JUDICIAL REVIEW OF STUDY PERMIT APPLICATIONS: MONTEZA V CANADA (CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION) 2022
The Applicant (Monteza) is a citizen of the Philippines who resided in UAE (Dubai) on a temporary basis. The Applicant applied for a Canadian study permit to take a one-year post-graduate program in Strategic Management –Accounting. The application was refused by a visa officer.
The reasons provided in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) notes by the Officer included:
- The applicant had weak professional and economic ties to their country of residence and home country.
- The visa officer was not satisfied that the intended studies made sense given the significant cost and the applicant’s previous study/work history.
- The Officer was not also satisfied that the applicant would depart Canada at the end of the period of authorized stay and the application was refused.
The standard of review of a visa officer’s decision employed by the Court is reasonableness. A reasonable decision is based on an internally coherent and rational chain of analysis that is justified in relation to the facts and laws that constrain the decision-maker. Upon analysis by the Court, it was decided that the decision of the visa officer was unreasonable because:
- It was based on findings of fact that were not supported by the evidence submitted.
- It was not reasonable for the officer to require the Applicant to differentiate between the Applicant’s former degree and the program considering the Applicant’s objectives, which were to study in the same area and to update her skills and “deepen” her understanding and knowledge in her chosen field of study.
- The new program was a post graduate certificate course for students who already graduated with a degree, and designed for students to update, and expand on existing skills. It was a logical progression for the Applicant to want to pursue studies in the same field.
While it is not the role of the Court to reweigh the evidence and to substitute its own conclusions for those of visa officers, the Court may intervene where factual findings are made without an acceptable basis or where an Officer’s analysis appears illogical in the face of the evidence or unresponsive to the evidence.
In finality, the Court found that the officer erred in assessment of the Applicant’s purpose of visit and family ties. The application for judicial review was allowed and the application remitted back to another officer for redetermination.
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