Refugee Claimant
The 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol are both signed by Canada. Every year, Canada awards permanent residence to about 30,000 refugees through an intricate refugee protection process that includes two primary components: the Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program, which is managed outside of Canada, and the In-Canada Refugee Protection Process.
A convention refugee is a person who is outside his place of nationality due to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a certain social group, or political opinion and is unable to or unwilling to seek protection from that country.
A person in need of protection is someone in Canada who faces the risk of torture, death, or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment if they return to their country of nationality or prior habitual residence.
The majority of refugees who are granted asylum in Canada do it at a Canadian port of entry or at an inland Canada Immigration Centre office.
When a CIC officer determines that a refugee protection claimant is eligible to be referred, the claim is forwarded to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), where an independent tribunal comprised of Refugee Protection Division members hears the case to determine whether the claimant is a convention refugee or a person in need of protection.
The hearing is normally held in the presence of the applicant’s legal counsel and the government’s refugee claims officer, despite the fact that it is non-adversarial in nature. If authorised, the claimant will be able to apply for permanent residence in Canada from within the country. In most cases, the procedure takes roughly 18 months to complete.
Prior to the hearing, claimants may be able to get employment or student authorisation under Canadian law.
Individuals who fall into certain categories are not eligible to have their claim referred to the IRB.
Refugee Appeals
Despite how compelling your claim, evidence, and witnesses may have been, refugee hearings do not always go as planned. The Member (decision-maker) hearing your case may not believe some of the facts you alleged, your evidence may not have appeared consistent, or there just may not have been enough there for your claim to succeed. Whatever the reason, if your refugee claim is refused by the Refugee Protection Division (RPD), you have an opportunity to challenge that refusal at the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD).
How Does A Refugee Appeal Division Work?
You have the right to appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division if your refugee claim is denied before the Refugee Appeal Division.
You must file a Notice of Appeal with the Refugee Appeal Division within 15 days of receiving your negative Refugee Appeal Division decision to exercise this right.
It is critical that you adhere to the Refugee Appeal Division’s deadlines in order to maintain all of your appeal rights.
You have 30 days to perfect your application after filing your notice of appeal.
To complete your application, you must submit an Appellant’s Record, which typically consists of an affidavit, any evidence you intend to use in your appeal, and a detailed memorandum of law outlining your legal reasons.
When you file an appeal with the Refugee Appeal Division, you’re claiming that the RPD’s judgement was unreasonable or erroneous for any reason.
As a result, you must be cautious about what evidence you use to support your appeal.
You are free to express your dissatisfaction with how any existing evidence was handled, but you must use extreme caution with any new evidence you wish to present. The Refugee Appeal Division has rigorous standards for admitting new evidence, and if you wish to use it to overturn a negative decision, you must make sure it is correctly presented.
It’s also helpful to have a recording of the original RPD hearing while preparing your RAD appeal.
This can be obtained from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, but you must submit your request far ahead of the deadline for your Appeal Record.
The majority of RAD appeals are initiated and ended fully in writing.
A second hearing may be necessary in rare situations to address credibility concerns or new evidence, but in most cases, a RAD appeal is filed in writing and handled by another decision-maker in writing.
Meet Our Professionals
Jaskaran Ahluwalia
RCIC , Managing Director
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