Success: Federal Court ALJR Re: Study Permit Decision-Chinook
We are pleased to report that we were successful with a recent Application for Leave and Judicial Review (ALJR) filed to the Federal Court of Canada and served on the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the refusal of a Study Permit that was decided with the assistance of “Chinook 3+”. The DOJ agreed to our arguments and they provided a Settlement Offer for the Officer’s decision to be set aside. This is the best outcome for our client.
The Chinook system has been highly scrutinized by counsel across Canada and, it seems, we will not litigate this issue before the Court. We accepted the Settlement Offer from the DOJ and the Study Permit refusal has been set aside.
Here is a summary of this case:
- FEB 2022 – We were retained to prepare and submit a STUDY PERMIT application on behalf of our client;
- APRIL 2022 – We worked with our client to prepare a detailed 6 page STUDY PLAN;
- APRIL 2022 – We prepared a Study Permit application – 191 pages of supporting documents and legal submissions;
- JULY 2022 – IRCC refused the Study Permit application per R216(1)(b);
- AUG 2022 – We were retained to do ALJR
- SEPT 2022 – We received Rule 9 disclosure from the Court, including the note that “Chinook 3+” was used to refuse the application;
- OCT 2022 – We served and file the Applicant’s Record, including 303 pages of documentation, affidavits and memorandum of law and argument;
- OCT 2022 – DOJ provided Settlement Offer
Our fight is not done. At this point, we will be working with this student to prepare additional submissions in support of the application.
Federal Court matters are never easy. In most cases, it is a very difficult decision whether to even start the ALJR based on the refusal letter. Refusal letters are often simple template decisions that do not provide enough information to gauge whether the application was properly decided.
In this case, our client decided to go to the Court as the Study Permit application, which we prepared on his behalf, was extremely strong. If you follow this space, you may have seen previous Success Stories regarding study permit applications that were successful. Upon review, this case was a “slam dunk” situation. He should be issued the Study Permit. So the refusal simply did not make sense. It failed the basic smell test.
In previous cases, we have won at the Court after giving oral arguments and, if we are required to carry the case all the way to the end, it can take more than a year.
To be clear, we have no idea how Chinook 3+ was used by the Officer to refuse this application. We did not have the chance to cross-examine the Officer. We were assisted by counsel in Vancouver and Toronto with our submissions and research. They provided valuable insight into the Chinook 3+ system and how AI is being used by IRCC Officers.
