Our Recent Immigration Success Stories

This Week’s Success Story: Another Federal Court Success!

A client came to our office after receiving a refusal on an application for criminal rehabilitation, which resulted in the refusal of her application for Permanent Residence under the Spousal In-Canada class. The client had one conviction overseas, completed the associated sentence, and despite ample evidence of rehabilitation, the application for criminal rehabilitation was refused. Because of this, she was still considered to be criminally inadmissible and thus her application for Permanent Residence was refused. What the client was unaware of was that her subsequently submitted application for a Temporary Resident Permit (“TRP”), that could have allowed her to remain in Canada in the event that her Permanent Residence were to be refused, was also refused though IRCC did not communicate the decision to her.

We challenged both decisions at the Federal Court. Thankfully, IRCC agreed to re-open the TRP application without a fight. The refusal of her application for criminal rehabilitation proceeded to a hearing at the Federal Court. At the hearing, we argued that the most important consideration in an application for criminal rehabilitation, the likelihood of the applicant re-offending, was not considered whatsoever in the refusal decision, rendering it unreasonable. Thankfully, the Court agreed with our position and allowed the Judicial Review, sending our client’s application for criminal rehabilitation a different IRCC Officer for a redetermination!

This Week’s Success Story: Overcoming Medical Inadmissibility (MS) Leads to Permanent Residency!

We recently received a decision on an application that had been under consideration for medical inadmissibility, specifically for excessive demand for required and continuing treatment in Canada for multiple sclerosis. In this particular matter it was complicated as the particular province requires mandatory insurance for prescriptions, and consultations and research was required to explore eligibility with the provincial authorities for insurance, then coverage for the required treatment. The results were helpful in building the Plan together with recent legislative changes to drug pricing in Canada. The Applicants are thrilled that the Plan was successful and can now call themselves permanent residents. We wish them all the best.

This Week’s Success Story: From Criminal Inadmissibility to Family Reunification!

As a loving husband and new father, our client was ready to begin a new chapter of his life with his Canadian wife and child. He applied for permanent residence through spousal sponsorship. That’s when he received a letter from the Canadian immigration authorities saying that he might be inadmissible for criminality. Years ago, as a troubled teenager with abusive parents, he had bought marijuana at a friend’s request and was subsequently arrested and convicted for drug trafficking. Now, even though that conviction seemed like a lifetime ago, it could jeopardize the security of family.

Thankfully, we were able to help our client overcome the concerns of Canadian immigration officials. We documented the extensive steps he had taken to turn his life around: finishing university, working a stable job, finding faith, and ultimately fostering a healthy marriage and becoming a father. Combined with solid legal arguments based on the most recent case law, legislation, and guidelines, Canada saw that our client was no risk to anyone and allowed him to continue living with his family.

This Week’s Success Story: Overcoming Misrepresentation Leads to TRV!

A client approached our office after receiving a refusal for an application for a Temporary Resident Visa (“TRV”) because of an alleged misrepresentation of his criminal history. He had applied in order to be able to visit his Canadian citizen family members in Canada. The client was deemed inadmissible to Canada for a period of five years as a result; he had unintentionally omitted information concerning a previous criminal charge.

We helped this client to challenge the decision at Federal Court, and thankfully IRCC agreed to re-open the application without a fight. When the TRV application was re-opened, the client received a letter from IRCC asking that he provide more information about his criminal history. The client approached our office once more for assistance with replying to the letter.

Among other things, we argued that the client had unintentionally and innocently omitted the information about his criminal charge due to a misunderstanding, that the alleged misrepresentation was not on the serious end of the spectrum and the criminal charge did not render the client criminally inadmissible. We supported our carefully drafted submissions with legal research and documentary evidence. Thanks to our work (as well as the efforts of the client and his family), IRCC approved the TRV application!