Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement - Family Member Exceptions Who Holds a Valid Canadian Work Permit

[mafghan]

Hi,

As per Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement under Family Member Exceptions, it is stated that:

Refugee claimants may qualify under this category of exceptions if they have a family member who:

• holds a valid Canadian work permit

My question: Is a family member in Canada who is a refugee claimant (has Acknowledgement of Claim document and does not have Brown Paper or in other words his refugee claim is not yet referred to the IRB for determination) but he has been recently issued a Canadian Work permit, does he qualify under family category exception (on the basis of holding a Canadian Work permit).

Why Am I Confused: In the past, Work permits were generally issued after eligibility interview. However, recently Refugee Claimants has received work permits prior to their eligibility interviews. I am wondering if the rule of "holds a valid Canadian work permit" ONLY applies to Economic Immigrants (not refugees) holding Work permits

Any thoughts or experience?