Refugee status cessation and PRs applying for citizenship

[Acdc]

Quick update
My MPs office had been asked to call back after 30th September for an answer on the progress of my citizenship application. This is the response received. It doesnt shed light on whether any cessation proceedings are underway or the status of my file except that it is non routine. I'm wondering if this is the reason why it has been considered non routine and what immigration verifications means. Anybody with any pointers here?

We can provide you with the following details about the status of the application for a Citizenship Adult Grant for XXXXXX

• The application was received at the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia, on XX, 2018.
• The application is considered non-routine due to the following reason:
  • the file is under review because it requires further verifications. Rest assured that the responsible office will inform the applicant, if they have to provide further details.
• The criminality verifications are currently valid.
• The security verifications are currently valid.
• The immigration verifications are in process.
• The file was transferred to the XXXX IRCC office for continued processing of the application. This office will schedule an appointment for the applicant in due course, if necessary.
• Because the application is non-routine, there is no specific processing timeto finalize it. Rest assured that all efforts are being made to ensure efficient processing of the application.
  • Should they need to travel using a commercial carrier during this time, they should ensure they hold a valid permanent resident card.
• If the application is approved:
  • the next step is to wait for the ceremony appointment. At the ceremony, the applicant will take the oath and receive their citizenship certificate.
• If the application is refused:
  • a refusal letter will be sent to the applicant to inform them of the decision, and
  • the Right of Citizenship Fee will be refunded.

Any updates?

 

[Acdc]

hi please help.
I became a refugee in 2015 and received pr 2016 I obtained my home country passport in 2018 and never used that passport until last year in 2020 to visitt
home country and stayed there for 5 months to get married
Am I at any risk if I apply for spousal sponsorship to bring my husband here or should I apply for citizenship first

 

[Acdc]

I am really stressed out if I had known about cessation I would have been careful

 

[scylla]

hi please help.
I became a refugee in 2015 and received pr 2016 I obtained my home country passport in 2018 and never used that passport until last year in 2020 to visitt
home country and stayed there for 5 months to get married
Am I at any risk if I apply for spousal sponsorship to bring my husband here or should I apply for citizenship first

Were you the primary applicant in the refugee application or were you a dependent?

 

[Acdc]

I was the applicant

 

[dpenabill]

hi please help.
I became a refugee in 2015 and received pr 2016 I obtained my home country passport in 2018 and never used that passport until last year in 2020 to visitt
home country and stayed there for 5 months to get married
Am I at any risk if I apply for spousal sponsorship to bring my husband here or should I apply for citizenship first

There is SOME RISK. How much is very difficult to know. This is probably something you should see a qualified, reputable immigration lawyer, one experienced in refugee matters, about . . . BEFORE you engage in any further transactions with CBSA or IRCC. That is, no travel abroad, no applications to sponsor, no applications for a new PR card, no application for citizenship, UNTIL after you have consulted with someone you can rely on to provide an expert opinion about your status.

Many larger urban areas have refugee assistance services of one sort or another, and I would expect someone there should be able to refer you to a lawyer sufficiently qualified to review your situation.


Further Observations:

Who among refugees or protected persons are specifically subject to the reavailment process for terminating protected person status is complicated. Given the potential severity of consequences, the best approach for a refugee or protected person is to assume reavailment applies UNLESS they can determine it for-sure does not. Best to consult with a qualified lawyer for this.

In any event, assuming you are among those covered, you have already done the main two things that can be grounds for a reavailment proceeding to terminate protected person status, which if that is done, that automatically terminates PR status as well. (Those two things: obtain home country passport and travel to the home country.)

Next consideration is avoiding doing something that might trigger the government to actually initiate a reavailment proceeding, again UNLESS and UNTIL, you are confident that you are NOT a covered protected person OR you have adequate assurance from a qualified professional there is no risk for you personally, or at least not much risk, that the government will proceed with revocation of protect person status based on reavailment.

Assuming you are among those covered, it is very difficult to evaluate the scope of the risk that Canada might initiate reavailment proceedings against you; indeed, this is very, very difficult. No one here is qualified to offer a reliable opinion about this.

We do not even know to what extent the government is currently prosecuting reavailment cases. Last information I have seen about actual cases goes back MORE than a YEAR.

The problem is that the consequences are potentially so severe (loss of BOTH protected person status and, due to that, automatically the loss of PR status), this is something that affected persons should be very careful about.

SEE A LAWYER.

 

[116sg17]

Hi everyone
I am very curious. Have there ever been any cases of citizenship revocation for refugees if they travel to home country after citizenship?

 

[Acdc]

I wasn’t fleeing from the country but my grandparents and they passed away before I decided to travel back and does that help me with the conditions since they ceased to exist

 

[Acdc]

I came to Canada in 2011 and This is the first time I travelled back

 

[dpenabill]

I wasn’t fleeing from the country but my grandparents and they passed away before I decided to travel back and does that help me with the conditions since they ceased to exist

I came to Canada in 2011 and This is the first time I travelled back

This gets into the technicalities about which refugees or protected persons are covered by the UNHCR guidelines and subject to loss of protected person status for reavailment. This is technical. This is not something that participants in this forum should be trusted to figure out. Even those of us fairly well acquainted with the applicable provisions, who can probably GUESS and be very close to being right.

(I could offer a guess, for example, but I am afraid it would be more misleading than helpful, since YOU need to know, to really know, and even a very good guess is just not good enough.)

As I have noted elsewhere, if you were not questioned about your status upon your return to Canada, that is probably a good clue your risk is low . . . but NOT a good enough clue, and NOT assurance it is a low-enough risk . . . because there is still a significant risk and the potential consequences, total loss of status to live in Canada, are so severe.

It is a bit like the difference in walking on a sidewalk close to the curb with a 15 cm drop versus walking on a surface very much the same but where it drops off 15 metres. Risk of falling off the edge is the same for both. But the risk of being seriously injured or worse, if one does fall, is almost nil for the first one (a twisted ankle maybe) but extremely severe (potentially fatal) in the other.

Sorry, the best thing to do is get a good lawyer's input.

Hi everyone
I am very curious. Have there ever been any cases of citizenship revocation for refugees based on travel to home country after citizenship?

Misrepresentation (fraud) is the only grounds for revoking Canadian citizenship.

And, actually, travel to home country is not grounds to revoke PR status. It is considered to be reavailment (under UNHCR guidelines, which Canada follows) of home country protection and is grounds to terminate protected person status. In 2012 the Harper government adopted a provision which AUTOMATICALLY terminates the PR status of a person who obtained PR as a refugee or protected person and who is adjudicated to have loss protected person status based on reavailment. (So affected persons never get notice that they may lost PR status; they get notice of the process to terminate their protected person status, and if that process is done, resulting in the loss of protected person status, that AUTOMATICALLY terminates the individual's PR status.)

 

[116sg17]

This gets into the technicalities about which refugees or protected persons are covered by the UNHCR guidelines and subject to loss of protected person status for reavailment. This is technical. This is not something that participants in this forum should be trusted to figure out. Even those of us fairly well acquainted with the applicable provisions, who can probably GUESS and be very close to being right.

(I could offer a guess, for example, but I am afraid it would be more misleading than helpful, since YOU need to know, to really know, and even a very good guess is just not good enough.)

As I have noted elsewhere, if you were not questioned about your status upon your return to Canada, that is probably a good clue your risk is low . . . but NOT a good enough clue, and NOT assurance it is a low-enough risk . . . because there is still a significant risk and the potential consequences, total loss of status to live in Canada, are so severe.

It is a bit like the difference in walking on a sidewalk close to the curb with a 15 cm drop versus walking on a surface very much the same but where it drops off 15 metres. Risk of falling off the edge is the same for both. But the risk of being seriously injured or worse, if one does fall, is almost nil for the first one (a twisted ankle maybe) but extremely severe (potentially fatal) in the other.

Sorry, the best thing to do is get a good lawyer's input.




Misrepresentation (fraud) is the only grounds for revoking Canadian citizenship.

And, actually, travel to home country is not grounds to revoke PR status. It is considered to be reavailment (under UNHCR guidelines, which Canada follows) of home country protection and is grounds to terminate protected person status. In 2012 the Harper government adopted a provision which AUTOMATICALLY terminates the PR status of a person who obtained PR as a refugee or protected person and who is adjudicated to have loss protected person status based on reavailment. (So affected persons never get notice that they may lost PR status; they get notice of the process to terminate their protected person status, and if that process is done, resulting in the loss of protected person status, that AUTOMATICALLY terminates the individual's PR status.)

Thanks for your response. So technically once a person becomes citizen their PR status in revoked automatically. Travel to home country is considered reavailment and can only affect PR status of protected person. So unless a person had any sort of misrepresentation like errors in physical presence, undisclosed criminal cases, jail time, undisclosed travel history etc their citizenship cannot be challenged for just travelling to their home country?

 

[dpenabill]

I wasn’t fleeing from the country but my grandparents and they passed away before I decided to travel back and does that help me with the conditions since they ceased to exist

Assuming you are referring to the possible application of Subsection 108(1)(e) and 108(4) in IRPA . . . again, this gets into the technicalities about how these provisions are applied.

The thing about 108(1)(e) is that it is itself a separate ground for revoking or terminating the individual's protected person status. That is, if the underlying reason the person needed protected person status no longer exists, that is a separate ground for denying protected status or terminating the person's status as such . . . subject to the exception described in 108(4).

But as best I understand it, that does NOT change how 108(1)(a) can apply . . . that is, if 108(1)(a) applies because the individual has obtained a home country passport, or the person has traveled to the home country, or especially both, that is itself grounds for revoking or terminating the individual's protected person status.

That is, even though the reason you needed protected person status ceased, as of the death of the persons posing the threat, that would not have been grounds to terminate YOUR protected person status because of 108(4) . . . whereas under other circumstances, for other protected persons, if the threat they fled ceased, they would no longer be eligible for protected person status (separating one from the other is more complicated than I can explain).

So sure, you do not need to worry that Canada would proceed to terminate your status because of 108(1)(e). The fact your grandparents died, the threat ceased, and as a matter of fact you do not need special protection status, will NOT cause Canada to take action against your status.

BUT my understanding is that does NOT preclude Canada from proceeding to terminate your status based on 108(1)(a) (the reavailment provision).


BUT AGAIN I AM NO EXPERT and this is especially true about this. I got involved in this particular subject reluctantly, because I saw how it was unjustly affecting so many citizenship applicants and virtually no one (back when I started this topic) was warning refugees about this.

MY GUESS is that you are a person covered, and that 108(1)(a) could be applied to you. I do not know this for sure. But that is my guess.

In contrast, MY GUESS is that the risk that Canada will actually prosecute a reavailment against you appears to be low. BUT I REALLY DO NOT KNOW. My guess is NO where near close enough for you to be making a decision based on it. Again, even a low risk demands exercising serious caution because the impact, the consequences, can potentially be so severe.

So technically once a person becomes citizen their PR status in revoked automatically. Travel to home country is considered reavailment and can only affect PR status of protected person. So unless a person had any sort of misrepresentation like errors in physical presence, undisclosed criminal cases, jail time, undisclosed travel history etc there citizenship cannot be challenged for just travelling to their home country.

That's about it.

 

[Kambs16]

Nope. No updates at all. Gave up waiting or even remotely thinking of it.

 

[salem10]

hi Dpenabill
Please give me your opinion about this.
I applied for citizenship application in last November.
Last two days my wife’s brother passed away with his daughter in a car accident. It’s tragically condition and my wife in bad condition to go home whatever cost. Specially, we are here for 10 years ow.
Our PR is based on Protected person status. I understand that she can ask for urgent processing her application as a death in her family and she can’t get passport from her country of original.
Her passport is Canadian Travel Document.
but I am thinking that how she can ask for urgent processing if she should not visit her home country?
On the other side of not who is the people can’t get passport from their home country other than refugees.
Your response and opinion is highly appreciated.
Thank you

 

[dpenabill]

Please give me your opinion about this.
I applied for citizenship application in last November.
Last two days my wife’s brother passed away with his daughter in a car accident. It’s tragically condition and my wife in bad condition to go home whatever cost. Specially, we are here for 10 years ow.
Our PR is based on Protected person status. I understand that she can ask for urgent processing her application as a death in her family and she can’t get passport from her country of original.
Her passport is Canadian Travel Document.
but I am thinking that how she can ask for urgent processing if she should not visit her home country?
On the other side of not who is the people can’t get passport from their home country other than refugees.
Your response and opinion is highly appreciated.

I do not know what to say about this. Except to say I am sorry your family has suffered this tragedy.

I am not an expert. Not even close.

I do not intend to discourage the effort to request urgent processing. Should not hurt. But I cannot offer much promise about how it will be received. I just do NOT KNOW.

Again, my condolences, and I am sorry I cannot help much.