Inadmissibility
Procedural Fairness Letter
A procedural fairness letter is an email or letter electronically sent by an immigration officer. The officer sends that letter to allow a visa candidate to respond to a concern about the documents that have been submitted by a visa seeker if circumstances have changed from the time you submitted your application and the time it is being reviewed by an Immigration Officer.
If you receive a letter like this, the first thing you should do is take it extremely seriously. IRCC rarely gives applicants the opportunity to respond to specific concerns, and so any response to these letters should be as thorough and complete as possible, to try to alleviate any concerns the officer may have. It is suggested that any recipient of a Procedural Fairness letter contact us at Gold Coast Immigration Services to assist in providing a response that will satisfy CBSA or IRCC.
Criminal Inadmissibility
Importantly, foreign nationals may additionally be found to be inadmissible for criminality under the following circumstances:
- Being convicted in Canada of one offence under the Criminal Code of Canada that is punishable by way of indictment or for being convicted of two offences that have not arisen from a single occurrence;
- Being convicted outside of Canada of an offence that if committed in Canada would constitute an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada that is punishable by way of indictment or for being convicted of two offences on separate occasions outside of Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an offence;
- For committing an offence outside of Canada that is both an offence in the place where it was committed and would constitute an indictable offence under the Criminal Code of Canada if it had been committed in Canada; and
- For committing an offence under an Act of Parliament prescribed by regulations on entering Canada.
There are some important considerations for those individuals who may be inadmissible. These are listed at subsection 36(3) of the IRPA:
- Hybrid offences (those that may be prosecuted either summarily or by way of indictment) are deemed indictable offences for the purposes of determining inadmissibility;
- Inadmissibility may not be based on a conviction for which a record suspension has been ordered. This record suspension cannot have been revoked or ceased;
- Inadmissibility may not be based on a conviction for which a certificate of rehabilitation has been issued by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada; and
- Inadmissibility may not be based on a contravention of the Contraventions Act, or for a finding of guilt under the Young Offenders Actor the current Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In order to overcome a criminal inadmissibility, you may utilize the TRP, Deemed or Full Rehabilitation, or via appeal route to the IAD of the IRB.
Medical Inadmissibility
Medical inadmissibility affects anyone applying to visit, study, work or live permanently in Canada. There are 3 possible reasons for medical inadmissibility:
Danger to Public Health
You may be refused entry to Canada if IRCC feels that your health condition will endanger Canada’s public health. This decision is based on the results of your immigration medical exam.
Factors Considered:
- your immigration medical exam results, including:
- laboratory test results by third party physicians that we designate; or
- any other specialist reports that our medical officers request.
- whether you may have certain infectious diseases, such as active tuberculosis or active syphilis, or whether you’ve been in close contact with others with an infectious disease; and
- how your disease could affect other people living in Canada.
Danger to public safety
We may refuse your application if we believe that your health condition will endanger public safety. This decision is based on the results of your immigration medical exam. We’ll consider your risk of:
- sudden incapacity (loss of physical and mental abilities); or
- unpredictable or violent behaviour.
Excessive demand on health or social services
Your application may be refused if your health condition might cause an excessive demand on health or social services. This decision is based on the results of your immigration medical exam.
Your condition is considered to cause an excessive demand if:
- the health or social services needed to treat your health condition would negatively affect wait times for services in Canada; or
- the services needed to treat and manage your health condition would likely cost more than the excessive demand cost threshold.
Exceptions
Medical inadmissibility rules for excessive demand reasons don’t apply to:
- refugees and their dependants;
- protected persons; or
- certain people being sponsored by their family, such as dependent children, spouses and common-law partners.
Misrepresentation
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) sets out that a foreign national or permanent resident can be found to have misrepresented for many reasons some of which include:
- Providing information to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that is inconsistent, inaccurate, or incomplete, and that as a result has or could induce an error in the administration of the IRPA;
- Withholding material facts from IRCC or CBSA that are relevant to the matter and that, as a result, has or could induce an error in the administration of the IRPA;
- Being sponsored by an individual who has been found to be inadmissible for misrepresentation;
- Following the vacation of a decision to allow of a claim or application for refugee protection; or
- Following cessation of citizenship based on a determination that this status was obtained by false representation or fraud or knowingly concealing material circumstances.
Examples of material misrepresentations (that could induce an error) would be:
- Failure to declare that you have been refused a visa for another country;
- Providing a document that is found to not be genuine;
- Failure to mention a family member;
- Declare employment experience which you do not have; or
- Engage in a non-genuine marriage.
Examples of non-material misrepresentations (that could not induce an error) or is of limited relevance could be in certain circumstances:
- Reversing the date and month of birth on an application;
- Indicating being single when widowed; or
- Providing correct and consistent information on multiple forms except one.
Misrepresented information can be provided (or omitted) by the main (principal) applicant, a family member, or your representative. In all cases, it is the principal applicant who is at fault – even if they were not aware that the misrepresentation occurred.
Whether the application was made inside or outside of Canada, the Visa Officer who identified the potential misrepresentation will then assess submissions provided and then make a final decision. If the decision thereafter is that a finding of misrepresentation still stands, you will receive a 5-year bar on re-application. This five-year ban commences once you are removed from Canada.
Temporary Resident Permit
If you’re otherwise inadmissible but have a reason to travel to Canada that is justified in the circumstances, you may be issued a temporary resident permit.
To be eligible for a temporary resident permit, your need to enter or stay in Canada must outweigh the health or safety risks to Canadian society, as determined by an immigration or a border services officer. Even if the reason you’re inadmissible seems minor, you must demonstrate that your visit is justified.
There is no guarantee that you’ll be issued a temporary resident permit.
Rehabilitation
Criminal Rehabilitation
As opposed to deemed rehabilitation, which is concerned with how much time has passed since a crime was committed, individual rehabilitation involves an assessment of whether a person is likely to commit new crimes. Individual rehabilitation also involves a formal application process. In order to apply for individual rehabilitation, individuals must be able to show:
- That they meet the relevant criteria;
- That they have been rehabilitated;
- That they are unlikely to take part in future crimes;
- That, at least five years have passed since the end of their criminal sentence, including probation; or
- That, at least five years have passed since they committed the original crime.
Deemed Rehabilitation
A person can be deemed to be rehabilitated if enough time has passed since he or she has committed a crime. In order to be deemed rehabilitated, a person must have committed a crime that comes with a jail term of less than ten years or less than five years depending on the crime. Being deemed rehabilitated does not involve an application process. It merely involves showing a Canadian official that enough time has passed since you last committed a crime.