It is an alarming situation but a recent survey has shown that Refugee Claim applications that were rejected by the lower tribunals were either sent back for reconsideration or the Refusal Appeals upheld the Appeal and the refugee status was granted.
The figure of such Appeals being upheld or sent back for reconsideration is a quarter of what was Appealed which means that the arbitrators or Judges at the lower tribunals had erred in delivering judgment.
New Refugee status laws
New laws and new systems have come in place but the decisions of the lower tribunals are being quashed by the Refugee Appeals Division (RAD), which does not say much good about the systems still in place.
It is imperative when studying this very alarming phenomenon to ensure that a good lawyer with the experience and the expertise is retained by anyone before lodging a Refugee status application.
There are some very blatant reasons for Refugee Applications to be rejected and high on the list is the Canada – USA Safe Third Country Agreement in which those who have crossed over from one to the other of these two countries automatically lose, on their Refugee Status application due to what is referred to as Double Dipping into the refugee or asylum-seeking systems of both countries.
The other is where 42 countries are on the safe list as far as the Canadian government is concerned and their citizens could return back without the fear of persecution, harassment or victimization.
Refusal could mean death, persecution or incarceration
Whatever the reason may be when a Refugee status application is refused it could be a life and death situation for those who had lodged the application in the first place.
There have been very grave inconsistencies even at the Refugee Appeals Division where one judge had refused all the Refugee Appeals that came before her and the judge had upheld all the Refugee Appeals that came before her Court and upheld the Appeals and overturned the decisions of the lower Courts.
This could be a very rare coincidence or it could be a lack of knowledge or a system that was created to help humanity from the various human-initiated calamities brought upon by human beings themselves.
When a Refugee status application is rejected, there are some crucial steps that could be taken by the refugee to rectify the problem and reversing the decision of the lower court.
The Canadian government does not want to just throw the refugees in the sea but would do everything within their power to ensure the Refugee’s safety, but there are many considerations that have to be looked into before a Refugee could be taken in and that needs to be understood by all.
Pre – removal risk assessment
If your refugee status has been rejected and you are to be sent back you could apply to be considered to be allowed to stay in Canada under this scheme.
This is where countries that are designated as safe and you come from one of these countries then there is no way that you could be provided refugee status.
On the contrary, if you are not from one of the designated countries then your Refugee status application could be considered and if your application had been rejected you are debarred from applying again for a period of 12 months.
Apply to the Refugee Appeal Division
An appeal could be made to the Refugee Appeal Division, but this place has also become inconsistent in the recent rulings declared and many Refugee Appeals have been rejected.
It would be imperative that you retain the best legal luminaries to fight out your Refugee case because if you fail then applying again would be one big hassle, and could cost a lot of money.
The Refugee Appeal Division has turned down many appeals whilst having upheld some too and that is what the worrying factors as there seems to be no consistency in the rulings.
Apply for judicial review at the Federal Court of Canada
Your application to the Federal Court of Canada should be made within 15 days of your Refugee application being rejected by the Immigration and Refugee Board and should be supported by a registered lawyer. As soon as you make the application to the Federal Court of Canada the proceedings of the order against you would be placed in abeyance until the final determination of your judicial review.
This is a two-stage Appeal where in the first the Federal Court would examine the documents presented by you and if they are satisfied that an error had occurred they would grant what is referred to as “Leave to Appeal”.
Once you are granted this status the proper judicial review would get underway and your appeal would be heard and you and your lawyer could be present and your lawyer would argue the case on your behalf.
If the Federal Court of Canada finds there has been an error at the Immigration and Refugee Board they will send it to the Refugee Protection Division to be reheard.
This means that the process would restart again but your application would not be upheld by the higher court but only the order of the Immigration and Review Board would be quashed to be reheard by the Refugee Protection Division.
On the contrary, if the Federal Court of Canada agrees with the original decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board then you would have to leave Canada within 30 days and you would be under a removal order.
Whatever the process you would take initially as you make your refugee application it would be prudent to have a professional entity to advise and back you all the way.
That is where the expertise and the experience of Top Notch Immigration Solutions Incorporated comes to be useful. The number of cases handled by them over the years has made them a battle-hardened Canadian Immigration Consultant of no mean repute.