Facing removal from Canada is an incredibly stressful experience and one that requires expertise legal maneuvering. Some times, a person may have no choice but to leave the country. Other times, there may be room to fight against deportation and removal from Canada. Below are the typical steps that the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) will take to notify you that removal proceedings are beginning, and what steps you can anticipate will happen in the process.
Temporary residents have very limited options to fight removal proceedings. Permanent Residents, however, have a number of safeguards through processes that must be followed before removal can be enforced.
1.Procedural Fairness Letter
Prior to removal being enforced, a person is often given a Procedural Fairness Letter (“PFL”) which notifies them of the intention by the CBSA to begin the process of issuing a Section 44 report. A Section 44 report is reference Section 44 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act:
Preparation of report
44 (1) An officer who is of the opinion that a permanent resident or a foreign national who is in Canada is inadmissible may prepare a report setting out the relevant facts, which report shall be transmitted to the Minister.
You are typically given 15 days to respond to the allegations. There is often room to ask for an extension of time to provide a response.
2. A Section 44 report has been made and you are referred to the Immigration Division for an Admissibility Hearing
If the CBSA decides to go ahead and make the Section 44 report, after reviewing your materials, then you can anticipate an Admissibility Hearing at the Immigration Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. The Admissibility Hearing can be a formality, depending on your circumstances. For example, in cases of serious criminality, it is often very clear whether or not you are inadmissible to Canada for your criminal convictions.
Once you have been found inadmissible to Canada, the Immigration Division will issue a removal order at the end of the Admissibility Hearing.
3. You are rendered inadmissible to Canada – appealing the removal order to the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Once you have been rendered inadmissible to Canada and the removal order has been issued, you may be able to appeal the removal order the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Typically, you have 30 days to file that Notice of Appeal. Once the Notice of Appeal has been filed, you can anticipate that the Minister will forward you their materials within 120 days of filing. After those materials have been received, you then begin creating the Appellant’s Record in preparation for the hearing.
4. Fighting the removal order at the Immigration Appeal Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Generally, an appeal of a removal order at the Immigration Appeal Division requires an assessment of humanitarian and compassionate factors that favour the removal order either being withdrawn or stayed temporarily. These humanitarian and compassionate factors include:
- establishment in Canada for in-Canada applications;
- ties to Canada;
- the best interests of any children directly affected by the H&C decision;
- factors in their country of origin including adverse country conditions;
- health considerations including inability of a country to provide medical treatment;
- family violence considerations;
- consequences of the separation of relatives;
- inability to leave Canada has led to establishment (in the case of applicants in Canada);
- ability to establish in Canada for overseas applications;
- any unique or exceptional circumstances that might merit relief.
In terms of outcomes, you can expect that your removal order will either be withdrawn entirely, or that you will be put on conditions for the next two or three years after which, your removal order can be withdrawn entirely.
The experience of fighting removal from Canada is very stressful and it is vital that you secure an experienced immigration lawyer when engaging with this process.
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