Ministerial Instructions (MI82): Ministerial Instructions pursuant to subsection 24(3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act concerning foreign nationals who are victims of family violence

Objective

The objective of these Ministerial Instructions is to provide protection to vulnerable foreign nationals who are victims of family violence or impacted by it, by regularizing their status in Canada, when appropriate.

These protection measures relate to: the regularization of their temporary resident status through the issuance of a temporary resident permit; their eligibility to apply for a work and/or study permit; and their access to healthcare coverage through the Interim Federal Health Program for the duration of their temporary resident permit, when the victims are not already covered under another healthcare program or insurance.

Overview

These Instructions are given, pursuant to subsection 24(3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to guide officers when examining whether a temporary resident permit for victims of family violence in Canada should be issued to foreign nationals under subsection 24(1) of the IRPA.

For the purposes of these Instructions, dependent children are defined as persons who meet the definition of a “dependent child” in section 2 of the Regulations, as assessed by officers.

Considerations

Foreign national victims of family violence in Canada may be referred to the Department by law enforcement partners (e.g. the Canada Border Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial/local police force) or non-governmental organizations. These victims may also self-identify to the Department. In any case, they must apply for a special temporary resident permit for victims of family violence in order to get protection.

Officers of the Department who are assessing an application for a temporary resident permit should consider issuing a temporary resident permit for victims of family violence to a foreign national and their dependent children in Canada if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is a victim.

Criteria for the issuance of temporary resident permits

An officer shall consider the following factors in assessing whether a foreign national is a victim of family violence:

1. Whether the foreign national is physically located in Canada and experiencing abuse by their spouse or common-law partner while in Canada, including physical, sexual, psychological, or financial abuse, or neglect, and
2. Whether the foreign national is seeking permanent residence that is contingent on remaining in a genuine relationship in which there is abuse.

Purposes for the issuance of temporary resident permits

The officer may be justified in issuing a temporary resident permit to a victim of family violence and their dependent children in Canada for a minimum of 12 months, taking into consideration any of the following factors:

1. To provide a period of reflection for victims of family violence who are out of status to further consider their immigration options;
2. To allow victims of family violence to escape the influence of their abuser so that they can make an informed decision on a future course of action;
3. The individual’s ties to Canada;
4. Child custody or other family law related issues;
5. For any other purpose the officer may judge relevant to facilitate the protection of vulnerable foreign nationals who are victims of family violence.

A subsequent temporary resident permit may also be justified, where length of issuance is decided on a case by case basis taking into consideration the purposes listed above.

Effects of the issuance of these temporary resident permits on the victims

In addition to the protection the issuance of these temporary resident permits would have by regularizing the status of the victims and their dependent children in Canada, these permits will provide them with the following:

1. Eligibility to apply for a work permit under section 200 or 201 of the Regulations and/or a study permit under section 216 or 217 of the Regulations; and
2. Healthcare coverage under the Interim Federal Health Program for the duration of their temporary resident permit, when the victims are not already covered under another healthcare program.

Scope

These Instructions apply to applications for temporary resident permits for victims of family violence submitted to or pending review by the Department on or after the coming into force of these instructions.

Applications in processing

Applications in processing at the time of signature shall be assessed under these instructions upon their coming into force.

Effective date

These instructions come into force one week after signature.

These Ministerial Instructions will supersede and replace Ministerial Instructions pursuant to subsection 24(3) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act concerning foreign nationals who are victims of family violence that came into effect on July 26, 2019