Final determination of eligibility for processing

 

All visa offices should use the same approach when making a final determination of eligibility.

Where documents are reliable and information is clear, consistent and well-supported the final

determination of eligibility can be made quickly. Where this is not the case, the final determination

of eligibility will be more involved.

While visa officers must exercise diligence at the final determination stage, they should also

complete this stage quickly, i.e. ideally less than two weeks after the deadline set by the CIO.

Exercising diligence while making a final determination within the ideal timeframe means the

determination will be a paper review of the application and supporting documents. Visa officers

must apply their local knowledge to the application and documents to determine eligibility.

Documents lacking sufficient information about the employer, or containing only vague descriptions of duties and periods of employment, should be given less weight. Descriptions of duties taken verbatim from the NOC should be regarded as self serving. Presented with such documents, visa officers may question whether they accurately describe an applicant's experience. A document that lacks sufficient detail to permit eventual verification and a credible description of the applicant's experience is unlikely to satisfy an officer of an applicant's eligibility.

 

Once processing begins, officers will review the application against the minimal requirements and

the selection criteria for FSW. Visa officers are also required to approve or refuse FSW

applications according to the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)

and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).

In cases of refusals, this means an applicant fails to meet the minimal requirements, is not

awarded sufficient points or is found to be inadmissible. As applicants may specify more than one

NOC code in their application, failure to meet the minimal requirements for an occupation on the

MI list will not necessarily result in refusal.

Interviews, verifications of the authenticity of documents, site visits, investigations or seeking

clarification from applicants constitute processing. These activities may be undertaken to

determine if applicants meet the minimal requirements, can be awarded points for the selection

criteria or are inadmissible.