Permanent Residence
EXPRESS ENTRY
Express Entry is a system that allows to apply for Permanent Residence under one of the following three federal economic immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker, Federal Skilled Trades, Canadian Experience Class.
Federal Skilled Worker
The FSW category is for skilled workers, who may become permanent residents based on their ability to become economically established in Canada, and who intend to reside in a province other than Quebec.
A “skilled worker” is a foreign national who has worked in 1 of these National Occupational Classification TEER categories: TEER 0, TEER 1, TEER 2, and TEER 3.
Federal Skilled Trades
The Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) is for people who want to become permanent residents based on being qualified in a skilled trade. Skilled trades for the Federal Skilled Trades Program are organized under these groups of the National Occupational Classification (NOC):
(1) Major Group 72 – technical trades and transportation officers and controllers (excluding Sub-Major Group 726, transportation officers and controllers)
(2) Major Group 73 – general trades
(3) Major Group 82 – supervisors in natural resources, agriculture and related production
(4) Major Group 83 – occupations in natural resources and related production
(5) Major Group 92 – processing, manufacturing and utilities supervisors, and utilities operators and controllers
(6) Major Group 93 – central control and process operators and aircraft assembly assemblers and inspectors, excluding Sub-Major Group 932, aircraft assemblers and aircraft assembly inspectors
(7) Minor Group 6320 – cooks, butchers and bakers
(8) Unit Group 62200 – chefs
Canadian Experience Class
The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is for skilled workers who have Canadian work experience and want to become permanent residents. A foreign national is not eligible for the Canadian Experience Class if:
(1) he/she is a refugee claimant in Canada
(2) he/she is working without authorization
(3) work experience was gained without temporary resident status in Canada
Skilled work experience means work experienced gained in TEER 0, 1, 2, or 3 of National Occupational Classification (NOC).
The Express Entry system consists of the following steps:
(1) Evaluating your chances for one of the Express Entry programs
(2) Creating your Express Entry profile
(3) Submitting your Express Entry profile
(4) Your profile will be raked based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
(5) Receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Permanent Residence if you scored enough points on the Comprehensive Ranking System
(6) Apply for Permanent Residence within 60 (sixty) days of receiving an ITA.
PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAMS (“PNPs”)
Provincial Nominee Programs (“PNPs”) are run by provinces/ territories to nominate qualified workers, graduates and experienced business professionals for Permanent Resident status, provided they will work and live as Permanent Residents in the nominating province/territory. Each province/territory sets minimum eligibility requirements for nomination.
Please note, receiving a nomination from a province/territory does not grant Permanent Residency in Canada. Once an applicant for PNP is approved by the province and receives a nomination, he/she must apply for Permanent Residence to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which will make the final decision.
A foreign national can qualify under a PNP by proceeding through either (1) through Express Entry or (2) by applying directly to the Provincial Nomination Program:
(1) Apply through Express Entry
(2) Apply directly to the PNP
A foreign national should apply directly to the province/territory for nomination under a non-Express Entry stream. If he/she meets the minimum eligibility requirements of the province/territory, the province/territory will issue a certificate of nomination, which the applicant must submit to IRCC along with the application for permanent residence, including all the necessary documents.
Please note, when applying directly to the PNP, application processing times are longer than through Express Entry.
FAMILY SPONSORSHIP
The following members of family class can be sponsored:
• spouses, common law partners, and conjugal partners
A “common law partner” (also known as a “common law spouse”) is a person who is cohabiting with the person in a conjugal relationship for at least 1 year; the year of cohabiting must be a continuous 12-month period.
A “conjugal partner” is a person outside Canada who has had a binding relationship with the sponsor for at least one year but who did not live together continuously for one year, usually because of legal or social obstacles, such as a separation due to war, natural disasters, and other extreme circumstances.
• dependent children
A “dependent child” is the child who is:
(i) is less than 22 years of age and is not a spouse or common-law partner, or
(ii) is 22 years of age or older and has depended substantially on the financial support of the parent since before attaining the age of 22 years and is unable to be financially self-supporting due to a physical or mental condition.
• children intended for adoption
• parents, grandparents, and their dependent children
• brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren who are orphaned, who are under 18, and who are not a spouse or common law partner
• any relative, if the sponsor is alone in Canada without family members and has none of the above family members to sponsor.
The following family members cannot be sponsored:
(1) the foreign national applicant is the sponsor’s spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner and is under 18 years of age;
(2) the sponsor is already sponsoring a spouse, common law partner, or conjugal partner, and the undertaking has not ended;
(3) the foreign national is the sponsor’s spouse and
(4) the sponsor or the foreign national at the time of their marriage was the spouse of another person;
(5)the sponsor has lived separate and apart from the applicant for at least one year and is either (A) the common law partner of another person or the conjugal partner of another foreign national, or (B) the applicant is the common law partner of another person or the conjugal partner of another sponsor; or
(6) the marriage was performed without both spouses being physically present.
(7) the applicant was a non-accompanying family member of the sponsor and was not examined when the sponsor previously applied to Canada as a permanent resident.
To qualify as a “sponsor,” a person must:
(1) be either a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident,
(2) be at least 18 years old,
(3) reside in Canada (see the exception* below),
(4) prove that you are not receiving social assistance for reasons other than a disability,
(5) be able to show that you can provide basic needs for himself/herself, his/her spouse or partner, his/her spouse or partner’s dependent child(ren) (if applicable), his/her dependent child(ren) (if sponsoring only his/er dependent child)
(6) file an application to sponsor a member of the family class.
*Generally, the sponsor must reside in Canada. An exception is made when a Canadian citizen residing outside Canada satisfies immigration officials that he will resume residence in Canada when the sponsored person becomes a permanent resident. However, permanent residents, while living abroad, may not sponsor.
A person cannot be a “sponsor” if he/she:
(1) is in default on an immigration loan or a performance bond
(2) did not pay court-ordered alimony or child support
(3) has declared bankruptcy which has not been discharged
(4) were convicted of an offence of a sexual nature, a violent crime, an offence against a relative that caused bodily harm or threatened or attempted to commit any of the above offences
(5) are sponsoring a spouse or partner and you were previously sponsored as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner and became a permanent resident of Canada less than five years ago,
(6) are under a removal order,
(7) are in a penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison,
(8) have already applied to sponsor your current spouse or partner and haven’t received a decision.
REFUGEE PROTECTION CLAIMS
The concept of refugee protection relates to people who:
• are determined to be Convention refugees or are persons in similar circumstances under a visa application overseas and have been allowed to come to Canada for protection reasons;
• are determined in Canada by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) to be Convention refugees or persons in need of protection;
• are granted protection by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (C&I) through a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA).
A “Convention refugee” is any person who, by reason of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable, or by reason of that fear, unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country; or, not having a country of nationality, is outside the country of his or her former habitual residence and is unable or, by reason of that fear, unwilling to return to that country.
A “Person In Need of Protection” is a person who has been granted refugee protection because of a danger of torture or because of a risk to life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
However, even where a refugee claimant meets all the elements of the refugee definition or all the elements of a person in need of protection, he/she may nevertheless be returned to his country of origin if any of the following exclusions apply:
(1) he/she has protection in another country;
(2) he/she is likely guilty of persecuting others;
(3) he/she is likely guilty of a serious non-political crime; or
(4) he/she is likely guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
A claim for refugee protection will generally be rejected, and a person will not be considered a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection if that person has done any of the following:
• voluntarily “re-availed” herself of the protection of the country of nationality (for example, by returning to live there);
• voluntarily reacquired her nationality (for example, by applying for a passport);
• acquired a new nationality and is enjoying the protection of the country of that new nationality; or
• voluntarily re-established herself in the country of former habitual residence on which the claim to refugee protection was based (where the refugee has no country of citizenship).
Safe Third Country Agreement
Those who arrive directly or indirectly from the United States are not allowed to enter Canada to pursue their claims for refugee protection. They must make their refugee claim in the United States if they arrive there first (with a few exceptions).
Initiation of a Refugee Claim
In all cases, the process of making a refugee claim begins with an initial application submitted to an officer at a port-of-entry (land border or airport) or at an inland immigration office,
Examination
Refugee claimants are examined to determine they are eligible for a hearing at the Refugee Protection Division (RPD). When a claimant is found to be ineligible, the immigration officer issues an ineligibility notice and the conditional removal order is enforceable.
Some claimants will be provided an opportunity to make an application for a Pre-removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) at this stage. In some circumstances claimants may apply to the Federal Court to seek leave for judicial review.
Referral to the Refugee Protection Division
Refugee claimants who are found eligible are referred to the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), and a Notice to Appear for a Hearing is issued setting out the date and time for a hearing.
Claim accepted by the Refugee Protection Division
If a claim is accepted, the next step is to apply for permanent resident status for himself/herself and for his/her spouse and dependent children.
Not Eligible for Permanent Residence
However, a successful refugee claimant is not eligible to apply for permanent residence if:
(1) there is no further need to protect the refugee claimant (for example, as a result of a newly elected government in the claimant’s country of origin).
(2) protection has been vacated because the original decision for protection was obtained as a result of directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts.
For each of the above situations, the minister must apply to the Refugee Protection Division to request a hearing into the matter to argue cessation or vacation.
Claim rejected
When a refugee’s claim is rejected, the removal order may come into effect. However, before removal takes place, the unsuccessful refugee claimant may have the following options:
(1) voluntary departure;
(2) appeal of the Refugee Protection Division decision to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD);
(3) application for leave for judicial review by the Federal Court, during which the removal order may be stayed;
(4) application to IRCC for a Pre-removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) 12 months from the date of the notice of decision.
Some failed refugee claimants who have no right to appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division may apply for a judicial review by the Federal Court
PRE-REMOVAL RISK ASSESSMENT (PRRA)
The PRRA is a program intended for people (not just failed refugee claimants) who are about to be removed from Canada and who are desperate to stay because of a well-founded fear of persecution or
a risk of torture, risk to life, or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Generally, a successful PRRA applicant will be granted refugee protection and may apply for permanent residence.
An applicant may generally not apply for a PRRA if:
(1) the person is subject to extradition under;
(2) the person’s claim for refugee protection was determined ineligible because she came directly or indirectly from a designated country, other than a country of her nationality or former habitual residence;
(3) less than 12 months have passed since the person’s refugee claim in Canada was rejected, withdrawn, or abandoned by the Refugee Protection Division or the Refugee Appeal Division;
(4) the claim was rejected because it was vacated or falls under the exclusion provisions.
HUMANITARIAN & COMPASSIONATE APPLICATIONS
People who would not normally be eligible to become permanent residents may be able to apply for permanent residence based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds (for example, best interest of the child).
Permanent residence applications based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds apply to people with exceptional cases and are assessed on a case-by-case basis.
A person must be applying for permanent resident status in Canada, or for a permanent resident visa abroad.
You cannot apply for humanitarian and compassionate grounds if you have a pending refugee claim.
You cannot apply for humanitarian and compassionate grounds if you had a negative decision from the IRB within the last 12 months. However, the bar does not apply if you have children under 18 who would be adversely affected if you were removed from Canada, or you have proof that you or one of your dependants suffers from a life-threatening medical condition that cannot be treated in your home country.
TEMPORARY RESIDENT PERMITS (TRPs)
An immigration officer at port-of-entry may issue a TRP to allow an inadmissible person to become a temporary resident (that is, to enter or remain in Canada) if both of the following apply:
(1) the purpose of the individual to enter or remain in Canada is balanced when the objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) are considered,
(2) the issuance outweighs any risks that might exist and is compelling and sufficient to overcome any risks that the individual might pose.
There are no extensions of existing TRPs. However, temporary resident permit (TRP) holders may extend their temporary resident status by applying for a subsequent TRP.
Temporary resident permit (TRP) holders may be eligible to apply for permanent residence if all of the following apply:
(1) they have not become inadmissible on any grounds other than those for which the original TRP was issued,
(2) they currently hold a valid TRP, and
(3) they have resided continuously in Canada as a permit holder for three to five years, depending on the nature of their original inadmissibility.