News
September 7, 2021
Canada Opens Borders for International Travellers
On September 7, 2021, new measures for fully vaccinated foreign nationals who meet the conditions to enter Canada came into force.
Foreign nationals are now eligible to enter Canada for discretionary (non-essential) purposes, including tourism, if these individuals meet all of the following conditions:
- they must have received, and have proof of, full series of a vaccine (or combination of vaccines) accepted by the Government of Canada (currently, these accepted vaccines are Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2), Moderna (mRNA-1273), AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222), and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S)) at least 14 days prior to entering Canada;
- they must have, regardless of their vaccination status, a valid pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test result (antigen tests are not accepted) taken no more than 72 hours before the departure time of their flight to Canada or no more than 72 hours before their entry into Canada if arriving by land or water. Foreign nationals who previously had COVID-19 and recovered must have a positive COVID-19 molecular test result taken between 14 and 180 days before their departure to Canada. They must retain a copy (in paper or electronic form) of their COVID-19 molecular test results, proof of vaccination, and the originals of any certified translations of these documents for verification at the Canadian border and for 14 days following their arrival in Canada;
- they must not have COVID-19 symptoms;
- they must submit mandatory information via ArriveCAN (application or website), including proof of vaccination in English or French, a quarantine plan, and information about their unvaccinated children under 18 years and dependent adults, within 72 hours before their arrival to Canada, but in any case, before boarding their flight to Canada or prior to arriving at the land border crossing (or when entering Canada by water), and have ArriveCAN receipt – either on their mobile device, email, or a printed copy;
- they must be admissible under the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and
- they must take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival, if randomly selected for the border testing surveillance program.
Travellers who are not fully vaccinated but eligible to enter Canada (such as those who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents or are protected persons (have refugee status in Canada)) are subject to mandatory quarantine and all COVID-19 testing requirements (pre-arrival, upon arrival/day 1, and on day 8 of their arrival) and the obligation to submit travel, contact, and quarantine information through ArriveCAN.
Starting August 9, 2021, unvaccinated children under 12 years of age of fully vaccinated parents and/or guardians are exempt from quarantine after entering Canada when accompanied by their fully vaccinated parent(s)/guardian(s). They, however, must follow increased public health measures, including not attending daycare or school for 14 days following their entering Canada.
Unvaccinated children who are between 12 to 17 years of age and dependent children who are 18 years of age or older may enter Canada with their fully vaccinated parents and/or guardians, but are subject to the 14-day quarantine after their arrival to Canada.
All unvaccinated children who are 5 years of age or older are subject to day 1 and day 8 of their arrival to Canada COVID-19 testing requirements.
Direct commercial and private passenger flights from India are suspended until at least September 21, 2021 and from Morocco — until at least September 29, 2021. Nationals from these countries travelling to Canada via an indirect route while these flight suspensions are in place must obtain a pre-departure COVID-19 molecular test result from a third country before continuing their way to Canada.
Please contact us without delay if you need more information or professional legal assistance in Canadian immigration matters.
August 9, 2021
Canadian Federal Court Rules That IRCC Unreasonably Delayed Processing Permanent Residency Application
The Canadian Federal Court has recently ruled in case Almuhtadi v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) that the delay of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) in processing the applicants’ permanent residency application was unreasonable and that IRCC failed to provide an adequate justification for that delay.
The applicants are a family of Syrian nationals: Ms. Ghufran Almuhtadi; her husband, Mr. Abdulrhman Taskia; and their son, Yazan Taskia (the “Applicants”). Mr. Taskia was born in Syria. He moved to Saudi Arabia where he opened his own business. Ms. Almuhtadi was also born in Syria and moved to Saudi Arabia soon after she married Mr. Taskia.
Mr. Taskia’s legal residence in Saudi Arabia depended on his ability to financially invest in the country. In December 2015, Mr. Taskia began to worry about meeting the requirements to renew his legal residence status in Saudi Arabia because of his worsening financial situation.
The Applicants feared returning to Syria because they have family members associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and believed they would be considered opponents of the current Syrian regime. The Applicants therefore came to Canada in January 2016 and made a claim for refugee protection. In a decision dated September 21, 2016, the Refugee Protection Division found the Applicants were Convention refugees because they met the refugee definition in the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
The Applicants then applied for permanent resident status in October 2016. They acted diligently throughout the application process and completed all of IRCC’s requests in a timely manner. In a letter dated October 17, 2017, IRCC informed the Applicants that they met the eligibility requirements to apply for permanent resident status. In May 2018, IRCC provided the Applicants with medical examination instructions by email which the Applicants completed at the end of that month.
Because of a delay in processing their permanent residency application, the Applicants contacted IRCC many times to confirm the status of their application. However, IRCC did not inform the Applicants of the reason for the delay. IRCC’s agents only told the Applicants that their application was “still in progress” and that IRCC would “make all the necessary efforts to finalize the application as soon as possible.”
On February 26, 2020, the Applicants’ counsel filed an application for judicial review. The counsel argued that IRCC’s delay in processing the permanent residency application of their clients was unreasonable. The counsel accordingly sought an order of mandamus, requiring IRCC to process the Applicant’s application on an expedited basis.
The court said the application for judicial review raised the following issues:
- Whether the delay in processing the Applicants’ permanent residency application was unreasonable?
- Whether the balance of convenience favours IRCC?
As for the first issue, the court held that a delay may be unreasonable if the following three conditions are met:
- the delay in question is prima facie longer than the nature of the process required;
- the applicants are not responsible for the delay; and
- the authority responsible for the delay has not provided satisfactory justification.
The court ruled that the first two conditions of the above test are met. It held that the delay in question is prima facie longer than the nature of the process required. The Applicants have waited approximately 57 months for their application for permanent residency to be processed which is far beyond (even in light of the COVID-19 pandemic) the average processing time of 21 months for applications for permanent residency for Convention refugees, the court added.
The court also ruled that the Applicants are not responsible for the delay because they satisfied the procedural requirements of the Canadian immigration legislation by providing the necessary supporting documentation and paying the required processing fees.
As for the third condition, the court ruled that IRCC failed to provide a satisfactory justification for the unreasonable delay in processing the Applicants’ permanent residency application. To justify the delay, IRCC argued that security clearance was pending for Mr. Taskia and that issuing an order of mandamus would abort an important security investigation. IRCC however did not provide any details of the security concerns aside from making a statement that the Applicants’ family members are involved in an organization that are considered enemies of the current Syrian regime. However, that statement applies to the Applicants equally, not Mr. Taskia only, and was not raised by IRCC or the CBSA in the record, the court said.
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the court further found the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully explain IRCC’s delay. That delay also was not justified by the fact that IRCC’s processing of the Applicants’ permanent residency application was contingent upon outstanding processes at the National Security Screening Division, the court added.
The court responded negatively to the issue of whether the balance of convenience favours IRCC. It held that the balance of convenience favours the Applicants considering how IRCC’s delay affected their lives.
The court therefore ruled that IRCC’s delay in processing the Applicants’ permanent residency application was unreasonable. It granted the Applicants’ application for judicial review, ordered IRCC to determine the Applicants’ permanent residency application within 30 days from the date of the court’s decision, and awarded the Applicants $1,500 in costs.
The above case demonstrates that using services of an immigration lawyer in your permanent or temporary immigration project can substantially improve the chances of success of your project.
Please contact us without delay if you need professional legal assistance in Canadian immigration matters.
July 21, 2021
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to Hold Lottery for 2021 Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program
The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, announced on July 20, 2021 that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) intends to hold a lottery to select up to 30,000 applications from potential sponsors (Canadian citizens and permanent residents) under Canada’s 2021 Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program, in addition to 10,000 potential sponsors that IRCC already selected in January 2021. Parents and grandparents who are approved and sponsored under the Program become Canadian permanent residents and may eventually apply for Canadian citizenship.
Over the course of two weeks from the lottery that is schedule to take place in the week of September 20, 2021, IRCC will be sending invitations to file a sponsorship application to selected applicants who have submitted an interest to sponsor form in 2020. These potential sponsors will then have sixty days to file an electronic sponsorship application using IRCC’s new Permanent Resident Digital Intake tool.
The Minister also announced that for the 2020 tax year, the income requirement for potential sponsors will continue to be assessed as the minimum necessary income, instead of the minimum necessary income plus 30 percent. Also, regular Employment Insurance benefits, Canada Emergency Response Benefits and other temporary COVID-19 benefits will be allowed to be included in the sponsor’s income.
Potential sponsors who filed an interest to sponsor form in 2020 but are not invited to file a sponsorship application in 2021, may reapply by submitting an interest to sponsor form for Canada’s 2022 Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship Program. They may also consider applying for a super visa that allows multiple entries of their parents or grandparents to Canada for up to two years at a time, for a maximum period of ten years.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you need more information or wish to use our professional services.