Why Was My TRV Refused?
There are many reasons why your TRV could have been refused, but what options do you have now?
Can I file an appeal?
There is no formal appeal process within IRCC. The options may include reapplying or seeking judicial review.
A judicial review can be filed if due process was not followed by IRCC; that is, the visa office did not assess the application properly despite being presented a detailed and thorough application which highlighted all the necessary facts. In order to be granted leave via judicial review, one must prove that IRCC did not perform their job properly. Judicial Review will not be successful if the original application did not present a strong case for approval.
Can I re-apply again on my own?
Unfortunately, re-applying again on your own is futile. Individuals will only learn this fact once they have applied two, three, even four times on their own and are refused. The main issue here is that the foreign visa office will not respect another application submitted by an individual applying on their own. The visa offices are very busy and have government employees reviewing applications. These government employees can be lazy and don’t want to waste their time reviewing a subsequent application by an individual, given a recent refusal. As soon as they see a previous refusal within the same year, they will just refuse it again, without even reviewing the application. While this seems unfair, this is what happens.
How Can a Law Firm Help?
Clients contact our law firm after one or more refusals and we are able to help individuals obtain a TRV visitor visa successfully. When a lawyer is involved, the visa officers pay more attention when assessing an application. The main reason being is that the visa officers respect that immigration lawyers are extremely knowledgeable with the immigration laws and understand that proper due process and procedural fairness must be followed. Otherwise, a lawyer will challenge the visa officer’s decision via judicial review. If a visa officer is refusing an application, they must justify the refusal based on the facts presented in the application. If a strong case was presented by a lawyer and the visa officer still refuses the application, this scenario would be worthy for judicial review. The visa offices and IRCC do not like to waste time and resources with the Judicial Review process. If a strong application is presented by a lawyer and no grounds to justify a refusal, they would rather approve the TRV visa than face a Judicial Review.
In the majority of cases, working with a knowledgeable immigration lawyer to prepare and re-submit a much stronger application presenting the case often leads to an approval. The visa officer can see that the application is being submitted through a law firm’s Representative Portal and also the lawyer’s attached submission letter. Our firm typically drafts a 4 -5 page submission letter presenting each client’s application, highlighting the important facts to address all 13 reasons for refusal. Where necessary, our firm will also include case law from Federal Court to address unfair reasons for refusal such as: Lack of Travel History, Strong Ties to Canada, Not Likely to Return Home. Clients will have an opportunity to see the case we present for their application as our firm will always send a copy of the submission letter for review to a client before submitting their application.
If you have been refused a TRV or wish to apply for one, please contact our firm to get Professional Help. We have helped many clients obtain a visa after a refusal, oftentimes after multiple refusals. This is our area of expertise.