28.(1) A permanent resident must comply with a residency obligation with respect to every five-year period. (2) The following provisions govern the residency obligation under subsection (1):
(a) a permanent resident complies with the residency obligation with respect to a five-year period if, on each of a total of at least 730 days in that five-year period, they are
(i) physically present in Canada,
(ii) outside Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent,
(iii) outside Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province,
(iv) outside Canada accompanying a permanent resident who is their spouse or common-law partner or, in the case of a child, their parent and who is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the federal public administration or the public service of a province, or
(v) referred to in regulations providing for other means of compliance;
iii. 被加拿大公司(Canadian Business),联邦管理机构或省公共服务机构雇用(全时)
这里的问题有两个:一是什么叫Canadian Business,二是什么叫雇用。
对此CIC网站上有如下解释:
1. Canadian Business
Only some businesses qualify as Canadian businesses for the purpose of satisfying your residency obligations. To qualify as a Canadian business, the business must meet one of these three definitions:
The business is incorporated under Canadian or provincial laws and has an ongoing operation in Canada.
The business is an enterprise, other than a corporation described above, that has an ongoing operation in Canada and satisfies the following conditions:
It is capable of generating revenue and is carried on in anticipation of profit; and
Canadian citizens, permanent residents or Canadian businesses as defined above hold a majority of voting or ownership interests.
The business is an organization or enterprise created by the laws of Canada or by the laws of a province of Canada.
An enterprise, corporation or organization is not a Canadian business if it exists primarily to allow permanent residents to comply with their residency obligations during a stay outside Canada.
The phrase “employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada” means:
you are an employee of, or under contract to provide services to, either a Canadian business, the public service of Canada or the public service of a Canadian province; and
you are assigned as a term of your employment or contract on a full-time basis to either:
a position outside Canada;
an affiliated enterprise outside Canada; or
a client of the Canadian business or the public service outside Canada.
对移民局的决定不服,首先要到加拿大移民与难民委员会(Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada)下属的Immigration Appeal Division (IAD)上诉。在这个部门的网站上会定期公布他们最新的上诉决定,通过这些决定的案例大家可以更好地理解相关的法规及移民局对这些法规的解释。而且这些已经做出的决定对后面的案子是有约束力的,也就是说在审后面事实相近的案子时会延用前面的决定。所以对于法条上没有给出的细节问题,这些判例就是有约束力的先例。这个网址是 http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/about/t...ad/index_e.htm
67. (1) To allow an appeal, the Immigration Appeal Division must be satisfied that, at the time that the appeal is disposed of,
(a) the decision appealed is wrong in law or fact or mixed law and fact;
[决定有法律或事实上的错误]
(b) a principle of natural justice has not been observed; or
[没有做到司法公正]
(c) other than in the case of an appeal by the Minister, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the decision, sufficient humanitarian and compassionate considerations warrant special relief in light of all the circumstances of the case.
[考虑会被此决定直接影响的孩子的最大利益,和案件的具体情况,IAD认为有足够的人道主义同情心因素来支持给当事人特别救济。注意上文中加重的部分,大多数上诉人在这里做文章。]
(c) a determination by an officer that humanitarian and compassionate considerations relating to a permanent resident, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the determination, justify the retention of permanent resident status overcomes any breach of the residency obligation prior to the determination.
这条的意思是移民官出于人道主义和同情心的考虑 (humanitarian and compassionate considerations,H&C),特别是考虑到受到直接影响的孩子的最大利益,可以允许当事人在违背了居住义务的情况下仍然保留永久居民资格。
同样地,在移民法关于上诉的规定中也提到了这一点:
移民法67(1)(c) (c) other than in the case of an appeal by the Minister, taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected by the decision, sufficient humanitarian and compassionate considerations warrant special relief in light of all the circumstances of the case.
(a) the best interest of any children directly affected by the outcome; [受到上诉结果直接影响的孩子的最大利益,这一点是最常见的,几乎所有的判例中都会提到。当事人应努力证明本人失去永久居民资格会给孩子带来不可恢复的影响]
(b) the nature and degree of the non-compliance with the residency obligation; [未遵守居住义务的性质和程度。性质是指当事人是否故意不遵守加拿大移民法,还是有无法克服的困难,以及当该困难因素消除后是否尽早返加。比如,当事人说家人重病需要照顾,但病人康复或去世后,这个困难因素就消失了,如果当事人此后不在合理长的时间内及时返加,就属于故意了;程度通常是指时间上的,也就是离境的时间长度]
(c) the reasons for the failure to comply; [未能遵守法律规定的理由。看过的案例里,理由五花八门,本人或家庭重要成员的健康原因,财务困难,有一个人甚至说为了在本国工作到退休年龄,否则会失去大笔退休金。不是所有的理由都会被接受,即使同一个理由,不同案件中的结果也不一样!]
(d) the length of time the applicant lived in Canada, and her degree of establishment; [上诉人在加拿大已经居住的时间长度,及其establishment的程度。Establishment是指当事人是否建立了生活基础,比如房产,工作,社会联系等等]
(e) the continuing connections the applicant has in Canada, including family members; [当事人在加拿大的持续关系,包括家庭成员]
(f) the applicant's establishment in original country relative to her establishment in Canada; [Rubin的解释:当事人在原住国建立生活基础的各方面活动与他在加拿大建立生活基础的同样各方面活动的比较(哪一边更为积极、活跃……)] (g) the applicant's reasons for leaving Canada, and any attempts made to return since her departure; [当事人离开加拿大的原因,及其为返加所做的努力]
(h) hardship and dislocation of family members in Canada if the applicant ceases to be a permanent resident due to her non-compliance with the residency obligation; and [如果当事人失去永久居民资格会给其在加拿大的家庭成员带来的困难和混乱]
(i) hardship suffered by the applicant herself if she ceases to be a permanent resident as a result of her non-compliance. [如果失去永久居民资格会给当事人本人造成的困难]
[FONT=宋体]我只简单搜索了IAD[FONT=宋体]这几年的决定,大部分都是被驳回的,象上面第一部分讲到的伊朗人和台湾人,虽然他们都在加拿大购置了房产,甚至家庭其他成员在加生活了很长时间,仍然没有获得[/FONT]Special Relief[FONT=宋体]。这种判例数不胜数,下面讲一个涉及未成年人的。之所以选这个案例是因为以前很多人包括我在内听到过一种说法,说未成年人不算移民监,不用满足居住时间的要求。这个说法在为入籍的目的计算居住时间时可能是对的,但在判断永久居民资格的时候是不适用的。[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=宋体]这个案例的当事人是一个姓赖的台湾女孩,我们就叫她赖同学吧。本案的基本事实如下,当事人赖同学于1996[FONT=宋体]年随父母登陆加拿大,成为永久居民,当时她只有[/FONT]9[FONT=宋体]岁。全家人只在加拿大呆了[/FONT]12[FONT=宋体]天就返回了台湾。其后,当事人的父母仍在台湾工作,而她自己则继续上学。从[/FONT]1996[FONT=宋体]到[/FONT]2002[FONT=宋体]年这期间,他们只是偶尔回过几次加拿大,并没有真正意义地居住,他们也曾在[/FONT]Burnaby[FONT=宋体]买过一套公寓,但自己根本没有住过,后来这公寓也卖掉了。[/FONT]2002[FONT=宋体]年[/FONT]8[FONT=宋体]月赖同学[/FONT]15[FONT=宋体]岁时,她返回加拿大上高中,与父母的朋友住在一起,并接受父母的经济支持。除了假期回台湾之外,赖同学一直持续地居住在加拿大。[/FONT]2004[FONT=宋体]年当她在台湾申请返回加拿大的旅行文件时,按签证官的计算,她在此前五年内在加拿大的居住时间只有[/FONT]443[FONT=宋体]天,不够[/FONT]730[FONT=宋体]天的要求,于是请求被拒。赖同学随即上诉至[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]要求[/FONT]Special Relief[FONT=宋体],[/FONT]IAD在2005年作出决定,[FONT=宋体]维持了签证官的决定,拒绝了她的上诉请求。赖同学又继续向联邦法院起诉。法院于[/FONT]2006[FONT=宋体]年作出判决,还是驳回了她的诉讼请求。不知道她有没有继续上诉。[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=宋体]我们来看一下IAD[FONT=宋体]和法院对于不给当事人基于[/FONT]H&C[FONT=宋体]的[/FONT]Special Relief[FONT=宋体]是如何解释的:[/FONT][/FONT] - IAD IAD[FONT=宋体]的上诉决定称这是基于以下事实:[/FONT] 1. Ms. Lai's lengthy absences from Canada for almost all of the period between 1996 and 2002;
2. the absence of Ms. Lai's immediate family in Canada even since her return here in 2002;
3. the best interests of Ms. Lai in remaining with her parents in Taiwan having particular regard to the fact that she continued to rely upon them for financial and other support;
4. Ms. Lai's somewhat equivocal evidence about her motives and intentions with respect to her residency choices, at least after reaching the age of fourteen;
5. the relatively weak evidence in proof of Ms. Lai's establishment in Canada since 2002 including her frequent vacation returns to Taiwan and the lack of social attachments here;
6. the absence of evidence of significant hardship if Ms. Lai returned to Taiwan to live with her parents; and
7. the possibility for Ms. Lai to return to Canada to complete her studies under a student visa or, later on, as a permanent resident in her own right.
[FONT=宋体]概括来说,IAD[FONT=宋体]认为赖同学长期不在加拿大居住,在加拿大上学期间接受父母从台湾来的经济支持,自己没有明确的动机和意图在加居住(没有提供清楚的证据),在加拿大没有establishment[FONT=宋体],不能证明让她回台湾和父母居住会有什么[/FONT]hardship[FONT=宋体],就她目前的状况而言回台湾与父母团聚是best interest,如果她想继续在加拿大上学可以通过学生签证来实现。[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT] - [FONT=宋体]法院[/FONT] [FONT=宋体]在当事人针对IAD[FONT=宋体]决定提起的诉讼中,当事人的一个理由是自己登陆时还是未成年人,无法独立在加拿大生活,只能跟随父母,并不是她的本意。对此法官是这么说的(注意加重的部分):[/FONT][/FONT] [26] In the case of a dependent child of relatively tender years there is little, if any, opportunity to independently fulfill the residency obligation required to preserve landed status or to create the genuine ties to Canada that are typically necessary for H&C relief. In most cases the child can only accomplish that which the parents are prepared to allow and support.Ms. Lai's status in Canada may have been jeopardized by the decisions of her parents, but her claim to relief should not be enhanced by those parental decisions. [FONT=宋体](基本意思就是孩子只能得到她父母准备负担让她得到的东西,虽然赖同学的加拿大身份受她父母回台湾的决定的影响,但她父母作这种决定的时候应该知道后果。我就不逐句翻译了,翻译这种法律文件中文不太够用
)[/FONT] [FONT=宋体]另外,法官认为IAD[FONT=宋体]认定当事人的best interest[FONT=宋体]是回台湾与父母在一起这一点是非常合理的,判决书中相关的部分是这样说的:“[/FONT]The Board noted that Ms. Lai was an only child who was dependant upon her parents for financial, emotional and other support. It also noted that the parental desire to keep the family intact until 2002 along with Ms. Lai's returns to Taiwan after 2002 were a recognition of an ongoing mutual dependency.[FONT=宋体]”(也就是说这家人的种种行为表明他们意图保持家庭的完整,他们之间也是互相依赖的。赖同学在财务上和精神上都还依赖于她的父母,让她回去对她来说是最大的利益)[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT] 2. 当事人未满足居住要求,上诉获得Special Relief的判例
- [FONT=宋体]案例一,移民夫妇因意外事件不能继续在加拿大生活,2006年6月[/FONT] [FONT=宋体]这个案子的当事人是一对法国夫妇,他们于1993[FONT=宋体]年到加拿大定居并经营一家小服装店。他们的生意不错,生活也很稳定。不幸的事情发生在[/FONT]1996[FONT=宋体]年[/FONT]12[FONT=宋体]月[/FONT]31[FONT=宋体]日,他们的服装店发生了火灾,损失惨重。更不走运的是,由于火灾是暖气和电表之间的短路造成的,保险公司拒绝赔付。这对夫妇一夜之间变成一无所有,无力重建他们的在加拿大的生意和生活。在巨大的财务困难之下,他们决定先回法国。[/FONT]1997[FONT=宋体]年他们离开了加拿大,男主人后来在法国找到了一份工作。他们一直没有再回加拿大居住,直到[/FONT]2004[FONT=宋体]年他们收到加拿大驻法国大使馆的通知说他们已失去永久居民资格。上诉时,他们提供证据证明他们在法国生活期间并没有放弃返回加拿大的努力,并且做了经济上的准备。男主人曾于[/FONT]2000[FONT=宋体]年到加拿大,与朋友洽谈开一家体育用品店的计划,并看了几家准备出售的商店。他们反复强调他们时刻都想着要再回加拿大,并且一直在为此积极行动。[/FONT][/FONT] IAD[FONT=宋体]最后接受了他们请求,给了他们special relief[FONT=宋体]。原因是[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]认为迫使这对夫妇离开加拿大的唯一原因就是那场不幸的火灾,如果没有这场火灾,他们可能还愉快地生活在加拿大呢。所以在这个案例中,有足够的理由让[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]来施舍他们的人道主义和同情心给这对倒霉蛋儿。[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]在决定中充满感情地说:“[/FONT]the panel is of the opinion that it should use its discretionary power to ease the misfortunes that the appellant and his family suffered when they lost their business in a fire and the insurance company refused payment for the total loss of their store. The panel is of the opinion that the appellants should not have to pay a price for a misfortune they were not responsible for, and that they left Canada in order to rebuild their capital so that they could return to invest in Canadian society a second time.[FONT=宋体]”[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=宋体]概括一下他们胜诉的原因,主要以下几点:[/FONT] 1. [FONT=宋体]他们因一场意外离开加拿大,实在太倒霉了[/FONT] 2. [FONT=宋体]他们一直没有放弃重返加拿大的努力[/FONT] 3. [FONT=宋体]他们已经为返回作了经济上的准备,并采取了积极的步骤[/FONT] 4. [FONT=宋体]他们是法国人,加拿大人民的好朋友(这条是我加的
)[/FONT] - [FONT=宋体]案例二,上诉人未能满足居住时间要求,但其父母均为加拿大公民,2006年4月[/FONT] [FONT=宋体]这个案子的当事人来自伊朗,他的父母都是加拿大公民,父亲住在阿联酋,母亲住在加拿大。他本人于1999[FONT=宋体]年到加,在[/FONT]2004[FONT=宋体]申请枫叶卡时被认定没有住够时间。他坚持自己的居住时间是够的,但没有足够的证据,主要是因为他的护照于[/FONT]2004[FONT=宋体]年初丢失,他的新护照上反映不出之前的出入境记录。移民局最后判定他的居住时间不够。于是他又说他离开加拿大是有特殊原因的,由于他的兄弟在一次滑雪意外中丧生,他现在是家里的独子。他在阿联酋的父亲需要他照看在伊朗的生意,他在伊朗的祖母得了癌症需要照顾。他需要保留永久居民资格,因为他住在加拿大的母亲因骨折失去行动能力,也离不开他的照料。(他们家的女人够倒霉的)[/FONT][/FONT] IAD[FONT=宋体]在决定中分析了当事人的情况和所有理由,发现这些都不足以满足Special Relief[FONT=宋体]的要求,除了一条,就是当事人的父母都是加拿大公民而他由于兄弟的意外死亡成为这个家庭的独子。[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]是这样说的:“[/FONT]In the panel’s view, were it not for the evidence that the appellant is the only child of his parents, both Canadian citizens, following the tragic death of the appellant’s brother before the family came to Canada, the panel would have concluded that in all of the circumstances of this case its exercising its discretion in providing humanitarian and compassionate relief under the circumstances would not be warranted… ... The panel finds, however, that the humanitarian and compassionate considerations arising from his being the only living child of his parents, both Canadian citizens, weigh heavily in his favour. The appellant has accordingly met the burden of establishing that there exist humanitarian and compassionate considerations that warrant special relief in light of all the circumstances of this case. [FONT=宋体]”[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=宋体]所以这个案子中,IAD[FONT=宋体]施与同情心的是当事人那个倒霉的兄弟。他的其他理由都没起作用,其实这个人的伊朗祖母也用不着他照顾,他们家是当地的有钱人,佣人一大群。他好象也不止一个母亲
[/FONT][/FONT] - [FONT=宋体]案例三,未成年人,父母移加后离异,2006年3月[/FONT] [FONT=宋体]此案当事人在一岁时随父母移加,后来父母在她9[FONT=宋体]岁时离婚,她随母亲返回危地马拉居住(他们不知为何住了这么长时间却没有入籍)。她还有一个姐姐住在加拿大并且已入籍。[/FONT]2004[FONT=宋体]年当事人[/FONT]19[FONT=宋体]岁时申请返加被签证官拒绝,于是上诉到[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]。这个案子和前面那个台湾赖同学的情况很接近,但是[/FONT]IAD[FONT=宋体]在这个案子里说虽然上诉人的父母看来对加拿大没有兴趣了,但上诉人不应[/FONT]be blamed or penalized for her parents’ actions. [FONT=宋体]而且重要的是当事人在她能独立生活之后很快就要求再回到加拿大。所以给了她[/FONT]Special Relief[FONT=宋体]。[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=宋体]我觉得这个女孩子比赖同学幸运的原因是因为她父母在她年幼时离婚这个事实给了IAD[FONT=宋体]一个印象,这个孩子很不幸,值得同情,所以破例照顾了她一回。[/FONT][/FONT]