Exercise Caution When Claiming Dual Intent on Study Permit Applications

What Does Case Law Tells Us?

1) What you state and what you do must be aligned for dual intention to properly apply

In Pisarevic v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2019 FC 188 (CanLII), the Applicant, a lawyer who was applying for a Canadian paralegal program, was unsuccessful in judicially reviewing the refusal of his study permit application.

Arguably (although Madam Justice Simpson found otherwise), even the Applicant’s personal statement in this application sounded very much like a single intent statement:

Madam Justice Simpson writes at para 5:

[5] The Letter included the following statements which, in my view, express dual intent.

I have every intention of staying in Canada permanently but only, and I can’t stress this enough, if the Canadian authorities allow me to stay.

I have no intention of leaving Canada after graduating but only and for as long as Canada allows me to stay. I plan to do my best to finish school, work hard while I’m in school to maintain myself, apply for the PGWP, find a good job in the legal field and during that time to find a legal way to stay in Canada.

In the refusal the Officer wrote (paragraph 8 of the Decision):

Applicant is 37yrs old, graduate law program in 2010 and has many yrs of experience as lawyer. He now applies to do paralegal training. I note that applicant has four attempts to express entry. While the study program chosen is in same field as applicant’s previous studies and work, it is a step back – not coherent with career development. Given the applicant’s interest in immigration, the study program is meant only to secure entry to CDA and not obtain better employment/promotion in home country. In view of past applications history, study program chosen, I am not satisfied that dual intent exists. I am not satisfied that applicant is interested in returning in country of residence and will have incentives to leave CDA at end of authorized period of stay.

(emphasis added)

Madam Justice Simpson in rendering a bench decision and dismissing the Applicant’s judicial review, highlighted in the record the fact that the Applicant’s proof of finances to support his studies were from the winding down of his legal practice, which itself created a reasonable basis for the Officer to find that there was not an intention to return that could support a dual intention finding.

She writes:

[14] I am entitled to review the record to make sense of the Officer’s Decision. In my view, although it is not referred to in the reasons, the fact that the Applicant proposed to finance his studies by selling his law office was reasonably treated by the Officer as a powerful determining factor. It gives the impression, in the absence of an explanation to the contrary, that he is winding down his practice and has no professional reason to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

(emphasis added)

Ultimately, not only in this case did the Applicant fail to adequately state out a clear temporary intention but the evidence provided suggested as well that the intention was primarily permanent. In the context of an international student, without a clear pathway or application in process – ultimately this represents a high risk approach to the application.

2) Dual intent requires a clear written statement of dual intent

One of the leading cases in this area of the law is Loveridge v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2011 FC 694 (CanLII) a 2011 decision that highlights my earlier observations that many study permit applications (and specifically letters of intent that I have reviewed) are entirely unclear, and possibly contradictory on the intent of the applicant. Indeed, for many students coming to Canada, the future may be uncertain but a reasonable pathway and understanding does have to be provided.

In Loveridge, the Applicant from the United Kingdom wrote a letter that led to a finding that the Applicant did not have dual intention.

Madam Justice Bédard writes in her decision:

[14] The applicant contends that it was unreasonable for the officer, in light of the evidence that was presented, to infer on her part an intention to remain permanently in Canada. She insists that her motivation letter indicated, at a minimum, a willingness to return to the UK if required and that, as such, it was unreasonable for the officer to find that she had not established that she would leave Canada if she were required to do so. She argues that, in fact, her motivation letter clearly expressed her dual intent: she would stay in Canada if she had the opportunity to stay but would go back to the UK if required. She contends that she did not need to have a firm intent to go back to her country of origin in order to have a dual intent within the meaning of section 22 of the IRPA.

[15] The applicant insists that she was credible and that she did not hold back any information in her application. She argues that there was no contradiction in her motivation letter but, on the contrary, that the letter clarified her intentions. She further argues that the officer made an error when concluding that the bank statements did not identify the owner of the accounts since the name NLoveridge appeared on the statements. She further points to the fact that her family and friends are located in the UK as demonstrating her strong ties to that country and her motivation to return there. The applicant also submits that no negative inference should be made from the fact that she and her husband were unemployed and that she did not have ownership of property in the UK. She contends that those circumstances could be viewed as reasons for wanting to migrate to another country, but that they do not support the contention that the applicant would refuse to leave Canada if required to do so.