Getting A Canadian Visa: Everything You Need To Know About The Procedural Fairness Letter

If you find yourself in a situation where Canadian High Commission sends you a Procedural Fairness Letter (PFL), it is extremely important to submit a detailed response with strong factual arguments. Most individuals do not appreciate the seriousness of the situation; they decide to respond on their own, usually with a very weak response which leads to a refusal. This is the one, single time the Canadian High Commission is providing an opportunity to respond before the application is refused. It is highly recommended to retain professional help to submit a proper response, as there will not be another opportunity provided later. Sometimes, a refused application will also come with serious consequences such as becoming Inadmissible to Canada with a 5-year ban for Misrepresentation.

If you received a Procedural Fairness letter, it is recommended you retain a professional - a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant or a Lawyer - to prepare a strong and sufficient response.

A Procedural Fairness Letter is commonly issued for the following reasons:

Genuineness of relationship: subsection 12(1) and subsection 4(1)

When individuals submit their own Spousal Sponsorship application, they often receive Procedural Fairness Letters questioning the genuineness of their relationship or Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada is not convinced that requirements are met for sponsorship. Examples include: Not living together in Canada for Inland Sponsorship, marriage is not legally recognized, not enough evidence to establish common-law relationship, dependent children not recognized as such.

In all these situations, Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is not satisfied enough to approve the application for some of the following reasons:

? Inconsistent information on the required forms and supporting documents

? Insufficient supporting documents to serve as evidence

? Previous applications submitted by either sponsor or applicant to IRCC have inconsistent information

? Often a spouse applies for PR on their own previously, and do not declare they are married, or a previously submitted TRV / Study Permit / Work Permit does not declare a spouse, when they were in fact married

? Current marriage is not recognized, as divorce of previous marriage was not finalized before new marriage. Spouse would therefore not be considered part of the Family class, and thus not eligible to be sponsored, unless they have been living together for 1 year continuously and can be considered common-law.

Medical Inadmissibility: subsection 38(1)

Individuals with a medical issue may be found Medically Inadmissible to Canada if IRCC believes that the individual will incur excessive demand on health care or social service costs in excess of $20,517 CAD per year. This is common for Parental Sponsorship applications due to the age of elderly parents and sometimes on other Permanent Resident applications. A proper response must be submitted to the Procedural Fairness Letter, along with secondary opinion / diagnoses and medical plan. TAR Global Placement Consulting has extensive experience with these medical cases and can help.

Misrepresentation: subsection 40(1)

IRCC may determine an individual misrepresented themselves if they believe they were not truthful in an application. This can arise if a person deliberately (or mistakenly) provided false information on the forms or fraudulent documents. Sometimes, merely failing to disclose a previous visa refusal to the US, Australia or another country on an application will result in Inadmissibility for Misrepresentation and a 5 year ban to Canada. Sometimes, IRCC makes an error in judgement when reviewing an application. This matter needs to be clarified in a sufficient manner to avoid the application being refused and the applicant being banned from Canada.

Criminal Inadmissibility: subsection 36(1) and subsection 36(2)

If an applicant has a previous criminal issue in Canada or another country, they can be found Criminally Inadmissible to Canada which can prevent them (and other family members in the application) from obtaining Permanent Residence status, or

a Temporary Resident Visa and the application will be refused. Individuals often don't realize that even a non-accompanying family member who is not applying for Permanent Residence (such as a spouse), can prevent the entire family (other spouse and children) from obtaining PR if they have a Medical or Criminal issue.

Express Entry: wrong NOC, employment letter, insufficient evidence

There are many reasons IRCC can issue a Procedural Fairness Letter for an Express Entry application. Most issues pertain to not providing enough evidence for work experience (using the wrong NOC, employment letter not listing duties). Other reasons can include Medical reasons, Criminality, Misrepresentation, or issues with dependents on the application (proving the relationship of spouse or children).

Security Reasons / Terrorism: subsection 34(1)

Individuals who served in government, military or positions close to the government are often required to provide IRCC additional information to prevent themselves from becoming inadmissible for Security Reasons. Similarly, individuals who are a member of an organization that IRCC deems to have ties to terrorism will be found admissible for security reasons. It is extremely important to have this clarified to IRCC with a proper submission.

If you received a Procedural Fairness Letter, it is highly recommended to retain professional help. This is the only opportunity to respond, before a refusal. A detailed response with accompanying documents needs to be provided as IRCC has an issue with your application. Far too many individuals contact our firm after it is too late. Be pro-active, contact us if you receive a PFL letter. We can help.

Taiwo Roluga, B.Sc, M.A. (UK), PG D (Canada)

Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (R516184)

President/CEO: TAR Global Placement Consulting LTD

Nigeria: 10 Esomo Close, Off Toyin St, Ikeja, Lagos

Canada: 754 Yates Drive, Milton L9T 0G2 Ontario Canada

T: +234 817 513 0415, + 234 817 513 0416, +234 817 513 0419

www.targlobalplacement.com