Dear Mr Brown:

If an error was made on a previous application (visa or permanent residence), does that affect whether an application for citizenship will be approved?

-SM

Dear SM:

In response to your question, I will state in the affirmative that false representations included in an application can definitely affect future applications. In fact, it has been reported recently that the revocation of citizenship under the Trudeau government has been at a higher rate than under the previous government.

Citizenship fraud

Citizenship fraud remains a major concern. The government made 184 revocation decisions without legal hearings between November 2015 and August 2016, of which 90 per cent of the decisions resulted in the loss of a person’s citizenship.

Laws passed by the previous government aimed to strip dual citizens of their Canadian passports if they were convicted of crimes of terrorism, treason or espionage against Canada. The Trudeau government repealed the parts of the law that applied to those convicted of terrorism-related crimes. As such, offenders would be dealt with through criminal law, rather than having their citizenship revoked. However, other parts of the law allow the government to strip citizenship from other holders of Canadian passports for misrepresentation.

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation entails directly or indirectly giving false information or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could possibly induce an error in the administration of granting a visa. Misrepresentation is deemed material if it effectively forecloses avenues of inquiry, regardless of whether one intends or does not intend to deceive. It will be material if it is important enough to affect the process. Therefore, applicants either know or ought to know relevant information required by a visa officer to make a decision. Applicants are responsible for fraudulent and negligent false information or omissions.

No appeal

The 184 revocation decisions during the first 10 months of the Trudeau government nearly matched the total number of decisions between 1988 and October 2015.

There is controversy due to the fact that the hearings have no appeals process, which affects exceptional cases such as those who grew up in Canada since they were infants and have broken no laws, but are being stripped of citizenship due to misrepresentation by their parents.

The government has maintained that investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police resulted in the conviction of immigration consultants who helped individuals obtain citizenship illegally and that the revocation process is then undertaken to determine whether the individuals associated with these investigations fraudulently obtained their Canadian citizenship by intentionally misleading the government of Canada about key aspects of their citizenship application. These include concealing past criminal activities or submitting false documents to demonstrate residence in Canada when, in fact, they were not living in Canada.

Accordingly, it should be highlighted that the government is targeting the most serious cases regarding fraudulent submissions.

Please visit

jamaica2canada.com for additional information on Canadian Permanent Residence programmes, including Express Entry, the Study and Work progamme, visitor’s visas or appeals, etc.

Antonn Brown, BA, (Hons), LLB, MSc, RCIC, is an immigration counsel andan accredited Canadian education agent of JAMAICA2CANADA.COM — a Canadian immigration & education firm in Kingston. Send questions/comments to jamaica2canada@gmail.com.