Hello
Finally I received the refusal letter saying that my duties do not match as College and Vocational instructor.
I am planning to file an appeal.
I need your advice about a good lawyer with reasonable legal fees and costs.
Can anybody help me? Please provide as much information as you can. The refusal letter is dated 18 May 2012 and I guess I have only 30 days to file an appeal. Right?
Kind Regards
Khan200
One of my friends also got refused in the same NOC (4131), and VO wrote the same thing in his refusal letter that they are not satisfied with his job responsibilities.
After the refusal letter my friend contacted a Canadian lawyer and what he told him is as follows:
Here is the standard explanation regarding the judicial review process.
It is very difficult to overturn a visa officer's decision in Federal Court with the judicial review process. This process is a 'judicial review' process, and not an 'appeal', and it is important to note that the vast majority of immigration cases do not succeed. Even if the judge disagrees with the decision of the visa officer, that is not enough to overturn the decision. There needs to be more than disagreeing with the outcome based on the merits.
The Federal Court process is as follows: There are sixty (60) days from the date of the reception of the refusal letter within which to commence the process when the refusal is from overseas, and fifteen (15) days when the refusal is from inside Canada. This is the "application for leave and for judicial review".
Written reasons need to be received from the Respondent (the visa office). It can take a few weeks for the written reasons to arrive. After the written reasons arrive, the Applicant has 30 days from the receipt of the written reasons to provide both Affidavit evidence and written argumentation to the Court. Typically, the Affidavit is created within two weeks of the reception of the written decision, and received by the lawyer in pdf. The original is sent to the lawyer by regular mail for storage in the lawyer's file; the original Affidavit does not have to be received by the lawyer within the 30 day period.
Then, the Respondent (the visa office) has 30 days from to provide their Affidavit evidence and their written argumentation to the Court.
In some cases, the Respondent may decide to settle at this point.
After the Respondent has provided their Affidavit evidence and their written argumentation to the Court, the Court decides whether or not to hear the case.
The Court can take a few weeks or a few months to make this decision.
If the Court decides to hear the case, the Court "grants leave", and the matter is set for hearing, usually within the following four to six months.
(If the Court decides not to hear the case, the matter ends there)
Legal fees "application for leave and for judicial review" would cost $4000 including all disbursements, judicial stamp/court fees, photocopies, document binding, service of documents, etc. and inclusive of any HST if it is applicable, and is payable at the outset of the entire process by Visa, MasterCard by e-mailing or faxing the credit card number and expiry date, or by bank draft, money order, cheque, payable to "Richard Kurland Attorney LLP Inc." and sent to our Vancouver address, or by electronic funds transfer to our banking coordinates. Total fees are in the form of a block fee, meaning, they cannot go up and they cannot go down. We can offer to do the file based on our hourly rate of $500, but this may turn out to be more expensive.
If the Court decides to hear the case, the Court "grants leave", the parties may submit new affidavits, and the parties may be examined under oath based on their Affidavit. This is where the visa officer may be cross-examined, if necessary. The evidence including the transcript(s) of the examinations under oath is given to the court. Most cases that we do, do not involve examination under oath. The parties may also submit additional written argument. The Court will order the Respondent to submit a copy of the entire file to the Applicant and to the Court.
On the hearing date, only the lawyers attend the oral hearing. There are no witnesses, only Affidavits.
A decision comes usually within 30 days of the oral hearing.
If positive, the visa office usually takes 60 to 90 days to begin re-processing the file.
The second part of the process would cost $1500 in legal fees. If there is an examination under oath (and usually, there is not!), the cost for the stenographer and transcripts usually is an additional $800-$1600 plus HST depending on the duration of the examination.
Cheers!
Attorney Richard Kurland
Member of the Barreau du Québec
Member of the Law Society of British Columbia
Kurland, Tobe
A National Immigration Law Office
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