Entering Canada temporarily when you want to immigrate

Credit to Author: Steven Meurrens| Date: Mon, 29 May 2023 21:11:53 +0000

Canadian immigration legislation provides that an intention by a foreign national to become a permanent resident in the future does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident in the present if a visa officer or customs official is satisfied that the person will leave Canada by the end of any period that they are authorized to temporarily enter Canada.

This principle, known as dual intent, allows individuals to have two intentions. It means that they can enter Canada on a temporary resident visa, obtain a work permit, or obtain a study permit, and also have the intention of eventually applying for permanent residence.

Assessing dual intent

 While individuals can have an intention to eventually become a permanent resident, they must still satisfy IRCC that they also have a genuine intention to leave Canada by the end of any period authorized for their stay when they are a temporary resident.

In assessing this, officers consider several factors, including (1) the length of time that the person will be spending in Canada, (2) their means of support, (3) their obligations and ties to their home country, (4) the purpose and the context of the stay, (5) the credibility of documents and information submitted, and (6), their past compliance with Canadian immigration legislation.

Officers are prohibited from thinking that just because someone has an open, closed or prospective permanent residence application automatically believes that they will remain in Canada beyond the period authorized for their stay, and contravene Canadian immigration legislation.

Family reunification

 When people are sponsoring their spouses or common-law partners from overseas it is common for the person that they are sponsoring to want to visit them temporarily in Canada when the sponsorship application is in processing.

There are additional factors that visa officers consider in this scenario.  This includes (1) whether the sponsorship application has been approved, (2) whether an application for permanent residence is proceeding towards approval, (3) the partner’s ongoing ties in their home country, and (4) the result of being without status in Canada, e.g. the inability to work, inability to study, no access to health care, risk of being deported, etc.

Similarly, there are additional factors that visa officers consider when assessing parents and grandparents who wish to visit their children or grandchildren in Canada.  These include whether they have an application for permanent residence in process under the Parent & Grandparent Program, and whether they have demonstrated that they wish to visit Canada but not to live their permanently when their application is in processing.

Students

One of the challenges that study permit applicants have traditionally faced is that many visa officers expected applicants to demonstrate that they would leave Canada after their studies, even though the programs that they were eligible in qualified for post-graduate work permits. As well, IRCC actively advertised abroad that such individuals may eventually qualify for permanent residence.

 On April 5, 2023, the IRCC website was updated with the seeming intention of addressing this issue.  It now states “in the case of study permit applicants, officers should take into consideration that the Government of Canada actively promotes study-work-permanent residence pathways to prospective students, and that prospective students (particularly Francophones) are encouraged to indicate that they wish to immigrate to Canada permanently. Indeed, many prospective students will emphasize their desire to remain permanently in Canada as they believe this bolsters their application, in response to Government of Canada messaging and advertising.”

Hopefully IRCC officers adhere to the above guidance, and the focus of assessments shifts from whether someone will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay, to whether they meet the requirements of the dual intent principle in Canadian immigration law.

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