Canada restricts refugee tribunal access and widens visa-cancellation powers
Immigration lawyers must file claims within one year or claims lose IRB hearings
Change
Canada enacted Bill C-12, which bars asylum seekers who apply more than one year after entry from full hearings before the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) and confines late claims to pre-removal risk assessments (PRRA).
Why it matters
Canada's federal government may cancel immigration documents — including permanent and temporary resident visas, and work and study permits — when it determines cancellation is in the 'public interest'. Bill C-12 authorises the sharing of personal information within and outside Canada for immigration enforcement purposes, creating a statutory basis for cross-border data exchanges in immigration cases.
Implications
- — Immigration lawyers and legal-aid clinics must file asylum applications for clients within one year of the clients' entry — claims lodged later are limited to pre-removal risk assessments and lose access to full IRB hearings.
- — Adjudicators at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) must apply the statutory one-year filing bar and process late-filed claims via pre-removal risk assessments only — late claims therefore do not receive full tribunal adjudication.
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Source
View on Al Jazeera