This section contains details on policy, procedures and guidance that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff typically use. The authorities have posted this on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

The Guidelines for Approvals

To finalise the case, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) would need to:

• Confirm that the applicant and all the applicant’s family members have satisfied all statutory requirements and have valid clearances in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
• Send an electronic draft of the Confirmation of Permanent Residence i.e. IMM 5688 to the appropriate Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office for the principal applicant and family members in Canada
• Include the names of the family members living abroad, the responsible visa office, the file number, the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) code and the permanent resident category (LC)
• Issue the approval letter (available internally only) to the principal applicant informing them that the officers have completed the processing of their applications and that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would be getting in touch with them for arranging a landing appointment and,
• Enter a final decision in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) in the LC category

In some cases, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) might be processing the principal applicant’s overseas family members as well. In this scenario, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) would need to:

• Provide the appropriate instructions to the principal applicant concerning the requirement for their accompanying family members to submit their passports to the visa office in Manila
• Add Manila as the secondary office and remove the application from any active processing groups in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) and,
• Enter a final decision on the LC2 application in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) after the principal applicant has landed as a permanent resident

Thereafter, an inland officer of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would help in completing the remainder of the process. This officer would typically need to:

• Print the Confirmation of Permanent Residence i.e. IMM 5688 and request that the principal applicant and the principal applicant’s family members in Canada appear for a landing interview
• Grant permanent residence to the principal applicant and the family members in Canada
• In case the principal applicant has family members overseas:
  • Inform the responsible visa office that the authorities have granted permanent residence to the principal applicant so that the visa office can commence issuing permanent resident visas to the overseas family members that the officers are processing concurrently and,
  • Send instructions to the principal applicant on the manner in which the principal applicant’s family members would need to send their passports to the appropriate visa office
    • This takes place for all visa offices, except Manila

Note:

• Situations could arise where the principal applicant notifies the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that the principal applicants seeks to change the status of one of more of their family members (i.e. from accompanying to non-accompanying) and there are no indications that the principal applicant has informed the processing office of this change
• This would typically happen during landing appointments
• In this scenario, the officer would need to cancel the appointment and inform the principal applicant that the authorities would defer the principal applicant’s landing until further review
• Thereafter, the officer would need to send this new information to the appropriate processing office

The Process at the Visa Office

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office would typically notify the visa office (including Manila) responsible for any accompanying overseas family members that the authorities have granted an LC principal applicant permanent residence. On receiving this notification, the visa office (including Manila) would need to:

• Confirm that the applicant has paid the right of permanent residence fee for all the accompanying family members
• Confirm, when applicable, that all medical and criminality checks as well as travel documents are still valid and will remain valid long enough for the applicants to gain admittance into Canada
• Refer the application back to the processing office for review – in case the officer cannot confirm any of the above-mentioned points and,
• Issue the Confirmations of Permanent Residence and, when applicable, visa counterfoils to all the accompanying family members

For more details, officers would need to go through section 8.6 in OP 24 – The Roles and Responsibilities in the Final Approval Process.

The Guidelines for Refusals

The Guidelines for Ineligible Family Members

Situations could arise where officers, after reviewing the applications, feel that the declared spouse or declared dependent children are not members of the family class based on the provisions specified in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). In this scenario, the officers would need to apply procedural fairness. Thus, they would need to outline their concerns to the applicant. In addition, they would need to provide a deadline to the applicant for submitting additional information about the ineligible spouse or dependent children.

If, by the deadline, the officer continues to feel that the spouse or dependent child is ineligible, the officer would need to remove the ineligible dependent. Thereafter, the officer would need to continue the assessment of the admissibility of the remaining family members. The officer would also need to send a removal letter. This letter would typically explain why the authorities will not permit the inclusion of the ineligible family member in the application. It would explain why the authorities would not be able to issue the relevant travel documents to the ineligible family member in the application too.

In case the officers are processing the family members outside Canada, the visa officer would need to inform the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) about the removal of the declared dependent. If applicable, the officer would need to notify the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office about this as well.

Situations could arise where the officers are processing the ineligible family member on the LC application or if the ineligible family member is a child on an LC2 application. In this scenario, the officers would need to disassociate this family member from the application. In addition, they would need to list the reason for this as ‘Ineligible family member’.

On occasions, the officers might find that the ineligible family member is the only applicant that the officers are processing on the LC2 application i.e. the spouse or the only child. In this case, the officers would need to set the ‘Eligibility’ activity as ‘Failed’. Thereafter, they would need to set the final disposition of the LC2 application to ‘Withdrawn’.

For more information on this, officers would need to go through Section 15 of chapter OP 2, Processing members of the family class.

The Guidelines for Inadmissible Family Members

Situations could arise where officers, after reviewing the applications, feel that certain family members of the principal applicant are inadmissible. In this scenario, the officers would need to apply procedural fairness. Thus, they would need to outline their concerns to the applicant. In addition, they would need to provide a deadline to the applicant for submitting additional information about the possible inadmissibility.

In case the applicant provides no additional information by the stipulated deadline, the officers would need to refuse the application. The officers would need to refuse the application in case the additional information does not change the inadmissibility assessment as well. Thereafter, the officers would need to enter a final decision of ‘Refused’ on the LC2 application.

In case the officers are processing the family members outside Canada, the visa officer would need to inform the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) about the inadmissible family member. If applicable, the officer would need to notify the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office about this as well. The Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) or the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office are always responsible for notifying the principal applicants about any inadmissible family members. Thus, they will be responsible for notifying the principal applicants about the refusal of the application as well. This is applicable even when a visa office is processing the family members.

The office processing the inadmissible family member would need to set the admissible activity as ‘Failed’ on LC applications. Thereafter, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) or the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office (as applicable) would need to enter the final refusal decision.

When the authorities refuse a case, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) would need to:

• Send a letter to the principal applicant explaining the reason for the refusal
• In case the applicant is in Canada and the authorities have refused the applicant for reasons of inadmissibility:
  • Take the appropriate actions based on the inadmissibility
    • This would typically involve referring to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office for writing a subsection A44 (1) report, which could lead to an admissibility hearing or a removal order and,
    • Consult chapters ENF 1, ENF 2 / OP 18, ENF 3 and ENF 5 for more details on the inadmissibility and the actions that the officer will need to take
• Show the final disposition on the LC 2 file as ‘Refused’

In some cases, it is possible that the authorities have sent the file to a visa office overseas. In this scenario, the visa office would need to:

• Show the final disposition on the LC 2 file as ‘Refused’ and,
• Notify the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office or the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) (as applicable) of the refused overseas family members

Note:

• It is worth highlighting that the visa office does not inform family members of the final disposition of the case
• Neither does the visa office send a refusal letter
• Instead, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V) or the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) inland office (as applicable) bears the responsibility for informing the principal applicant and sending the appropriate letter