Humanitarian & Compassionate Applications

Humanitarian and Compassionate (H & C for short) applications are Canadian permanent residence applications that can be are filed within or outside Canada. However, most H&C applications are filed inland (in Canada).

Humanitarian and compassionate application is mostly for people living in Canada without legal status but who have established themselves in Canada. Under Section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and his delegated officers must consider H&C factors upon request of a foreign national to correct the foreign national’s status in Canada.

If you has been in Canada for a number of years and you have established yourself in Canada (by family ties, working, studying or volunteering), you may be a good candidate for this type of applications. Often applicants of this type of applications do not qualify for other Canadian permanent residence categories such as the Skilled Worker category or Canadian Experience Class, which require that the applicants have sufficient official language skills or education or work experience. Inland applicants must also demonstrate that they will suffer undue hardship if they are not allowed to stay in Canada.

Procedure for Humanitarian and Compassionate Cases

Applicants of this category must complete appropriate application forms and provide detailed supporting documentation to demonstrate their establishment in Canada and the hardship they would have suffered if their application were not granted.  The application package should have a very detailed submission letter outlining all the H and C factors of the applicant and explain why the immigration officer assessing the case should approve the application.

H&C applications are discretionary. Immigration officer assessing the case has the discretion to refuse or approve the case based on their own assessment of the merits of the case. It is therefore extremely important to prepare a very strong submission letter and collect persuasive supporting documentation for this type of applications.

If the H&C application is approved, the applicant will be asked to take medical examinations and obtain police clearances. After the screening on the medicals and police clearances is done, the applicant will be issued their Canadian Permanent Residence Card (PR Card).

If the H&C application is refused, the applicant may apply for judicial review of the negative decision to the Federal Court of Canada.

 

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Canadian Permanent Residence Applications

Appeal and Judicial Review

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