Elias was in a peculiar situation. He lost his refugee claim, lost his refugee appeal and as a result, his deportation order became valid (enforceable). Immigration Canada was getting ready to deport him back to his home country. Luckily for Elias, it took the government a long time to finalize his deportation documents, and a year after losing his refugee claim, Elias could apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). He came to LC to help him with this application.
By the time he could submit his PRRA application, Elias’ refugee work permit was about to expire. He wanted to continue working and support himself while his PRRA application was being reviewed by Immigration Canada. When Elias was given his PRRA application, his refugee deportation order became invalid (not enforceable) making him able to submit a new work permit application.
We helped Elias to submit this work permit as well. A few months after, the work permit application was refused. Immigration Canada wrote that Elias was no longer eligible for this work permit, because his PRRA was denied. The problem was that the PRRA decision (negative or not) was not given neither no Elias, nor to us – his representatives. Calls to Immigration Canada to determine the fate of the PRRA application did not help. We received conflicting information on whether the PRRA was refused or not. Without the decision, by law Elias continued being eligible for a work permit.
We filed an application for reconsideration of this negative work permit decision. We had to stress the legal prerequisites for the work permit application in Elias’ case and that he met all of those requirements. The reconsideration request was filed in the midst of Covid19.
So what happened?
Elias’ reconsideration application was approved within a few weeks, and he was issued a work permit for another year. The decision on his PRRA application has not yet been received.