018: Judicial Review of a Visa Refusal - When all else fails! - Everything you wanted to know about the Judicial Review Process with Rekha McNutt

CanadianImmigrationPodcast.com

CIP S1 E18 – Rekha McNutt – Show Notes

Welcome Rekha to the Podcast

Rekha practices primarily in immigration law.  

She has extensive experience with temporary resident visas, express entry, federal skilled workers, Canadian experience class, Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program, family class sponsorships, refugee claims, pre-removal risk assessments, and in-Canada humanitarian and compassionate permanent residence applications.

Rekha had appeared before the Alberta Provincial Court and the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta.  She has also appeared extensively before the Federal Court of Canada and Immigration Tribunals such as the Immigration Division, Refugee Protection Division, and the Immigration Appeal Division.

Rekha is currently the Chair of the Southern Alberta Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Immigration Section. 

She is an avid motor cycling enthusiast:

1. Introduction of You 

2. Background information and how you got into immigration 

3. Introduction of Topic - What to do when your TRV application is refused?

• Request Visa Office Notes
• Refile and address concerns of officer
• File a JR

4. What is a JR? 

5. When can it be used? 

• Share some examples of circumstances where it did work and what happened?  

6. Process Flow of a JR 

• [NOTE: Step 5 and 6 could be reversed depending on which order you think would be best.] 

7. Top Take-aways: 

• Consult a lawyer as soon as you get a refusal to review the possibility of a JR because of the potentially very short timeline 

• Hire a lawyer who is also familiar with the type of application that was refused. Such a person is best suited to determine whether there was an error made and your chances on JR 

• Court intervention is sometimes the only way to “change” an Officer’s mind.

• Sometimes the consequences of not JR-ing are very serious (eg. 5 year misrep bar; refusal for inadmissibility for A35 (crimes against humanity), etc.)

• A JR is not an ‘appeal’. The court cannot look at new evidence. So if the underlying application is deficient, the better solution may be to re-file rather than JR