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.
i applied for FSW back in 2009, on Feb 2010 i got first approval, submitted final documents in-time but after a long long time in april 2012 i got refusal letter mentioning that my NOC mismatch
do you think that i should sue my case please ?
tell me your fee please
regards
Ifkar
Vancouver was at the top of Preet Deep Singh’s list when he and his wife were looking for a new place to call home.
The couple, who were living in Mumbai, India, and applied to immigrate to Canada in 2004, had friends and family in the Lower Mainland who offered them accommodation and help getting set up. They even planned a whale-watching trip.
Singh thought their chances of being accepted to Canada as skilled workers were good. He had an MBA from Newport University in California and had experience doing marketing for well-known liquor companies such as Bacardi and Jack Daniel’s. His wife, Harpreet, had a master’s degree in commerce from Panjab University. Both were in their 20s when they applied. The couple passed on opportunities to emigrate to the U.S. and Australia, hoping the Canadian application would come through.
Eight years later, Singh received word that his application was one of about 280,000 being cancelled by Canada’s immigration department in an effort to clear a massive backlog under the country’s federal skilled worker program. Moreover, his skills are no longer listed as a target priority under new, more stringent, criteria.
“I had trust in Canadian policies and I have been proven wrong,” Singh wrote in an email. “Now I will never recommend any of my professional friends to choose Canada, as Canada’s policies are totally unpredictable and unjust.”
Despite repeated assurances from the Canadian government that his application was in progress and would be processed in the order it was received, Singh and his wife gave up on Canada and their dream of moving to Vancouver, and in 2009 accepted an offer of residence in the United Kingdom. Singh said that country issued him a visa under its highly skilled migrant program within a month of his application.
“I finally thought, okay, let’s not miss this opportunity,” he said by telephone from Leeds, England, where he is regional manager for the European division of the Kingfisher beer company.
Singh is part of a group called the Canadian Back Loggers Pre-2008 Association, a reference to the immigration department’s decision to return all federal skilled worker applications made before Feb. 27, 2008. The group, which Singh says has about 20,000 members — and counting — is calling on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to reverse the decision and to process the applications.
He is also part of a legal action being spearheaded by Toronto immigration lawyer Tim Leahy asking the Federal Court to force Citizenship and Immigration Canada to process the applications of the approximately 800 litigants involved.
Leahy noted that when the federal budget implementation bill passes, as it is expected to next month, those applications will be abolished. He has filed a motion on behalf of Singh and the other litigants asking the court not to allow this while the matter is before the courts. The first hearing is scheduled for June 5.
Kenney said it is necessary for the government to eliminate the backlog in order to make the country’s immigration system more responsive to the country’s rapidly changing labour market needs.
“Having to process applications that are as many as eight years out of date reduces our ability to focus on new applicants with skills and talents that our economy needs today,” Kenney said in a news release at the end of March, which also noted that in the last four years, the federal government has reduced the pre-2008 backlog by more than 50 per cent and overall applications under the federal skilled worker program by more than 25 per cent. If the backlog was not eliminated, current skilled worker applicants would have to wait until 2017 for a decision, Kenney said in the release.
Fair enough, said Singh, but the Conservatives came to power in 2006. He questions why it took that long to realize they could not cope with the backlog, all the while assuring potential immigrants — who followed the rules and applied in good faith — that their applications were being processed.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Nixed+applications+show+Canadian+immigration+policies+unjust+says+skilled+worker/6656106/story.html#ixzz21c8SG5q2
I had applied for a FSW program and my file no received before feb 2008 but still my file in process . Shall i wait or better to sue my case in a court? Shall this judge will affect only the 900 applicants or all backlogs????
Based on the information you’ve given, I think unfortunately it’s likely that your application will be cancelled. As for joining the lawsuit, we’re not in a position to provide legal advice, so we can’t give you an informed opinion.
Sir I applied my apllication in 2005 and I havent recived any docu but when I opened my application through cicimigration than I saw that decision has been made what deciosn can be made?
Dear Sir,
I have applied for permanent residence in Canada in year 2006. At that time my case is accepted and in first letter they have told me that I have to wait for three years. Then I have received a letter in year 2010 that after 90 days my case is finalized.
Now I have receive information that all cases applied before 2008 are rejected by Canadian Govt. At that time I sent a mail for refund of fee. They have sent me my fee refund.
Now one of my friends told me about your office that you people file a case against the decision. Kindly guide if I want to add my name in the list of affected.
Regards
Ibrar Malik
It’s strange listening to the complaints here. There are plenty of skilled US citizens as well, and we also get ignored. Corporations lie to the government and the public and say we don’t exist. Politicians know we exist and lie to the public and say we don’t exist. The media lies over AND over AND over AND over and says skilled US workers don’t exist to fill the positions. The reality is that they do. The reality is also that no money is ever enough for the greediest of all people who are also the ones who rise to the top of power in business and government. They know they can squeeze more money out of people by flooding the US with foreign applicants to compete with US citizens. The US corporations refuse to hire US citizens and make a fair profit. Instead, they demand even more profit and get the US government to expand the supply of labor (and increase the timidity of workers – immigrants don’t demand worker rights). Then you all complain here about how you are treated. Funny, though, seeing as it is only because of lies that our government approves the immigration policies to begin with. So, you should not be surprised at all if you were lied to. The fact you can even apply for so many positions arises directly from the fact that many (probably the vast majority of) business owners and politicians are liars. So, don’t be surprised when you keep getting lied to.