Temporary public policy for the resettlement of locally engaged staff of the embassy of Canada to Afghanistan

Background

The withdrawal of NATO troops, which began on May 1, 2021 with full withdrawal to be completed by September 2021, is creating significant risks with respect to security in the country. Security concerns in Afghanistan may increase to the point that Canada must evacuate its Embassy or transform its presence to be a representative office.

If the Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan (Embassy) is evacuated or Canada’s presence is transformed to be a representative office, locally engaged staff (LES) are very likely to face an increased risk of being targeted for attacks and assassination campaigns due to the perception by insurgents that they have supported “western interests”. There is a risk that LES will be left with no safe location in which to take refuge.

The Temporary Public Policy for the Resettlement of Locally Engaged Staff of the Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan recognizes the high vulnerability and elevated risk faced by certain staff members from the Embassy as well as their accompanying family members and certain other members of their family as specified below. This new temporary public policy will, in the event of an Embassy evacuation or transformation of Canada’s presence to a representative office, facilitate the immigration of LES and their family members to Canada as members of the Convention Refugee Abroad Class of the Regulations.

I hereby establish that, in light of the foregoing, there are sufficient public policy considerations to justify granting exemptions, pursuant to section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act “the Act”, to the requirements of the provisions of the Act and Regulations listed below, for foreign nationals who are LES of the Embassy, and their accompanying members of their family or household members, who apply for a permanent resident visa as members of the Convention Refugee Abroad Class and meet the conditions set out below, as well as all admissibility requirements as set out in the Act.

Part 1: Conditions (eligibility requirements) applicable to LES at the Embassy:

Delegated officers may grant an exemption from the requirements of the Regulations identified below when the following conditions are met:

1. The foreign national is included on a list (the List) submitted to the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) by Global Affairs Canada on or before Wednesday July 14, 2021. The foreign nationals included on the List are referred to IRCC by the Head of Mission in Afghanistan, on the basis of an assessment performed by Global Affairs Canada. Global Affairs Canada’s assessment has verified that each individual identified on the List is an LES at the Embassy; and
2. The Embassy has been ordered to evacuate or Canada’s presence is transformed to be a representative office, and this order evacuate or transform is given on a date between the signature of this public policy and January 31, 2022;

Requirements of the provisions of the Act and Regulations for which an exemption may be granted:

• paragraph 96(a) of the Act – the requirement to be outside the country of their nationality to be a member of the Convention refugee abroad class;
• paragraph 139(1)(g) of the Regulations– the requirement to be able to become successfully established in Canada;
• subsection 140.3(1) of the Regulations – the requirement to submit a referral from a referral organization with their permanent resident application;
• subsection 140.3(4) of the Regulations – the requirement to submit their permanent resident application to the immigration office that serves the foreign national’s place of residence;
• paragraphs 151(b) and (c) of the Regulations – the requirement to meet the conditions of these paragraphs to be issued a temporary travel document; and,
• section 307 of the Regulations – the requirement to pay the application processing fee for examining circumstances under subsection 25.2(1) of the Act.

Part 2: Condition (eligibility requirements) applicable to members of the family or household members of an LES at the Embassy:

Delegated officers may grant an exemption from the requirements of the Act and Regulations identified below to a member of the family or household member of a LES if:

1. The foreign national meets the definition of a “family member” in subsection 1(3) of the Regulations and is a “family member” per this definition of a LES who meets the conditions set out in Part 1 of this public policy;
2. The foreign national meets the definition of a “de facto dependent” as per the operational procedure 5 subsection 6.13 (Annex A) and is a “de facto dependent” of an LES who meets the conditions set out in Part 1 of this public policy; or
3. The foreign national resides within the same household as an LES who meets the conditions set out in Part 1 of this public policy and is a, father, mother, brother, brother-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, cousin or legal guardian of child who resides in the household.

Requirements of the provisions of the Act and Regulations for which an exemption may be granted:

• paragraph 96(a) of the Act – the requirement to be outside the country of their nationality to be a member of the Convention refugee abroad class;
• paragraph 139(1)(g) of the Regulations– the requirement to be able to become successfully established in Canada;
• subsection 140.3(1) of the Regulations – the requirement to submit a referral from a referral organization with their permanent resident application;
• subsection 140.3(4) of the Regulations – the requirement to submit their permanent resident application to the immigration office that serves the foreign national’s place of residence;
• paragraphs 151(b) and (c) of the Regulations – the requirement to meet the conditions of these paragraphs to be issued a temporary travel document; and,
• section 307 of the Regulations – the requirement to pay the application processing fee for examining circumstances under subsection 25.2(1) of the Act.

Other statutory eligibility and admissibility requirements:

Foreign nationals eligible under this public policy and all accompanying family members are subject to all other applicable statutory eligibility and admissibility requirements not addressed by this temporary public policy, including the requirement not to be inadmissible on criminal, security and health grounds.

Applicants intending to reside in Quebec are subject to the Province of Quebec’s selection criteria further to subsection 70(3) of the Regulations, and cannot be granted permanent residence unless Quebec determines that they meet such criteria.

Coming into effect and expiration

This temporary public policy takes effect on the date of my signature and it may be revoked at any time. If the Embassy of Canada to Afghanistan has not received an order to evacuate or transform Canada’s presence to be a representative office by January 31, 2022, the public policy ends on that date and all pending applications under this public policy will be refused.

Additional Instructions: Remove implementation trigger event (evacuation or embassy downgrade) and instead instruct that implementation of public policy shall take account GAC and DND operational requirements in Kabul

Annex A

IRCC’s Operational Procedures 5 subsection 6.13

De facto dependents (who may or may not be blood relatives) do not meet the definition of family members. The officer must be satisfied that these persons are dependent on the family unit in which membership is claimed and cannot apply as a family member. The dependency may be emotional or economic and will often be a combination of these factors. Such persons would normally, but not exclusively, reside with the principal applicant (PA) as members of the same household.