IRCC Updates for In-Canada Refugee and Protected Persons
Canada has always been a firm advocate of human rights, especially those of in-Canada refugees and protected persons’. In response to rising demands, Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated instructions in making related eligibility and admissibility decisions.
The foreign police certificate requirements have changed in order to align with other permanent resident classes. All applicants 18 years of age and over need to provide police certificates of non-conviction from
- any country of residence besides Canada (unless this is the country of persecution) that the applicant resided for 6 months or more, and
- any country where the applicant has spent most of their adult life since the age of 18 (unless this is the country of persecution).
Applicants who provided biometrics in previous immigration applications within the last 10 years are exempt from taking a new one.
Eligibility
Refugee and protected persons in Canada may apply for permanent residence in Canada and include their dependants who are in Canada and abroad. Protected persons in Canada include:
- Convention refugees
- persons in need of protection determined by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)
- people with positive pre-removal risk assessments (PRRAs)
- protected temporary residents
The following may apply for permanent residence as a protected person:
- persons upon whom refugee protection has been conferred under paragraph 95(1)(b) or (c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
- members of the protected temporary residents class who have had their immigration medical examination
IRPR 95 (1) – Conferral of refugee protection
Refugee protection is conferred on a person when
(a) the person has been determined to be a Convention refugee or a person in similar circumstances under a visa application and becomes a permanent resident under the visa or a temporary resident under a temporary resident permit for protection reasons;
(b) the Board determines the person to be a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection; or
(c) except in the case of a person described in subsection 112(3), the Minister allows an application for protection.
IRPR 112 (3) – Restrictions
Refugee protection may not be conferred on an applicant who
(a) is determined to be inadmissible on grounds of security, violating human or international rights or organized criminality;
(b) is determined to be inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality with respect to a conviction in Canada of an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years or with respect to a conviction outside Canada for an offence that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under an Act of Parliament punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of at least 10 years;
(c) made a claim to refugee protection that was rejected on the basis of section F of Article 1 of the Refugee Convention; or
(d) is named in a certificate referred to in subsection 77(1).
Eligibility of family members
Once IRCC determines that a protected person is eligible for permanent residence, their spouse or partner and dependent children are also eligible. Consequently, the IRB issues a notice of decision to all family members included in the family unit, should they have made a claim in Canada.
