Section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that a permanent resident or foreign national is inadmissible to Canada for directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of Canada’s immigration laws.
The general consequence of misrepresenting is a two-year ban from entering Canada.
There are several important things to note about this:
- If someone who is sponsoring you makes a misrepresentation, then it is you who will be found to be inadmissible. Make sure you review what your sponsor is writing on the forms.
- It is important to note that the rule against misrepresentation applies to permanent residents as well as foreign nationals. A permanent resident can be removed from Canada and/or lose their status if they make a misrepresentation.
- If you hire a shady consultant or lawyer that lies on the forms, you cannot use your representative as an excuse. It is you who will be punished.
Examples
The Canadian government is extremely strict on issues of misrepresentation.
Take the story of Ms. Khatun, a widow in Bangladesh. In 2004, her son, Mohammad, had successfully immigrated to Canada under the humanitarian & compassionate class. Being a good son, he then tried to sponsor his mom and her two other children to immigrate. However, an immigration officer noticed that he put a different age of his brother on his sponsorship form than he did on the forms that he used when he first immigrated to Canada. The Officer was suspicious, and found that a misrepresentation occurred. This decision was upheld in Khatun v. Canada, and the mother and her two remaining children are now inadmissible to Canada for two years.
Another example is that of Ms. Li. Ms. Li was a permanent resident who submitted a sponsorship application as a member of the common-law class. However, it was discovered that she and her husband had stopped living together. Not only was the sponsorship application rejected, but poor Ms. Li was found inadmissible to Canada for misrepresentation.
Misrepresentation can also lead to criminal consequences. On April 25, 2011, for example, a Russian man was sentenced to 45 days in jail for forging his ex wife’s signature on his application for permanent resident status. The maximum criminal sentence for misrepresentation is five years in jail, or a $100,000 fine.
Our Service – Full, Honest Disclosure and Good Will
It is extremely difficult to resolve issues of misrepresentation. We have found that properly structured full disclosure is the best way to resolve most immigration issues.
If you have already been accused of misrepresentation, then we can analyze each element of the offence to determine if you are technically innocent even if your application is inaccurate. We can also help you design a strategy to maintain good will with the Canadian government.
Please e-mail steven.meurrens@larlee.com or call 1-604-681-9887 if you have any questions.