Losing Status after Winning Your Refugee Claim

Winning a refugee claim does not guarantee permanent status in Canada. There are ways to lose protected person status, even after obtaining Permanent Resident status or citizenship. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) can initiate either a vacate or cessate proceeding. A vacate looks at whether there was a material misrepresentation at the time of the refugee claim, while a cessate focuses on actions taken after the grant of protection, such as returning to the home country. Both proceedings can have serious consequences and require the expertise of experienced lawyers.

Just because you win your refugee claim doesn't mean you are home free.

There are ways to lose your protected person status -either before your PR status or even after (and even citizenship can be revoked).

I'm off to Edmonton today-vacate hearing tomorrow.

The CBSA can initiate either a vacate or cessate proceeding. A vacate in essence is retrospective- it looks to whether there was a material misrepresentation at the time of the refugee claim; whether there remained grounds to justify or support the grant of
refugee protection -or if not and if the application is allowed the grant of status is nullified and set aside. Basically but for the lie you would not have been granted refugee protection in the first place.

A cessate is more concerned with actions the refugee or protected person did after the grant of protection. This could include accessing consular services or utilizing your own passport instead of a Canadian travel document but most commonly it involves travelling
back return to the country where you alleged risk. In essence you do not require Canada's protection anymore.

The partners at SSH law have extensive experience in both types of proceedings. Needless to say both carry serious consequences for the person concerned.