Please contact our team of Immigration Law professionals if your application has been refused based on misrepresentation.

If you are applying for Permanent Immigration, Visitor visa, Study permit or Work permit, you are required to answer truthfully on the application or at an interview with Immigration/CBSA officer. If you directly or indirectly withhold the material fact from the officer or if you make any changes in order to deceive the officer then you have committed misrepresentation.  Everything on the immigration forms and document checklists is considered material fact.

Who can be found to be inadmissible for misrepresentation?

The section 40 of  Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) sets out that a foreign national or permanent resident can be found to have misrepresented for many reasons some of which include:

• Directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of IRPA;
• Being or having been sponsored by a person who is already determined to be inadmissible for misrepresentation;
• on a final determination to vacate a decision to allow their claim for refugee protection or application for protection; or
• on ceasing to be a citizen ( If it is found that the citizenship was obtained by providing false information or documentation).

Deciding misrepresentation

If the immigration officer finds an applicant  inadmissible for misrepresentation, then the foreign national or permanent resident first be provided with the opportunity to respond to the allegations. If the finding of misrepresentation stands, then the applicant will become inadmissible to Canada for five years.

If the foreign national or permanent resident has made the application from within Canada, then they will have to reply to IRCC or CBSA.  They may be required to attend an interview with IRCC or the CBSA, followed in certain circumstances by a hearing before the Immigration Division, where a removal order may be issued. Permanent residents may appeal this removal order to the IAD. Foreign Nationals can challenge the removal order at the Federal Court.
The 5-year bar will start once the foreign national or permanent resident is removed from Canada.

Remedy for Misrepresentation

If you are found inadmissible to Canada due to misrepresentation, you might have the following options within the first five years of being banned from Canada.

• You can apply for Judicial review by challenging the decision to the Federal Court
• Apply for an ARC (Authorization to Return to Canada) if you have received an Exclusion Order due to misrepresentation
• Apply for a Temporary Resident Permit to be able to come back to Canada for a limited period of time (usually between one day to three years)