Studying in Canada - By Mr. Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor)

All over the world there are millions of students who are aspiring to have higher education in foreign countries. Many of them are interested in coming to Canada, a very popular destination for the young minds. Canada has world class universities which offer high standard of education, that not only provide knowledge to its students but have great edge over their competitors in different parts of the world.

One has to be prepared well before submitting an application to the Canadian High Commission for obtaining a study permit. The first step is to find out the appropriate educational institution that offers the courses the applicant would like to study. The next step would be to calculate the cost of such education. It should include tuition fees, cost of books, living cost including lodging and boarding and transportation and the cost of health insurance. A careful review of all the costs will help the applicant to determine if he can afford to have such education in a foreign land.

Once the monetary matter is settled, the next step is to apply to the educational institution and obtain a confirmation of admission. This confirmation, which is commonly known as the ‘letter of acceptance’ should be submitted along with the application for the study permit.

The final step is to apply to the Canadian High Commission for a study permit. The applicant should fill out Form IMM 1294 which is available at the website of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The fees for filing this application is CAD$ 150.00. The checklist
( IMM 5483 ) must be attached to the application for study permit. All the relevant documents that are asked to be attached to the application must be provided. Since, there is no guarantee that the Visa Officer would call the applicant for an interview, it is better to submit a complete and well documented application form to obtain a better assessment result.

The letter of acceptance for attending an university, college or a technical institution must mention the following:

1. The name of the educational institution.
2. Confirmation of the fact that the applicant is admitted to the institution.
3. The course that will be studied.
4. The duration of the course or academic session.
5. The last date for the applicant to register.
   

The letter of acceptance for attending a primary or secondary school must mention the name of the school, the level and duration of the study.


THE HURDLES:

Getting admission in an educational institution is not a guarantee for obtaining study permit. The applicant, like a sprinter in a race, will have to jump over several hurdles to win his laurel. Once the application for study permit is submitted the Visa Officer will examine a few issues to determine the applicant’s eligibility.

The applicant must satisfy the Visa Officer that he has enough money to bear the cost of his education as well as his daily living. The money may be his own or his guarantor’s. He must provide documentary evidence of having such money or the monetary support. The document includes bank statement of savings for last four months, income tax return, proof of investment. It is helpful to show that the tuition and residence fees have already been paid and money has been transferred to a Canadian Bank Account under the applicant’s name. The Visa Officer may verify the genuineness of the documents submitted. If someone wants to provide financial help to the applicant, that guarantor must submit an affidavit and relevant financial documents to prove his capability to meet his undertaking.

If the study is supported by a scholarship or if the applicant is taking part in a Canadian funded educational program then proof of such funding must be submitted. When a foreign exchange control measure is in force in any country, the applicant from that country must provide proof that he would be allowed by the authority to remit that fund for his study in Canada. However, the applicant may submit proof that fund will be transferred from a third country to Canada where no such control exists.

The applicant must prove that he has made arrangements for return transportation from Canada. The Visa Officer may ask for police clearance certificate to ascertain that the applicant has no criminal record and he is not a risk to the security of Canada.

If the applicant is not a citizen of the country in which he is applying, he must submit proof of his Immigration status. If he requires a re-entry permit to enter the country that issues a passport or travel permit to the applicant, he must obtain that re-entry permit.


THE COMMON GROUNDS FOR REJECTION:

A Visa Officer rejects an application for study permit mostly on the basis of one or more of the following grounds. The following paragraphs are quoted from a letter that was sent to an applicant:

“Based on a careful review of the information contained in your application and all of the documentation that you provide in support of your application, I have concluded that you do not meet the requirements for the issuance of a study permit. The reasons for your refusal are indicated below:

You have not satisfied me that you will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for your stay because:

You have not demonstrated that you are sufficiently well established in your country of residence.

You have not demonstrated that you or your parents have sufficient income and assets to justify your proposed studies.

Your proposed studies are not reasonable in light of one or more of the following : your qualifications, previous studies, employment, level of establishment, other educational opportunities available in India (the country of the applicant) or Canada, language abilities, or your future prospects and plans.

You have submitted documentations which lacks credibility as part of your application. This has diminished the overall credibility of your submission.

I am not satisfied that you have answered truthfully to all questions put to you.

You have not satisfied me that you have sufficient funds for living costs and tuition for your first year of studies, and return transportation without working in Canada because:

Your or your parents’ income and assets are insufficient to support the studies.

You have not provided sufficient documentation to support your or your parents’ claimed income and assets.
The supporting financial documents you have provided show large deposits inconsistent with your income. You have not provided adequate documentary evidence regarding the origin of these funds.

You have not provided documents that demonstrate the relationship between you and your sponsor (other than your parents).

You have not demonstrated that your sponsor will provide adequate support to cover the cost of your studies.

You have provided financial documentation that I am unable to verify.

Your savings are not credible in light of your family income.

You have failed to comply with our request for completion of a medical examination.

You have failed to comply with our request for an interview. Based on the information provided, you have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements for issuance of a study permit.

You have not submitted a valid letter of acceptance from an educational institution in Canada indicating start date, expected date of completion, program enrolled in, any conditions imposed and any fees paid.

Pursuant to section A40(1)(a) and A40(2)(a) of IRPA, you remain inadmissible to Canada for misrepresentation for a period of two years.

You remain a member of an inadmissible class of persons described in section_____ of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act . As a result, you are inadmissible to Canada.

You remain inadmissible to Canada on health grounds as per section A38 of IRPA.

You have not submitted the requested documentation, namely _______________. Based on the information provided, you have not satisfied me that you meet the requirements for issuance of a study permit.”


A FEW MORE POINTS:

The province of Quebec has its own rules that deals with the foreign students. An applicant who intends to study in Quebec must obtain the Certificat d’ acceptation du Quebec or Quebec Certificate of Acceptance (CAQ) issued by the Quebec Ministry of Immigration and Culture.

A study permit is not required to study the following courses:

1. A course which is for six months or less that an applicant can complete within the authorized period of his stay in Canada.
2. A course that is not academic, professional or vocational in nature for example a course on digital photography.
3. A course that is a part of a tour packages. The course is a secondary activity when the tour is a primary activity.
4. A course offered in a nursery school or kindergarten.

LAST WORD:
Study about Canada well before you even apply for a study permit.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor). All Rights Reserved.

Amnesty to illegal immigrants in Canada by the Canadian government - By Mr. Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor)

Like all Canadians I am hit with snow storm and pile of snow. I am not fussy about winter. The more you try to resist it the more you become grumpy; therefore I go along with it. Shoveling snow, enduring chilling temperature and trying to keep your smile even though you feel like you have just received strong and paralyzing anesthetic (BOTOX ?) in your face is part of Canadian life.

No, its not snow that makes me exasperated, it is the annual rumor mill that sometimes drains my energy. Since I came to Canada 16 years ago, I have been listening to different kinds of rumors every year. One of the popular rumors that often come back at the end of every year is a declaration of amnesty to illegal immigrants in Canada by the Canadian government.

For some reason some people believe that the Canadian government wants to make people happy at the Christmas time or on the eve of New Year and therefore it has decided to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants. Well, it has not happened so far and there is no sign of that happening in the near future. When the year draws to its end I am hit by a barrage of phone calls from my beloved deshi brothers and sisters. When I politely disagree with them about the declaration of amnesty, some of them even try to convince me to call the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration to confirm their statement. They nicely tell me that probably I missed that very important announcement due to my busy work schedule.

A new rumor has been floating this year for the last couple of months. Some people (Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents) believe that if they start living in Manitoba or Saskatoon and invest a certain amount of money they will be able to sponsor 20 persons to immigrate to Canada . This is a flat lie. There is no such program.

Every year thousands of temporary foreign workers are coming to Canada to work for a few years. In most of the cases an employer in Canada files an application to Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) for a Labor Market Opinion (LMO) for a particular category of employment. In that application, the Canadian employer explains that he has tried to hire a Canadian citizen or a Permanent Resident in a particular position but did not get a qualified candidate. The employer must submit proof of newspaper advertisement, job bank postings or job fair participation as an initiative to hire employee.

The HRSDC must be satisfied about the genuineness of the offer of employment and the employers' effort to hire a Canadian or a Permanent Resident at first. The HRSDC will issue a positive Labor Market Opinion (LMO) if it is convinced that hiring a foreign national will not affect the Canadian Labor Market negatively. The effect must be positive or neutral.

So obtaining a positive LMO is a first step to hire a foreign worker. Once the LMO is granted, the employer will send that to the prospective foreign worker who will then submit his application for Work Permit and the LMO at the designated Canadian Visa Office for his country. The Visa Officer will interview the applicant and will issue the Work Permit to him if he finds the applicant eligible.

It is therefore important, for a Bangladeshi who wants to come to Canada as a foreign worker, to first find a prospective employer who is willing to hire the applicant. One must be very careful about the THIRD PARTY who works as an intermediary between the employer and the applicant. Sometimes this THIRD PARTY charges high commission or service fees and cheat people by arranging false job offer or by getting employment offer for a job that does not yield enough savings.

Always be careful if the job offer sounds too good to be true. Try to understand why an employer in Canada is willing to hire you or why he will wait for months to get you to Canada . Definitely there are jobs available for foreign workers in Canada . There is extreme shortage of manpower in some sectors of employment but once again never put your guard down against suspicious job offers or activities of THIRD PARTY.

There is another false belief among applicants that if they come to Canada as foreign workers they will eventually become permanent residents of Canada . Please remember that a Foreign Worker comes to Canada to meet the labor shortage in different sectors. The category is known as Temporary Foreign Worker.

However once an applicant is in Canada he can apply for Permanent Resident as a Skilled Worker. To apply he must achieve minimum 67 points on the basis of different factors. His Canadian job experience will enhance his points. No such application can be filed in Canada . The application must be submitted at a Canadian Visa Office that is designated for the country of citizenship or permanent residence of the applicant. For example an applicant from Bangladesh who is now working in Canada must submit his application at the Canadian High Commission in Singapore . Or alternatively he can file application at the Canadian High Commission in another country if he has at least one-year visa for that country. So if the applicant has a visa for one year in the U.S, he can file his application at the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo , New York .

Applicants who are applying for permanent resident status under the skilled worker category can obtain extra points if a Canadian employer offers him a job. This offer must be approved by the HRSDC. The approval is issued as “Arranged Employment Opinion (AEO)”. The applicant cannot obtain any work permit on the basis of an AEO. It is issued only to support the applicant's application for Permanent Residence of Canada.

The only work that leads to Permanent Residence is the work as a Live-in Caregiver. I will discuss that category in my next Blog. I believe the Bangladeshis are far behind the citizens of many countries who enjoy the benefit of this category.

Well, the following are the categories of jobs in the Province of Ontario (There are lists for some other provinces too) for which there are not enough Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents of Canada available. The Canadian government is therefore exempting the employers from filing extensive proof of their recruitment effort in Canada . They must prove that they advertise on the Government of Canada's National Job Bank or the regional equivalence for at least 7 days or they have already established an ongoing recruitment mechanism such as using recognized internet sites, unions, professional sites, newspapers, newsletters, professional journals to hire employees. If you can find a suitable employer who wants to hire an employee for the following occupations, your application may be processed quickly.

The following part is not written by me and it is the reproduction of the material that is available in the website of the HRSDC: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/oup/onouplist.shtml

The following information is reproduced with no commercial intention but with the intention of disseminating useful information to the public in general:

Regional Occupations under Pressure List for Ontario

A new process has been developed to assist employers who are experiencing difficulty filling job vacancies. HRSDC/Service Canada is implementing Regional Occupations under Pressure lists to reduce the amount of time for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker.

Employers wishing to hire temporary foreign workers for occupations that appear on a Regional Occupations under Pressure list will only be required to conduct minimum advertising efforts rather than the more comprehensive recruitment efforts normally required under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. However, employers will still need to satisfy all other Temporary Foreign Worker Program requirements.

Employers who wish to hire temporary foreign workers in occupations appearing on a Regional Occupations under Pressure list will be considered to have conducted appropriate recruitment efforts if they:

1. Advertise on the Government of Canada's national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan , Quebec , or the Northwest Territories ) for a minimum of 7 calendar days;
   and*/or
2. Demonstrate that they have established, on-going recruitment mechanisms already in place (e.g., using recognized job internet sites, unions, professional associations, corporate website, professional journals, newspapers, newsletters).

* For positions classified as being skill level C or D under the National Occupational Classification 1 system, employers will be required to satisfy both conditions.

1 The listed occupations are based on the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system. The NOC is the nationally accepted taxonomy and organizational framework of occupations in the Canadian labour market. For more information on the NOC system, please visit:
http://www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/

Occupations under Pressure:

Management Occupations

NOC Code	Description
0013	Senior Managers – Financial, Communications and Other Business Services
0111	Financial Managers
0113	Purchasing Managers
0122	Banking, Credit and Other Investment Managers
0311	Managers in Health Care

Business, Finance and Administration Occupations

NOC Code	Description
1112	Financial and Investment Analysts
1121	Specialists in Human Resources

Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations

NOC Code	Description
2121	Biologists and Related Scientists
2131	Civil Engineers
2132	Mechanical Engineers
2151	Architects

Health Occupations

NOC Code	Description
3111	Specialist Physicians
3112	General Practitioners and Family Physicians
3131	Pharmacists
3141	Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists
3142	Physiotherapists
3152	Registered Nurses
3211	Medical Laboratory Technologists and Pathologists' Assistants
3215	Medical Radiation Technologists
3222	Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists
3233	Licensed Practical Nurses
3234	Ambulance Attendants and Other Paramedical Occupations

Trades, Transport and Equipment Operators and Related Occupations

NOC Code	Description
7312	Heavy Duty Equipment Mechanics
7313	Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Mechanics
7321	Automotive Service Technicians, Truck Mechanics and Mechanical Repairers

For more information, please visit:
hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/index.shtml

I believe you will find this information useful. I wish you all a very happy Eid-ul-Ajha, Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous new year.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor). All Rights Reserved.

MISTAKES ARE COSTLY - By Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor)

She walked into my office with her cousin and her six months old baby. Her face was covered with a veil. All her pain was visible in her eyes. Her cousin, a very kind and caring man translated her statement to me from Afghan to English.

Her father was brutally killed by the members of a rival tribe when she was only 12 years old. She and her mother and her six year old brother fled to Pakistan to stay with one of her maternal uncles. Her uncle was kind to them but he was extremely poor and it was difficult for him to even take care of his own family but he never hesitated to share whatever he could.

She faced another set back when she lost her mother at the age of 16. She became an orphan and had no one with whom she could share her pain and aspirations. She grew up in poverty and the chance to go to school was nonexistent. Her days were spent doing household chores when one day the opportunity to come to Canada presented itself. Her older brother had come to Canada earlier as a sponsored refugee and now he was sponsoring his sister to come to Canada.

According to Afghan customs her relatives arranged her marriage and she shortly married a Afghan refugee living in Pakistan a few days before leaving for Canada.

When she arrived in Canada the Immigration officer gave her forms to fill out and sign which she then did. After arriving in Canada she got her first good news, she was pregnant and six months later she sponsored her husband to come to Canada. She believed that her days of misery and pain were now over and she was dreaming of the day her husband would be with her in Canada and she joyfully waited for her baby’s birth.

Unfortunately her sponsorship was rejected by the Citizenship and Immigration Canada. They informed her that she would never be able to sponsor her husband because she broke the law by not declaring to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada that she had a dependant.

The law says that anyone who applies for permanent residency and has dependants (spouse, children) must mention their name in the application for Permanent Residency and they must be medically examined.

For example, if applicant X wants to come to Canada as a permanent resident and she has a husband and a child (who qualifies as a dependant) then X must include their names in the application for permanent residence. Even if X’s husband or child does not want to come to Canada with X, their names must be at least mentioned in the application and they must be medically examined. If this procedure is not followed then X will never be allowed to sponsor them.

In the present case she was not married when she filed her application for permanent residency but she got married before she had become a permanent resident. Therefore she should have informed the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad Pakistan about her marriage before she had arrived in Canada and become a permanent resident. She told me that one of her relatives did send a letter to the Canadian High Commission informing them about the marriage but she did not know what happened afterwards.

Her cousin helped her to appoint a lawyer and file an appeal at the Immigration Appeal Division. At the hearing she failed to prove that the Canadian High Commission was informed about the marriage. The government argued that when she arrived at a Canadian airport she signed a form attesting the fact that she did not have any dependant and she was not married. She said that did not know English and she did not understand the forms at all. She lost her appeal.

It was a difficult case for me. I knew very well what the law says and I also knew that the Federal Court, in a similar case, ruled that no relief can be granted. It is not the fault of the Federal Court. In actuality the law is harsh and inhumane not taking into account the complexities of life. The Federal Court had no choice but to say that the provision of the law is valid even though it is unjust.

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at me hopefully and said, “Do something for me brother as you would have done for your sister”. I felt strong empathy for her as I thought what I would have done if my sister was in such a helpless situation. I told her about the law and informed her regretfully that there was no chance of wining the case at the Federal Court. She broke into uncontrollable sobs. Her cousin asked me “So there is nothing that can be done?”

I told them that there is a special section in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that allows the Citizenship and Immigration Canada to grant a remedy under humanitarian and compassionate ground. However I noted that the Immigration Officer had already declared that there was no humanitarian and compassionate ground that would have allowed him to approve the sponsorship.

I told them that I would take up the case and fight for her rights. I told her that if she wanted she could go to Pakistan to stay a few months with her husband to relieve her mental agony. I then started to prepare my legal strategy in trying to win her case.

Six months later she came to my office with her cousin, who was interpreting for her, and informed me that she was better but still very worried about the future. She then said she was expecting her second child and I understood how difficult it would be for her to take care of two children in Canada without her husband.

I sent the proper application to the Case Processing Centre with a submission to consider humanitarian and compassionate grounds the Case Processing Center then sent the application to the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad.

A few weeks ago the Canadian High Commission had sent a letter asking for a few more documents; this is a good sign. It seems that the submission that we made is working and we are all hoping for the best. I believe that her application will be granted this time on the basis of the new arguments and documents that we filed.

Therefore readers, when trying to become a permanent resident of Canada be well informed of what is required since the law does not look kindly upon a mistake, no matter how innocent that is. The price of any mistake is very high and can be unbearable.

Copyright © 2007 Rezaur Rahman (Barrister & Solicitor). All Rights Reserved.