Your gateway to Canada

Immigration Newsweek

By Atty. Henry Moyal

Q. I entered Canada as visitor to visit my mother who was ill last year. I extended my stay once. I then applied for a work permit as I have an employer who is willing to hire me for a nursing position. I filed the application and completed my medical. Without notice or warning, I then received a procedural fairness letter from the Canadian Embassy in Manila stating that I have 30 days to reply to their letter as they believe I did not provide truthful answers on my application. The letter continues that my application will be refused as they suspect misrepresentation.

I have never lied on any application and I have no clue as to what they are referring to. How can I reply to a letter or explain my untruthful answers if I have no idea what question I did not answer truthfully?

A. It does sound like a mystery and is does sound like Canada Immigration is holding all the cards. It can indeed be frustrating when Canada Immigration accuses you of something when you have no idea what it is about. The good news is that Canada Immigration also must act in a procedurally fair manner and they cannot breach that. It is unreasonable for a person to reply to a procedural fairness letter within 30 days for something they know nothing about. Do not assume that Canada Immigration is always correct in what they do (although it can be a challenge to prove they were wrong) as some decisions are overturned in Federal Court and officers can make mistakes.

I have no knowledge of whether the letter sent to you was a mistake but before writing to back to the officer, I suggest speaking to your family and perhaps they was a past application that you forgot about and not disclosed on your current application. Also, look back at old applications and try to think of any reason why the Canadian Embassy is alleging misrepresentation.

If you still cannot decipher the mystery, write to the visa officer and request specifics of what they are accusing of. There are some cases in the Federal Court that are on your side.

In Mohammed v. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship the court held that “the Court is satisfied that the Officer breached procedural fairness. Visa officers have a duty to ensure that applicants have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the application . In another case (Muliadi v Canada) the Federal Court of Appeal has also recognized the general assertion that an immigration officer’s duty to act fairly extends to letting “the immigrant know what his immediate impression is so that the immigrant can disabuse him and that there is a duty for immigration officials to inform applicants of their concerns.

Q. I came to Canada for the first time as a visitor last Dec 22, 2018 from the Philippines. They did not stamp my passport at the airport so I did not have official proof of my date of entry. I did not know when my status expired until I was talking to my friend in September 2019 who told me that I was only allowed to stay legally for 6 months ( which would have been June 22, 2019). After hearing that, I mailed in an application for restoration of status on September 17, 2019. It was received by immigration on September 25, 2019. I just received a refusal letter because I did not send in the application within 90 days of expiry and therefore not eligible for restoration.

A. Canada Immigration is wrong. From the dates in your letter, your status expired June 22, 2019. You then must file a restoration application within 90 days of expiry which means you had to file by September 20, 2019.

You have mentioned that you mailed the application on September 17, 2019 which is before September 20, 2019. If mailed, it is irrelevant when they received it. It is the postmark date from Canada Post that counts.

I suggest you take a copy of the refusal letter to a professional immigration lawyer for the appropriate action to contact Canada Immigration. It may have been an oversight but if the above dates are indeed accurate, Canada Immigration made a mistake.

Once they are aware of the error, it will likely be rectified.

Attorney Henry Moyal is a certified and licensed immigration lawyer in Toronto, Ontario.
The above article is general advice only and is not intended to act as a legal document.
Send questions to Attorney Moyal by email canada@moyal.com or call 416 733 3193