In 2020, Mohammad Sharif, a citizen of India, filed a work permit application to accompany his wife to Canada while she studies there. This was Sharif’s second work permit application. His previous application was filed in 2019 but was rejected based on concerns about the authenticity of the marital relationship.

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Sharif said he answered “yes” to the question about previous visa rejections. He also claimed that his application stated that there were explanations about the rejection of previous USA and Canadian visas on his previous application in 2019. Furthermore, Sharif’s application cover letter stated that he had previously applied for a Canadian visitor visa and a USA visa extension and these were rejected.

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officer assigned to handle his case sent Sharif a procedural fairness letter expressing concern that he had not answered all questions truthfully. More specifically, he had not disclosed his “previous US applications and rejections.” The officer claimed Sharif had submitted a form that checked “no” in response to questions about previous visa rejections.

Sharif replied that he was unaware that he would have to repeat information disclosed in a previous application. The officer found that his response did not adequately explain why the information was not disclosed in the current application and that he could not be granted entry into Canada due to the misrepresentation.

Sharif applied for judicial review of the decision.

The Court discussed that misrepresentation can have severe consequences, such as a five-year ban from Canada. Therefore, it was important that the officer properly understand the contradictory applications on record and provide Sharif an opportunity to explain himself before determining that he had misrepresented his visa rejection history and was ineligible to enter Canada.

In addition, the court said the officer should have considered the cover letter submitted with the application. In particular, “the officer should have considered whether the disclosure of certain visa rejections in that letter was sufficient to conclude that the applicant did not intend to mislead immigration officials about his visa rejection history”.

The Court ruled that the officer’s decision was unreasonable and procedurally unfair. The officer must consider the totality of the visa application to determine whether incorrect information had been provided. In particular, where an applicant discloses correct information in another part of their application form, this may weigh against a finding of incorrect information.

Implications of Sharif’s case

The Federal Court has reaffirmed that if an applicant fills out an application form incorrectly, but correctly discloses relevant information in another part of their application, this may mitigate a misrepresentation allegation.

This case also reiterates that a finding of misrepresentation should not be made casually. Misrepresentation has serious consequences. Therefore, visa officers must seriously consider all the evidence in the application and give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to explain himself before drawing such a finding.

If you are planning to submit a visa application, it is important that you be as honest, clear and straightforward as possible. If you think your application may be ambiguous, confusing or misleading, you should provide supplementary information that clarifies and clears up ambiguities.

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