Immigrating to Canada is not easy. A myriad of regulations and stipulations need to be navigated. Then, once you're here, it's often not easy to bring your loved ones to join you.
Complicating things further is an (infamous) regulatory provision, section 117(9)(d) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. This particular regulation states that if you do not indicate or list your non-accompanying family members on your application for permanent residence, you can never sponsor them in the future.
Insofar as the regulation is meant to curtail those individuals that intend to deceive our immigration authorities, it makes sense. However, the regulation becomes punitive and disproportionate when there are extenuating circumstances. For example, in many cases, an immigrant to this country is unaware of a family member and can not, therefore, list them on his or her own application for permanent residence.
This is what happened with one of our clients.
Global News Calgary has a story and video of the emotional reunification of our client with his daughter. We were gratified to assist on this meritorious application and help this father navigate the roadblocks that were facing him.
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