I'm seeking advice on a very specific and sensitive travel situation.
I'm asking about someone who came to Canada as a refugee 7 years ago. During these 7 years, they have never travelled back to their home country or used their home country's passport.
They recently became a Canadian citizen about 6 months ago (the application was routine and processed quickly).
Now, they have a very serious family emergency. Their father in the home country has Stage 4 cancer and they want to see him, possibly for the last time. This would be their first trip back in 7 years.
They plan to travel for a month, using their home country's passport to enter that country, and their Canadian passport for all other parts of the journey (leaving/re-entering Canada).
The main worries are:
- Even as a citizen, could this trip cause problems for them later on by contradicting their original refugee claim?
- What might happen at the Canadian border when they return? Could CBSA officers question them about their travel history or search their luggage for a passport from their home country if they notice stamps from that country?
This is causing a lot of stress during an already difficult family time. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Beyond observations in the thread where this was posted (off-topic) . . .
Second question first: Of course CBSA officers can question any traveler about their travel history, search their luggage, examine any documents including travel documents on the person or found in the luggage, and for those travelers who were born outside Canada, or who otherwise have status in another country, ask a very broad range of questions regarding the traveler and their activities in that other country.
CBSA is engaged in border control with a huge law enforcement mandate, and they have a lot of discretion in how they carry out their border control and law enforcement duties. Even if the traveler was born in Canada and is just returning from their first ever trip outside Canada, the scope of inquiry can be very broad, intrusive, and intensive.
And as discussed in the posts above, in practice it appears very likely that former refugees returning to Canada are at risk for being examined more thoroughly, more intensely, than most Canadians probably anticipate.
That said, the actual scope and intensity of Port-of-Entry screening tends to be cursory for Canadians (even most of those who are still a PR, not yet a citizen) and this is typically oriented to:
-- establishing the Canadian traveler's identity and Canadian status, and
-- clearing customs (importation controls)
Other than periodic quality control screening which can include discretionary spot checking as well as structured random screening, in regards to screening beyond the typical, cursory verification of identity and status, the nature and scope of the PoE examination will vary widely, mostly depending on factors related to the particular traveler, including the traveler's history and general circumstances, and how the traveler responds to questions. In between the very common cursory screening, the usual one might say, and the other end of the spectrum, which would be a suspicion-driven extensive and intensive examination, there is a very broad range in the scope of possible examinations, and being a former refugee is one of those circumstances in which more than the typical cursory screening can be anticipated, especially if the former refugee is returning to Canada after traveling to their home country.
The latter has been discussed many times here and in other parts of the forum, including recognition in particular that former refugees are often subject to more scrutiny, and it can be more intensive scrutiny, than that typically experienced by most other Canadians, including other naturalized Canadian citizens.
In regards to elevated scrutiny of former refugees returning to Canada it is difficult to second-guess the motive or reason for the increased screening. There can be many reasons for more probing questions arising from travel in trouble-spots in the world, the sorts of places people flee out of fear for their safety. And many refugees have backgrounds more, let's say "
tangled," than most economic or family class immigrants, which makes those particular former refugees (those whose backgrounds are more
tangled) prone to more scrutiny when crossing international borders, including when returning to Canada.
It is, moreover, easy to see that former refugees returning to Canada after traveling to their home country are more at risk for questions that may be probing for clues there was fraud/misrepresentation in the process of acquiring status in Canada. And of course the nature and scope of such inquiry will vary widely depending on the particular details in the individual case.
In any event, there has been a lot of anecdotal reporting that appears to confirm that many Canadian citizens who are former refugees encounter more questioning, more probing questions, and overall stricter scrutiny when they are examined at a PoE while returning to Canada, and especially when returning after travel to their home country. Many report this abates over time.
But as long as the traveler is not engaged in crime or activities that would cause security concerns, there should be nothing to fear about increased scrutiny, at least not beyond the inconvenience it imposes.
Hint: evasiveness is far more apparent than many realize, and displaying indications of evasiveness (let alone deceptiveness) can dramatically escalate the intensity of a PoE examination. Best to not try to hide anything in luggage or elsewhere. Best to not avoid disclosing information about traveling to the home country. Frank honesty generally works best.
First Question: Even as a citizen, could this trip cause problems for them later on by contradicting their original refugee claim?
This is a common question which can be a bit tricky to answer. A trip to the home country in itself does not contradict a former refugee's original claim. And as discussed in this thread above, after being granted citizenship there is no risk of cessation. So just the fact that a former refugee, now a Canadian citizen, travels to a country they fled, will not jeopardize the naturalized Canadian citizen's status in Canada.
Under current law, Canadian citizenship can only be revoked if there was misrepresentations (fraud) in the process of obtaining status in Canada, and it warrants noting there are no proposed changes currently being discussed (at least not seriously) to change the law in regards to this.
So, again and for emphasis:
-- the mere fact of obtaining a home country passport AFTER becoming a Canadian citizen would not in any way support an action to revoke citizenship, and
-- travel to the home country AFTER becoming a Canadian citizen would not support an action to revoke citizenship.
In the thread where this query was posed,
@abff08f4813c speculated about whether the home country passport that will be used was obtained (or renewed) before becoming a citizen, and further speculated that perhaps it was a passport issued before becoming a protected person. The underlying issue is that if a PR-refugee obtains, renews, or uses a home country passport, any of those acts establishes a presumption of reavailment. If the PR-refugee simply has the passport they were issued prior to getting refugee status, and does not use it after becoming a refugee, that does
NOT evidence reavailment let alone create a presumption of reavailment. If AFTER becoming a Canadian citizen they obtain, renew, or use a home country passport, that has no negative impact on Canadian status.
But even if the former PR-refugee, now a Canadian citizen, had obtained and used a home country passport before becoming a Canadian citizen, even if they had used that passport to travel to the home country, now that they are a Canadian citizen there is NO risk of cessation proceedings leading to loss of Canadian status, no risk of cessation leading to revocation of Canadian citizenship.
However, the question about whether CBSA could "
search their luggage for a passport from their home country" bears the scent of concealment. Hopefully that was incidental, not about trying to conceal the passport.
But given that, it is important to recognize the difference between what would be grounds for cessation, which once a citizen a former PR-refugee has no worries about, none, the difference between that and what could be grounds for misrepresentation/fraud proceedings that could lead to serious consequences including, depending on the details, loss of status in Canada.
Should be obvious, but stating the obvious is often important: if this person had a home country passport prior to taking the oath of citizenship, that is something they were obligated to disclose attendant their application for citizenship, and a failure to disclose and submit a copy would be misrepresentation by omission. Could be a big deal.
And then, as discussed in previous posts above, if CBSA or IRCC become aware of any misrepresentations made in the process of obtaining status in Canada, that could be grounds for not only revoking citizenship but striping the person of any Canadian status. CBSA border officials can ask questions that could lead to inquiries focused on potential misrepresentations, including potential misrepresentations made in the process of pursuing the refugee claim. If no misrepresentations were made in the refugee claim, nothing to worry about.
