings, and you can make up for it by signing again. Finally, you can apply for judicial review (Judicial Review) of the losing result based on the reasons.
Judicial Review and Remedies in the Federal Court
Judicial review is the ultimate appeal channel. During the judicial review process, the court only looks at whether the decision-maker's decision is correct (Correct) or reasonable (Reasonable), and usually does not look at new evidence. The IRB can reverse the previous decision under certain circumstances, but the court can only rule that the previous decision is set aside and order it to be re-examined by another visa officer, immigration officer or IRB member. If the court does not approve Leave, the applicant will lose the case, and this decision is final. If the court approves the applicant's Leave, a judicial review hearing will be held within a few months, that is, a court session. Judicial review is usually limited to the legal aspect. There are usually no witnesses and no jury. It is just lawyers from both sides arguing in front of the judge.
The result of judicial review is simply that the applicant loses the case or the Immigration Department loses the case. If the Immigration Department loses the case, the case will be retried and the previous decision will be discarded. The judge will write a judgment of a certain length, which will become part of the law and can be cited in subsequent cases.
If the visa is rejected, should we choose to apply again? Or appeal?
1. Sometimes there is no choice but to appeal, such as being accused of false statements, such as refugees, or being unable to apply again due to policy changes after being refused a skilled immigrant visa. At this time, you should appeal immediately and make a last-ditch effort.
2. For cases where the visa officer obviously made a mistake, you can consider using methods other than appeal to resolve the case first, which may overturn the case faster than appealing.
3. For applications such as overseas tourist visas and study visas, re-issuing should be the main method, and appeals should be supplemented. After all, the visa officer has great power in applying for this type of application. It is very likely that the application will be approved if you change it, and re-signing will consume a lot of energy. It is much smaller than an appeal. Moreover, if the appeal is successful, it is nothing more than changing the visa officer and re-examining it. Only when the visa is rejected after many times, or the reason for the rejection is obviously unreasonable, an appeal can be considered.
4. For cases such as reunion immigration, the decision should be made after comprehensively considering the pros and cons of appeal and re-issuing based on the waiting time, the richness of the case, the probability of successful appeal, etc.
Finally, whether in an IRB appeal or in a federal court judicial review process, the choice of attorney is particularly important.
Finally, it is important to note that appeals before the IRB can be represented by licensed immigration consultants, whereas judicial review proceedings in federal court can only be represented by attorneys.