Date: 19990106
Docket: IMM-421-98
BETWEEN:
ZHI JIAN HUANG
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
(Edited version of reasons delivered from the Bench
on Wednesday, January 6, 1999 at Toronto, Ontario)
REED J.
[1] I have not been persuaded that there are grounds that could lead to a setting aside of the decision under review.
[2] The visa officer disclosed, on cross-examination on her affidavit, that she was aware, from what I will call office gossip, that false documents relating to applications for immigrant status were common in the region of China from which the applicant came. However, the decision she rendered in the applicant's case did not rely on the experiences of her colleagues who had worked in Beijing. She based her negative decision on the answers the applicant gave when she asked him what duties he performed as a head cook, what special dishes he prepared, how to prepare shark fin soup. It was his inability to answer these questions in a reasonable fashion that led her to decide that he was not qualified in the occupation that he alleged he filled. Insofar as his chef's certificate was concerned she noted that while he had presented a grade 1 cook's certificate, he did not have a grade 2 or grade 3 certificate (antecedents to a grade 1 certificate). Also he was unable to provide details of the alleged assessments that led to him receiving the certificate. I quote from her affidavit:
| The Applicant said he forgot to bring in his grade 2 or 3 cook certificates and was unable to give details of his assessments as a grade 2 and 3 cook or his recent assessment as a grade 1 cook. All of this cast doubt on the authenticity and/or legitimacy of the grade 1 cook certificate obtained in a region where fraudulent documentation is readily available and authentic certificates are readily obtained by improper means. |
[3] The jurisprudence that was cited to me states that a lack of fairness exists when a decision maker relies on extrinsic evidence without giving the person concerned an opportunity to respond to it. The fact that a decision maker is aware of extrinsic evidence is not enough to constitute a breach of the rules of fairness.
[4] If the visa officer had decided the applicant's documentation was false because of her co-workers' comments, there would clearly have been a breach of natural justice. But this is not what occurred. The visa officer questioned the applicant about the assessment that had allegedly occurred leading to the issuance of the certificate, about his experiences and duties in his occupation, and relied on that evidence. No breach of the rules of fairness occurred.
[5] With respect to the argument that insufficient points were awarded to the applicant for his education, because guidelines issues by the department indicate that 10 points, not 5 should be given, I cannot conclude that the visa officer ignored the guidelines or improperly assessed the educational achievements of the applicant. She recognized that he had a senior middle school graduation diploma, but she noted that his particular diploma was one that was obtained after two years of junior middle school and two years of senior high school, not the normal twelve years of schooling which in China would make him eligible to write a national examination for entrance to university. I cannot conclude that she ignored the relevant guidelines when making the unit assessment for education.
[6] For the reasons given the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"B. Reed"
Judge
Toronto, Ontario
January 6, 1998
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-421-98
| STYLE OF CAUSE: ZHI JIAN HUANG |
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
DATE OF HEARING: JANUARY 6, 1999
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: REED J.
DATED: JANUARY 6, 1998
APPEARANCES: Mr. Max Chaudhary
For the Applicant
Mr. Marcel Larouche
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Chaudhary Law Office
| Barrister and Solicitor |
| 255 Duncan Mills, Suite 405 |
| North York, Ontario |
| M3B 3H9 |
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19990106
Docket: IMM-421-98
Between:
| ZHI JIAN HUANG |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER