According to a comprehensive report by Visas Consulting Group: On June 26, following the passage of the Canadian federal Budget Bill C-31 in Parliament on June 19, the federal immigration department's cancellation of the Immigrant Investor Program and the Entrepreneur Program officially took effect. The affected applications involve 22,000 families, and the immigration department will return application fees, documents, or investment funds in the coming months. Visas Consulting Group experts point out that according to an Operational Bulletin numbered 585 issued by the immigration department on June 20, a very small number of applications may continue to be processed, provided they meet the following conditions:
The immigration officer had made a positive eligibility decision (approval in principle) on the applicant before February 11, 2014, even if a final decision (reviewing the applicant's security and criminal background checks and medical examination results) had not been made before June 19;
The immigration officer made a positive eligibility decision on or after February 11, and the final approval was granted before June 19; such approval remains valid, and subsequent procedures may continue (including the issuance of the Confirmation of Permanent Residence, etc.);
Guan Guorong specifically mentioned that starting from the effective date of the new immigration legislation on June 19, applications that do not meet the aforementioned conditions for continued processing will be voided, and application fees will be returned successively. Based on the new immigration regulation S 87.5, applicants no longer have the right to appeal to the Federal Court, as the Federal Court will refuse to hear appeals filed after June 19 based on the immigration legislation passed on that date.
Visas Consulting Group experts point out: Two types of appeals may still be processed: The first type involves applicants who were refused by the immigration bureau before February 11 and had filed an appeal, and the Federal Court accepted the applicant's appeal before February 11; in this case, the Federal Court will continue to process these appeals. The second type involves appeals submitted to the Federal Court before June 4, which were accepted by the court and were among the approximately 1,500 family appeals scheduled for a hearing on June 4.
The "Operational Bulletin" does not mention whether the new legislation affects the second type of appeal mentioned above, as this is not within the jurisdiction of the immigration department, but rather the jurisdiction of the Federal Court. Lawyer Tim Li, who represents some of the 1,500 families, informed Guan Guorong that he has submitted an inquiry to the federal immigration department regarding how the department will treat these 1,500 family cases. According to Tim's assessment, the judge presiding over the June 4 hearing may make a ruling this autumn.
