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THE
IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT ?
General
The Immigration Department is
responsible for dealing with immigration issues under Canadian law, both
inside and outside Canada.
The department is often referred to as "Citizenship and Immigration
Canada," or "CIC." The head of the department is a
cabinet minister, the Minister of Immigration, who is currently Denis
Coderre, though this will likely change as Canada is set to change Prime
Ministers soon, and the new Prime Minister (Paul Martin) is likely to
completely reshuffle the cabinet. Cabinet ministers in Canada are always
members of Parliament, and not designated "professionals" as
in the U.S. President's cabinet. The headquarters of the immigration
bureaucracy are in Ottawa, Ontario (and the adjacent Hull, Qu?ec), and
are generally referred to as "NHQ," for National Headquarters. ?
Basic Terminology and Procedure
Understanding the terminology in a
system often means understanding the system itself. In Canada,
essentially anyone seeking any kind of immigration decision (be it
regarding a visa, permanent residence, extension, or some other benefit)
is required to file an application and undergo an examination. For
example, if an alien seeks a visa, he or she must file an application;
an examination will then be conducted in order to render a decision on
the application. If the alien seeks a temporary resident permit (similar
to a waiver), again, an application is required, and an examination is
then conducted to decide whether it will be granted. This overall format
is now generally consistent, no matter what kind of application is in
question.
Some of the more common types of
applications (with the new terminology) under the system include
applications for permanent residence; temporary residence (essentially
visitor's visas); work permits; study permits (formerly student visas);
temporary resident permits (formerly minister's permits); extensions
(the renewal of any temporary status or document); humanitarian reviews
(also referred to as "H&Cs," for humanitarian and
compassionate applications; this type of application can be made to
request an exemption from any of the ordinary requirements of other
forms of applications (generally in a permanent residence scenario);
refugee claims; pre-removal risk assessments (PRRAs) (under IRPA, many
persons facing removal are entitled to this one last opportunity to
persuade an immigration officer of the danger they may face abroad); and
confirmation (akin to labor certification in the U.S. This application
is made to Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) and, if approved,
is used as part of a work permit application made either at a visa post
or a port of entry in some cases).
Under the new law, a permanent
resident must be physically present in Canada for two out of every five
years in order to maintain status. Despite the hype, Canada's new
permanent residence card is not proof of status; it is an identity
document to allow the foreign national to board commercial carriers.
There are a number of bases for permanent residence applications; e.g.,
business (which in turn have some subsets), skilled worker, and family
class categories. ?
Other Important Terms
Some additional terms with which
anyone dealing with Canada's immigration law system should be familiar
are set forth below in alphabetical order. Some of these terms are
similar to those with which U.S. practitioners are familiar, but others
contain important variations. Countless other terms, beyond the scope of
this article, are also used in the context of the Canadian immigration
system.
The Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), an
agreement between Canada and Chile that is similar
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