Judicial Review
For judicial reviews, only a lawyer can apply on your behalf and not an immigration consultant. Judicial review involves requesting the Federal Court of Canada to review a decision made by an immigration officer or Board Member.
Generally speaking, you must file an application to ask for a Federal Court review within 15 days after the decision was issued. However, an application to have this time period can be submitted alongside the application for leave and judicial review.
Judicial review is a two-stage process. In the first stage, which is known as the “leave” stage, the Court reviews the documents related to your case. You must show the Court that an error was made in the decision, or the decision was not fair or reasonable. No new evidence can be submitted for judicial review.
If leave is granted, it would mean that the Court has agreed to review the decision in detail. At this second stage (application for judicial review), you can attend an oral hearing before the federal court and argue one’s case for why the decision was wrong.
In the case of decisions made by the Immigration and Refugee Board, a request for review by the Federal Court automatically puts a removal order on hold, and you can stay in Canada until the Court makes its decision. The Court can agree with the original decision or return your case to be reheard. This does not necessarily mean the original decision will be reversed.
If the Court finds that there was no error in the decision of your case, you must leave Canada within 30 days and you are under a removal order.
Our knowledge of Canadian immigration laws, regulations, and case law provide us the ability to carefully craft and frame your arguments in novel and compelling ways.
Any legal information or advice provided is only up to date as of January 2020.