At Bellissimo Immigration Law Group PC, we are privileged to work on behalf of many wonderful people, companies and associations. We represent immigration applicants from far outside Canada, from the time they step foot into the country’s airport waiting rooms all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Our immigration clients often tell us after their case is concluded that it would have helped to know of similar stories that are real and not just what you hear on the street. So every month, we post a few stories to celebrate our immigration success stories and offer some comfort to those who will soon embark on a similar journey…
A man from central Asia was recently successful in his Convention refugee claim on the basis of his imputed political opinion. We prepared an extensive collection of documents for this client, including a great deal of evidence about how human rights defenders are treated in his country of origin. Thanks to keen preparation and strong supporting evidence, our client received an oral decision at the end of his refugee hearing granting his claim.
A woman from Iraq, fleeing gender-based and religious persecution, was accepted as a refugee at the conclusion of her refugee hearing. Our office worked closely with the claimant to gather documentation and prepare her to testify. The Member accepted that the claimant was credible and that state protection would not exist for her in Iraq. The Member also accepted that the claimant’s decision not to claim refugee protection in two countries prior to her arrival in Canada did not undermine her fear of persecution.
She will be applying for permanent residence in 2013, establishing a permanent home for herself in Canada.
Championing the need for procedural fairness, the Honourable Mr. Justice Phelan allowed our client’s appeal of his refused Canadian citizenship application. Working with our client, we established that his complete application for citizenship was likely not put before the Citizenship Judge deciding his application. By use of affidavit evidence, we demonstrated that this evidence was substantial and compelling, and may have led the Citizenship Judge to make a different finding.
His citizenship application has been returned to Citizenship and Immigration Canada for determination by a new Citizenship Judge.
In our recent case, the Applicant had applied for permanent residence in the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). His wife and children were accompanying dependents, and his wife’s form mistakenly said that she had not been refused a visa to Canada or any other country. In reality, she had previously been refused a visitor visa to Canada. Because of this, he was found to be inadmissible based on misrepresentation for a period of 2 years. At Court, we argued that although the incorrectly checked box was certainly an error, it was not a material error, as it could not have affected the processing or outcome of the Applicant’s permanent residence application. Regardless of his wife’s past visa refusal, this would not have affected investigations into her admissibility to Canada, nor would it have affected the Applicant’s eligibility in the PNP program. Finally, this past visa refusal was already known to CIC either way, as they were the authority which refused this application in the first place.
Our arguments succeeded at Court, which is a wonderful resolution for this family.