Application for a permanent resident visa under the updated temporary public policy for extended families of former Afghan interpreters – Admissibility

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• Admissibility
• Criminal and security assessments
• Biometrics
• Examination of non-accompanying family members
• Medical examination
• Inadmissible applicant or family member
• Applicants intending to reside in Quebec

Admissibility

If eligibility is passed, admissibility assessments must be conducted for all applicants and their family members 18 years of age or older, whether accompanying or not, to determine that they are not inadmissible to Canada.

Principal applicants and their family members must not be inadmissible to Canada for security, human or international rights violations, criminality or organized criminality as described in subsections 34 to 37 of the Act.

Unlike the government-assisted refugee program and the privately-sponsored refugee program, under this public policy, section 40 of the Act for misrepresentation does apply to the applicant.

As the public policy does not require that the applicant obtain a formal undertaking from the former language and cultural advisor (LCA), only that a statutory declaration confirming the relationship with the LCA and the LCA’s residency in Canada be provided, a lack of support could not be a ground for refusal.

If it is determined that an applicant may be inadmissible the officer must send a procedural fairness letter outlining their concerns prior to refusing an application.

Criminal and security assessments

Generally, applicants and family members 18 years of age or over must provide police certificates, clearances or records of non-conviction for:

• the current country of residence, if the applicant has resided there for 6 months or more
• the countries where the applicant has resided for 6 consecutive months or longer since the age of 18

If they were under the age of 18 when they lived in these countries, this information is not a requirement.

An officer may still request additional police certificates for any additional countries in which the applicant may have resided.

Officers should not require applicants applying under the LCA public policy to submit police certificates or certificates of no criminal conviction from their home country.

Alerting authorities in the country of alleged persecution to an individual’s permanent residence application may put an applicant or family at risk. Officers may, however, request police certificates for countries of temporary asylum. An applicant should not be refused solely because they did not produce these documents upon request, although the inability to produce the documents without reason may put into question the credibility of the applicant when assessing admissibility.

Biometrics

Principal applicants and their accompanying family members between the ages of 14 and 79 are required to provide their biometrics in support of their permanent residence application.

Biometrics must be collected in order to:

• establish their identity
• conduct automated biometric searches with Canadian and Migration 5 (M5) partners to inform admissibility decisions

In the absence of service delivery channels, officers should schedule appointments for biometric collection at the migration office.

Third country

Important: IRCC is unable to collect biometrics from clients in Afghanistan as there is no longer a Government of Canada (GoC) presence in the country and applicants may not be able to safely leave and return to Afghanistan for the provision of biometrics in a third country. For cases where applicants are residing in Afghanistan, please refer to the Screening Assessments for Applicants in Afghanistan instructions.

If a client is in a third country and able to submit biometrics they should be issued a biometric instruction letter (BIL) in order to have their biometrics collected at the nearest biometrics collection service point.

Biometric results

Officers are to review the biometric results to determine if there are concerns that need to be addressed.

If biometric results are returned as “poor quality” by the RCMP and are not searched against M5 partner holdings, officers may either request that the applicant re-enrol their biometrics or set the biometrics requirement to “Complete”.

Officers should also consult the Biometric exemption for permanent residence applicants with previous biometrics on file instructions.

Examination of non-accompanying family members

All accompanying dependants of the principal applicant who are described as family members in subsection 1(3) of the Regulations must be examined. The examination includes a determination of whether they are inadmissible for criminality or security reasons by following the criminality and security assessments as described above.

For the purposes of this public policy, non-accompanying dependants are not required to be medically examined. An officer may be satisfied that a non-accompanying family member is not inadmissible for criminality or security reasons based on information presented by the applicant.

The principal applicant should make their best effort to provide a Schedule A – Background / Declaration form [IMM 5669 (PDF, 1.52 MB)] for their non-accompanying family members for this examination. However, given the current situation in Afghanistan, if the principal applicant is unable to (because they cannot locate their non-accompanying family members), they must provide a letter of explanation. The officer must use their discretion when determining whether they are satisfied that a non-accompanying family member is not inadmissible.

Medical examination

Foreign nationals who are applying for permanent residence must undergo a medical examination as per subsection 30(1)(a)(i) of the Regulations. All accompanying family members of a foreign national who are applying for permanent residence must also undergo a medical examination.

Note: The principal applicant may have non-accompanying dependants listed in their permanent residence application. For the purposes of this public policy, non-accompanying dependants are not required to be medically examined.

Once eligibility is passed, officers must send the applicant the GCMS-generated IMM 1017E form and their Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) certificate. These clients are eligible to have their immigration medical examination (IME) covered by the IFHP. When the IMM1017 is issued under REF-OVS application, IFHP coverage and certificate will be created automatically.

Note: Applicants have access to pre-departure services. This is a suite of services, which is delivered by the IOM and provides direct supports to clients to assist them with the overseas process, including transportation to/from immigration medical exam.

Officers should review the medical results in GCMS to confirm:

• whether a medical furtherance is required
• whether the medicals were passed or there are concerns that require further review (see medical assessment coding)

Medical refusals

An applicant may be refused on health grounds if their condition:

• is likely to be a danger to public health or public safety or
• might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services

Applicants will not be exempt from the excessive demand provision at subsection 38(1)(c) of the Act. Refer to the medical refusals and inadmissibility instructions for more information.

Applicants may be exempt from the requirement to submit to a medical exam (subsection 16(2)(b)) only as it applies to a foreign national who is a non-accompanying family member.

Inadmissible applicant or family member

Except in a few limited situations, an inadmissible family member makes the principal applicant inadmissible, regardless of whether they are seeking permanent resident status.

Note: Applicants may be exempted from the financial inadmissibility provision in section 39 of the Act under this public policy.

If the principal applicant or one of their family members is determined to be inadmissible to Canada, the permanent residence application may be refused. The inadmissible applicant is to be refused on the applicable inadmissibility grounds, and the remaining applicants are to be refused under subsection 42 of the Act. The principal applicant may request an exemption from this provision.

Applicants intending to reside in Quebec

Applicants intending to reside in Quebec require a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ).