Federal Court Overturns Unjust Refusal of Self-Employed Applicant’s Application
Our client was refused permanent residence under the self-employed persons class after the officer concluded that our client lacked the relevant experience to be self-employed in Canada, despite extensive evidence showing they had been self-employed for more than the required time. Further complicating matters, the officer conducted a web search and determined that our client’s company in Canada was not operating, despite evidence to the contrary provided by our client with their application. The officer relied on these extrinsic resources in making their decision to refuse the application, but the web search results were neither disclosed to our client nor was our client given an opportunity to respond.
Recognizing a breach of procedural fairness, our legal team took the case to the Federal Court. We argued that the officer’s reliance on undisclosed extrinsic resources resulted in an unfair and unreasonable decision. The court agreed, highlighting that officers cannot use external sources to question an applicant’s credibility without first disclosing those sources and providing an opportunity for the applicant to respond.
As a result, the Federal Court decided in our client’s favor, and the application has been sent back to IRCC for redetermination. We wish our client continued success as they move forward in their journey to settle permanently in Canada!