Singh

Singh v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2012 FC 137 (CanLII)

Judge: Justice O’Reilly; Date heard: November 16, 2011; Date decided: February 2, 2012; Counsel for Singh: Charles E. D. Groos; Counsel for Minister: Aman Sanghera; Place of Hearing: Vancouver, British Columbia.

This was an application for judicial review of a refusal of the visa officer (VO) at the High Commission in Chandigarh, to issue a temporary work permit as a long-haul truck driver, on the alleged basis that he did not meet the language requirements.

The applicant had several years of work experience as a truck driver in Dubai, where his wife and children lived, which evidence was before the VO. There was also evidence that he owned a house and land in India. He submitted evidence of having taken English classes in secondary school and received good grades.

The VO stated the applicant was a single man, despite the evidence that he was married with children. The VO stated that he had only weak ties to India, and made no mention of owning the land or house. The VO stated that the applicant submitted “No satisfactory proof of language ability”, without mentioning the evidence of past successful English studies. The VO said that the applicant had no reason to leave Canada, but ignored the existence of his family in Dubai (The VO appeared to conflate a lack of reason to return to India with a lack of reason to leave Canada). Justice O’Reilly found the decision unreasonable and overturned it.