By admin (September 28, 2024)

Canada Launches Pilot Program to Streamline Rejected Study Permit Reviews

Soon, new hopes may be seen for individuals whose study permits in Canada were refused. Just recently, the Federal Court of Canada announced it would launch the Study Permit Pilot Project, which will effortlessly and easily facilitate an application for judicial review of refused study permits. It starts on October 1.

By this pilot, individuals who sought judicial review of their study permit decisions could complete the process in under five months. That is considerably reduced from the current 14 to 18 months. An application for leave and judicial review seeks permission from the Federal Court to appeal an immigration decision.

Under the traditional procedure, leave is usually granted for the judicial review process. If leave is granted, the case then is heard and evaluated. But under the pilot project called the Study Permit Pilot Project, the leave to apply for judicial review and the judicial review will be processed concurrently. Taking part in this pilot project is free, but an application for leave and judicial review carries a fee of $50.

Eligibility requirements 

Students to be accepted in the Study Permit Pilot Project are such that a student needs to have made an application for a study permit and has received a refusal letter by IRCC. There are additional eligibility criteria to note below.

• Both the prospective student, which is the applicant, and IRCC need to agree to opt into the pilot.
• Both parties should have a factual agreement about the case, as based on the application materials submitted by applicant for the IRCC, which should include all the reasons for refusal.
• The issues involving the case should be straightforward either relating to the application or refusal or both and without complicating admissibility or national security factors and should not involve requests for a certified question.
• An applicant should not require additional time to submit the Application for Leave.
• The parties may not offer affidavit evidence since admitting new evidence is not allowed for this pilot.

Applicants in Canada must apply through this program within 15 days of receiving their refusal letter. Applicants outside Canada have 60 days.

Application procedure 

All documents should be filed electronically via the electronic filing system of the court. To take up the challenge, applicants are needed to file an application for Leave and Judicial Review on Form IR-1 and in three specific places in the application refer to the Pilot Project.  After considering the application and after receiving the document, the judge will inform the applicant.

Reasoning behind the initiatives 

To avoid increasing leave and judicial review applications, the Federal Court and IRCC have initiated these measures.

According to a recent Canadian Federal Court press release, “The Federal Court is projected to receive 24,000 immigration filings by the end of December, which is roughly four times higher than the average annual figures seen in the five years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In 2024, Canada introduced several new rules and regulations in terms of the intake of international students and graduates. This policy response goes ahead to address affordability and housing issues by restraining the number of temporary residents in the country.

In January, IRCC imposed the first cap on international students, limiting the overall number of study permits issued to new applicants to 485,000 for 2024. The move-the first ever-made-could jeopardize plans for undergraduate and college students because it will deny access to mostly undergraduate and college students while exempting master’s and PhD students.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller hosted a news conference on September 18, reaffirming his commitment to the international student cap and unveiling further measures, such as:

• Reductions for newly issued study permits by 10 percent in 2025, totalling 437,000
• Master’s and PhD students included in revised targets
• Language eligibility requirements for international graduates for PGWPs, based upon level of study.
• Only college students in programs with a correlation to some job categories with corresponding high demand are eligible for the PGWP eligibility.
• Issue the Spousal Open Work Permits for spouses of master’s students based on the duration of the master’s program.