Sponsorship Appeals - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

Chapter Two
Criminal Refusals
Introduction
An application for permanent residence made by a member of the family class can be
refused if the member of the family class or a dependant is inadmissible to Canada on any of the
following grounds related to matters of criminality:
• “serious criminality” – IRPA, s. 36(1)
• “criminality” – IRPA, s. 36(2)
• “organized criminality” – IRPA, s. 37
• “security” – IRPA, s. 34
• “human or international rights violations” – IRPA, s. 35
Section 64(1) and (2) of IRPA provides that no appeal may be made to Immigration
Appeal Division (IAD), by either a foreign national or their sponsor, if the foreign national has
been found to be inadmissible on the following grounds:
• “serious criminality”, where the offence was punished in Canada by a term of
imprisonment of at least two years – IRPA, s. 36(1)
• “organized criminality” – IRPA, s. 37
• “security” – IRPA, s. 34
• “human or international rights violations” – IRPA, s. 35
The Federal Court has held that the IAD has no jurisdiction to entertain appeals in such
cases. The appeal must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction if the visa officer has determined the
foreign national to be inadmissible on one of the enumerated grounds; the IAD is not empowered
to determine whether the foreign national is in fact inadmissible. 1
1
Kang, Sarabjeet Kaur v. M.C.I. (F.C., no. IMM-2445-04), Mactavish, February 25, 2005; 2005 FC 297. The
case in question also considered the effect of section 196 of the Transitional Provisions, which provides for the
discontinuation of an appeal if the appeal could not have been made because of section 64 of IRPA.
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January 1, 2008 1 Criminal Refusals – Ch. 2