Canadian Immigration Provides Instructions for FSW Backlog Wipe-out Fee Refund

The return of application fees to those affected by the wipe-out of the pre-February 27 2008 FSW backlog will be processed by CIC

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) issued a notice on Friday instructing those affected by the wipe-out of the pre-February 27, 2008 Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) application backlog to submit a form informing the department of their current address in order to have their fee return processed.

Approximately 280,000 FSW applications filed before the Feb. 27th 2008 were wiped out with the enactment of Bill C-38 on June 29, 2012, with the federal government committing to return the application fees paid by those affected.

Friday’s notice asks those whose FSW applications were likely affected by the new law to submit a completed RETURN OF PROCESSING FEE, RIGHT OF PERMANENT RESIDENCE FEE OR RIGHT OF LANDING FEE form to CIC.

The first contingent of applicants to have their fees returned will be those who had contacted CIC to enquire about their fee refund before Friday’s notice. The next group to be refunded will be those who update CIC about their current address by submitting the above linked form. Finally, CIC will contact the remaining applicants and attempt to verify their current mailing address before processing their fee return.

Federal Government Loses Legal Battle over 900 Cases in Application Backlog

A lawsuit by 900 individuals who sued the federal government for the delay in the processing of their application for permanent residence in Canada succeeded today, as a federal court ruled in their favour. The ruling puts into question the entire wipe-out of the 280,000 Federal Skilled Worker Program backlog.

The federal government’s efforts to wipe out the 280,000 Federal Skilled Worker Program application backlog through legislation had a major setback today, as a court ruled that the government must process the applications of 900 people who sued the federal government for the delay in the processing of their application, and whose applications were among the 280,000 closed as part of the wipe-out.

The presiding judge, Justice Donald Rennie, wrote in his decision that the federal government has the legal right to refuse to process an application, but that once it has begun processing an application, it is obligated to finalize the processing in a timely manner. This opens the door for the remaining 280,000 individuals affected by the legislated wipeout of their application to sue to have their application re-opened and processed.

Justice Rennie also rejected the federal government’s request for appeal, and ordered that the federal government finalize the application of the lead litigant, an IT project manager in China, by October 14th.