Although the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) has a right to remove those who are inadmissible in Canada, certain legal steps must be observed first. Therefore, even though the removal from Canada is to be done “as soon as possible”, it must be done “as soon as legally possible”.
One immediate action when you are asked to leave Canada is to make a deferral request to the CBSA. Such request should be carefully made based on facts of your circumstances, which should be compelling and persuasive to win, in light of risk to life upon removal from Canada or pending applications for permanent residency with exceptional circumstances. One important consideration before making such a deferral request is you must be ready to go to court. Often you may not get any decision from the CBSA; thus, you are forced to make an urgent court case to stop your removal; now, Federal court is asking you to make your “application to stay” at the same time as your deferral request to give sufficient notice to court and minister’s counsel. Otherwise, the court may not look at your case with sympathy because you are not prepared in advance.
Currently, the CBSA has removed roughly 12,000 people from Canada in 2015, in comparison to 15,000 in all of 2014. The top 5 removed nationalities have been:
- China,
- India,
- Nigeria,
- Pakistan and
- Mexico.
The priority in removal cases is:
- safety or security concerns – criminality (roughly 15%);
- failed refugee claimants (roughly 66%) and
- all other inadmissibility cases.
Non-compliance cases seem to be the lowest priority for the CBSA regarding removal.
In all cases regarding removal, you must understand that the removal decision is already made; the only issue is when, not “if” you are removed. So you need to tell the CBSA why your removal should be later than now – such as:
- children’s school (best interest of child),
- pending applications (exceptional chance to be successful),
- medical conditions (fit to fly or long term medical treatment).
First, if you are in “removal ready” status, you must consider if it is your best interest to ask for deferring your removal, based on your holistic plan for relocation to Canada. Then strategize your future for Canada with a long term plan in mind.
If you have any individual questions or concerns, please contact our office for more customized consultation for your unique situation. Please note that this posting is for general information only and is not to be considered binding or official legal counsel since situations will vary and can be complicated. The content in this post is current as of the day of entry. Due to the changing nature of Immigration law, the information in this entry may or may not still be applicable at time you are reading this.