Overseas Applications for Landing: General Requirements
| Author | Donald Galloway |
| Pages | 123-141 |
CHAPTER
6
OVERSEAS
APPLICATIONS
FOR
LANDING:
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS
The
general
rule,1
frequently
cited
as the
"cornerstone"
of
Canadian
immigration
policy,2
is
that each person
who
seeks admission into Can-
ada
should apply
for and
obtain
a
visa
before
appearing
at a
port
of
entry.3
Hence,
the
normal process
for
admission
has two
tiers:
at the
first
level,
a
person applies
for a
visa
from
a
visa
officer,
who is
identified
by
the Act as an
immigration
officer
stationed outside Canada.
At the
sec-
ond
stage,
the
person undergoes
an
examination
by an
immigration
officer
at a
port
of
entry.4
This chapter focuses
on the
first
stage
of the
process
and
outlines
the
general requirements
for
obtaining
a
visa, which
are
imposed
on all
classes
of
immigrant.
The
next three chapters examine
the
classes
of
immigrant that
the law
recognizes
and the
particular criteria
of
admissi-
bility that
are
attached
to
each class.
The
Immigration
Regulations
autho-
rize
visa
officers
to
grant visas
to
three general classes
of
immigrant:
the
1
This
rule
is
subject
to
important
exceptions,
including
a
discretionary
override,
which
will
be
identified
and
discussed
in due
course.
See
chapter
11.
2 See
Cabalfin
v.
Canada
(Minister
of
Employment
&>
Immigration)
(1990),
[1991]
2
EC.
235
(T.D.),
where
reference
is
made
to the use of
this
term
in the
Immigration
Manual
and
Black
v.
Canada,
[1995]
ECJ.
No. 322
(T.D.)
(QL),
where
reference
is
made
to its use in an
operations
memorandum.
3
Immigration
Act,
R.S.C.
1985,
c.
1-2,
s.
9(1)
[IA].
4 The
two-part
structure
of
application
and
examination
has
been
recognized
judicially
in
Grewal
v.
Canada
(Minister
of
Employment
&>
Immigration)
(1989),
[1990]
1EC.
192(C.A.).
123
124
IMMIGRATION
LAW
family
class; independent immigrants,
a
general classification that
covers
those skilled workers
who are
subject
to the
full
set of
selection
criteria,
assisted relatives,
and
those
who
qualify
under
the
Business
Immigrant Program: entrepreneurs, investors,
and the
self-employed;5
and
Convention
refugees
seeking resettlement
and
designated
classes.6
Chapter
10
focuses
on
Visitor's visas
and
Minister's permits. Port
of
entry examinations
are the
subject
of
chapter
12.
A.
APPLYING FORA VISA
A
preliminary word needs
to be
said about terminology. According
to
the
technical definitions
in the
Immigration
Act,
an
immigrant seeks
landing
or
permanent residence, whereas
a
visitor seeks entry. Both
these terms
are
embraced
by the
more general term, admission, which
has a
limited application
to
immigrants
and
visitors. Hence, technically
speaking, those seeking
to
come into Canada
who are
neither immi-
grants
nor
visitors
—
permanent residents
or
citizens returning
to the
country
from
abroad,
for
example
— do not
seek "admission"; they
merely
seek
to
come into Canada.
The Act
defines
a
visa
in
general
and
unhelpful terms
as "a
docu-
ment
issued
or a
stamp
impression
made
on a
document
by a
visa
officer."7
A
more helpful
and
precise
account
has
been
offered
by
As
is
noted
in the
Immigration
Manual,
IS-1
[IS],
although
the
term
"independent
immigrant"
is not
legally
denned,
it is
used
by
administrators
to
identify
all
those
who do not fit
into
the
other
two
categories. Sometimes
the
term
"independent immigrant"
is
used
in a
narrower sense
to
refer
only
to
those
who are
subject
to the
full
set of
selection
criteria,
and to
distinguish those
who
qualify
under
the
various
business
programs.
The
Manual
itself
uses
the
term
in
this
way: while
chapter
4 of
volume
IS is
entitled
"Independent
Immigrants,"
chapter
5 of the
same
volume
deals
separately
with
entrepreneurs
and the
self-
employed.
To
avoid
confusion,
the
term
"skilled worker"
is
used here
to
refer
to
a
person subject
to all the
selection criteria,
and the
term "independent
immigrant"
is
used
in its
broader sense.
The
term "designated class"
is a
shorthand
form
of a
phrase
found
in s.
6(3)
of the
Act,
above
note
3,
namely,
"a
class
designated
by the
Governor
in
Council
as a
class,
the
admission
of
members
of
which
would
be in
accordance
with
Canada's
humanitarian
tradition
with
respect
to the
displaced
and the
persecuted."
Under
recent
regulations,
The
Humanitarian
Designated
Classes
Regulations,
SOR/97-83,
two
new
classes
have
been
created
to
embrace
persons
who are in
refugee-like
situations.
IA,ibid.,s.
2.
5
6
7
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