Our Recent Immigration Success Stories

This Week’s Success Story: Humanitarian and Compassionate Arguments Overcomes Challenging Inadmissibility and Leads to Successful PR!

A young family entered Canada nearly 5 years ago and made a refugee claim fleeing their country of nationality seeking refuge from threats and risks born from a secret society/cult. Despite the continuing dangers, their refugee claim was rejected. Seeking to protect themselves and primarily their young child, they appealed the decision to the Refugee Appeal Division, which was still unsuccessful, so then turned to the Federal Court, which application was also dismissed. Desperate, they applied for permanent residence under an H&C application. The families’ circumstances were examined, and they received an approval in principle – first stage approval, an exemption. However, then, they faced a finding of inadmissibility for medical inadmissibility.

In the time they were in Canada they had another child whose circumstances needed to be considered. We worked with the family and the medical professionals involved in the family member’s care, determining that the anticipated costs were in fact over the 5-year threshold as suggested, although advocated that the overage was not excessive providing proof, and also argued that when also considering the family’s collective circumstances, if needed, any further exemption should be granted. We got to work on presenting both a plan for continued care in Canada and the negative effects that would befall the entire family, which included two young children if the application was refused for medical inadmissibility. When Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) examined both their medical and non-medical factors, their application was finally approved, allowing the family to remain together, safe in Canada.

Judicial Review of PR Refusal Allowed

Our client retained us following the refusal of her permanent residence application. We challenged the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, where Leave was granted and the matter proceeded to a Judicial Review hearing. With extensive case law research and  preparation of both written and oral arguments, we were able to achieve an excellent result for our client. The Application for Judicial Review was allowed and the Officer’s decision was set aside. Our client’s application for permanent residence will be remitted back to another Officer for redetermination, where she will be allowed to provide additional evidence and legal submissions. We are thrilled we were able to achieve such a wonderful result for our client and wish her all the best in her journey to become a Permanent Resident of Canada! 

Settlement Offered at the Federal Court

Our client came to us with the refusal of her temporary resident visa (TRV) application and wanted to know her options. Upon review of the refusal letter, we suggested that our client challenge the decision to the Federal Court of Canada, as it appeared unreasonable. Once we received the Rule 9 (reasons for the decision), we crafted our legal arguments and filed all materials with the Court. Upon receipt of the Production Order (order requiring a record of all the information before the Officer at the time of its decision i.e. the “Certified Tribunal Record” to be provided to the parties before Leave is granted), we received a letter from the Department of Justice on behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offering a settlement to our client. The settlement outlined that the application would be re-opened and reviewed by a different IRCC Officer and our client would be given the opportunity to provide additional materials and submissions in support of her application. We are thrilled that we were able to achieve such a result and hope our client can visit Canada soon!

Codified Law Changes Aid in Application Approval despite Medical Inadmissibility

We recently worked on a medical inadmissibility matter for a client who had a pre-existing health condition that was identified will cause an excessive demand in Canada, particularly the province of Manitoba. The condition in this case was Ulcerative Colitis, which was determined to be excessive because of the cost of treatment with Janus kinase inhibitors, which would normally be over the yearly threshold of $24,057. In relying on the codified law changes implemented in March 2022, we submitted an individualized assessment, considering all the client’s factors, identifying what is required to be assessed is how that service was be delivered and paid for in Canada, also examining how the treatment was funded in the province. The plan was built on these factors and based on these arguments, it was determined that a certain level of demand is acceptable and will not always be an impediment to the admissibility of an applicant. In this case, the client’s application was approved!