Applicant from PhD program after 5 Nov, 2011 connect here to get status

[Dani1982]

You deserve it Dani! I still remember that your updated reference letter had the leading statement explicitly, but they refused your application for not matching the duties in the leading statement. I think you send them an email to ask whether the considered your updated letter or not, what was their response?

BTW: Who was the first one to appeal?

They never respond to my inquiries! he was not among the member of this forum, but if you need more information, I can send you the link to his case in the court!

 

[N_O]

They never respond to my inquiries! he was not among the member of this forum, but if you need more information, I can send you the link to his case in the court!

Yes, please!

 

[N_O]

Thank you guys!

Here is my story, after my rejection I tried several times to contact CPC-Ottawa to review my case, I tried to convince them that my research assistant work experience letter clearly stated the lead statement as well as the related duties, but I never got any response. Then I tried the MP and asked him to send a letter to Ottawa and ask for a clarification on my application. In response, FA01772 came up with the same reasoning as the refusal email. In February, I suddenly ran into a case in the Federal court with the similar refusal reason ( listed duties that do not match the actions of the lead statement for research assistant work experience ), then I decided to pursue my case in the Federal court. During the preparation, I talked to 2 lawyers and both of them told me that I can not do anything in the court and it is better to reapply. They also said that even if I can quash the officer's decision, there is no guarantee that they granted me the PR visa, they can easily reject me again for another valid reason. But I decided to do this anyway and file a leave and Judicial review application in the Federal court. There are several steps involved in filing a judicial review application in the Federal court, one stage before the hearing, the justice department at the Immigration office decided to settle a deal with me outside the court. The problem with my application was the delay, if you want to file a judicial review application in the federal court, you have to do it within 2 weeks of the refusal decision. Otherwise, you have to file the application with extension of time and justify why you are late(which is really hard)

Generally this is a time consuming procedure if you want to do it by you own. If you decide to hire a lawyer, you have to spend 5000-10000$. You have to be very careful and only if you are 100% sure that the officer erred in law and make a wrong decision, you can think about the federal court. The best way to be sure is to find a similar case. Canadian legal system is common law, it means that the judges's decision are treated like a written law, so you can cite them in your case. All of the previous cases in the Federal Court are either on-line or you can order them at the Federal court's registry office in your town. Here are some useful links in case you need:

http://decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca/fc-cf/en/d/s/index.do?col=54
http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/portal/page/portal/fc_cf_en/ApplicationIMM
http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/portal/page/portal/fc_cf_en/Rules#guides
http://cas-ncr-nter03.cas-satj.gc.ca/portal/page/portal/fc_cf_en/Practice_Guide_Immigration

you can search some keywords in the previous decisions to find the similar cases. The whole process will take about 10-12 months and at the best, you can only quashed the officer's decision and return your application back to the visa office to review by another visa officer.

I believe that many applicants provided almost the same reference letter and were rejected because the leading statement was not explicitly mentioned, many applicants could turn the decision for their side if they went to the Federal Court.

Thanks again for sharing your story with us, it will encourage many others to appeal.

 

[N_O]

To all the applicants who updated their reference letter before, but nevertheless they were rejected because the reference letter failed to list job duties or responsibilities that match the actions described in the lead statement under [NOC 4012].
I highly encourage every one of you to file a leave and Judicial review application in the Federal court. We have 2 successful cases in this stream, you may do the appeal without a lawyer, it will take long but mostly you'll get it before they look in your new application.

 

[yahia.eldemerdash]

I just want to tell you that I am finally get the main reason of not accepting my updated reference letter.
I went to the MP office, and the the MP assistant called the immigration and asked about my case. They mentioned that my ref. letter was not dated !!!! and the experience periods were not specific. However, I mentioned in the letter both the start and the end dates in month and year. The officer mentioned that I had to add the days also !!!!!!

What surprised me that there is no chance to make an appeal on the rejection anymore. The officer told the MP office that it is a final decision and no re-assessment request or appeal will be accepted.

The MP assistant was very helpful and went in a long debate with the officer but without any results.

 

[mike5182]

Sorry for your situation. The officer is looking at really detailed information. If you have more than 1 year and three months working experience, the first day and last day of the month should not make any difference.

I just want to tell you that I am finally get the main reason of not accepting my updated reference letter.
I went to the MP office, and the the MP assistant called the immigration and asked about my case. They mentioned that my ref. letter was not dated !!!! and the experience periods were not specific. However, I mentioned in the letter both the start and the end dates in month and year. The officer mentioned that I had to add the days also !!!!!!

What surprised me that there is no chance to make an appeal on the rejection anymore. The officer told the MP office that it is a final decision and no re-assessment request or appeal will be accepted.

The MP assistant was very helpful and went in a long debate with the officer but without any results.

 

[yahia.eldemerdash]

Sorry for your situation. The officer is looking at really detailed information. If you have more than 1 year and three months working experience, the first day and last day of the month should not make any difference.

Actually I have more than 5 years experience, so the days should not be an issue. The officer should consider even the worst case and decrease few months. But it seems they just want to write a reason for the rejection.

 

[Anna2013]

Actually I have more than 5 years experience, so the days should not be an issue. The officer should consider even the worst case and decrease few months. But it seems they just want to write a reason for the rejection.

This is just ridiculous. They have no respect for people. It is that I really like this country and I would like to stay here, but the way they treat interested people is just simply disgusting.

 

[N_O]

I just want to tell you that I am finally get the main reason of not accepting my updated reference letter.
I went to the MP office, and the the MP assistant called the immigration and asked about my case. They mentioned that my ref. letter was not dated !!!! and the experience periods were not specific. However, I mentioned in the letter both the start and the end dates in month and year. The officer mentioned that I had to add the days also !!!!!!

What surprised me that there is no chance to make an appeal on the rejection anymore. The officer told the MP office that it is a final decision and no re-assessment request or appeal will be accepted.

The MP assistant was very helpful and went in a long debate with the officer but without any results.

I am sorry to hear that! Dani1982 filed an appeal to the Federal Court, his application was re-opened and he got the medical request yesterday.

 

[N_O]

This is just ridiculous. They have no respect for people. It is that I really like this country and I would like to stay here, but the way they treat interested people is just simply disgusting.

I agree with you Anna, they do not have any respect especially to the PhD stream. Did you see Dani's case? He was so brave to appeal although all of us just prefer to apply again.

 

[Houra]

I just want to tell you that I am finally get the main reason of not accepting my updated reference letter.
I went to the MP office, and the the MP assistant called the immigration and asked about my case. They mentioned that my ref. letter was not dated !!!! and the experience periods were not specific. However, I mentioned in the letter both the start and the end dates in month and year. The officer mentioned that I had to add the days also !!!!!!

What surprised me that there is no chance to make an appeal on the rejection anymore. The officer told the MP office that it is a final decision and no re-assessment request or appeal will be accepted.

The MP assistant was very helpful and went in a long debate with the officer but without any results.

They didn't accept 2 years of my job experience only because the letter was not dated, although it clearly indicated the exact dates that I worked and matched all qualifications of a good letter otherwise.

 

[N_O]

They didn't accept 2 years of my job experience only because the letter was not dated, although it clearly indicated the exact dates that I worked and matched all qualifications of a good letter otherwise.

This is really ridiculous! They could easily contact you or the employer to get a new one, or to make sure that it true and up to date.

 

[Houra]

This is really ridiculous! They could easily contact you or the employer to get a new one, or to make sure that it true and up to date.

I know! I was lucky that I had other experience that they accepted. The date on the letter shouldn't matter that much because the end date of the job was 3 years ago! In my CAIPS notes, it is obvious that the officer didn't even bother reading that letter and totally disregarded it. When listing my experiences in the notes, this one just says "letter not dated" and then moves on to the next letter...

 

[hamed_hamed_hamed]

This is really ridiculous! They could easily contact you or the employer to get a new one, or to make sure that it true and up to date.

I doubt there is any requirement for having ref. letters dated! Is there any? I don't remember.

What you're saying is what CIC used to care about few years ago before the Ottawa office opens. Since than, they do not contact people for even small issues that may save someone from getting rejected.

 

[N_O]

I doubt there is any requirement for having ref. letters dated! Is there any? I don't remember.

What you're saying is what CIC used to care about few years ago before the Ottawa office opens. Since than, they do not contact people for even small issues that may save someone from getting rejected.

You are right, the checklist does not require that, I just took a look. However, they reject people if it wasn't sign!
They still do that with the FSW applicants but the PhD ones, they aren't interested in more researchers.