IMM-2580-96
BETWEEN:
MOHAMMAD REZA MAHLOUJI
KASHANI
Applicant
-
AND -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND
IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS
FOR ORDER
(Delivered
orally on the Bench
at Toronto, Ontario,
on April 8, 1997, as edited)
McKEOWN J.
The
applicant, a citizen of Iran, seeks judicial review of the decision of a visa
officer dated June 17, 1996, refusing the applicant's application for
permanent residence because he had failed to achieve the minimum 70 units of
assessment required to qualify for immigration to Canada.
The
issues are whether the visa officer erred: 1) in not assessing the applicant
on his ability to make a significant contribution to the cultural or artistic
life of Canada; 2) in ignoring relevant evidence and relying on irrelevant
evidence; and 3) in breaching the applicant's right of fairness by not giving
the applicant an opportunity to respond to the visa officer's concerns.
The
applicant seeks entry as a self-employed person which is defined in section 2
of the Immigration Regulations as follows:
"self-employed person"
means an immigrant who intends and has the ability to establish or purchase a
business in Canada that will create an employment opportunity for himself and
will make a significant contribution to the economy or the cultural or artistic
life of Canada;
The
applicant has presented no evidence on his ability to make a significant
contribution to the cultural or artistic life of Canada, even though he had
requested an assessment as a self-employed person in this category.
The
visa officer asked the applicant to do a jewellery design at the interview.
The visa officer concluded that the design was basic. The visa officer made no
error on this point.
The
second issue relates to relevant evidence. The visa officer misstated the
applicant's level of net income in Canadian dollars, or in the alternative, he
incorrectly stated that a net income of $30,000 U.S. per year was quite low for
the level of business activity. He also referred to the lack of formal
training as a jeweller in Iran where it is not customary to receive formal
training to enter into the jewellery business. However, I am not going to
engage in a microscopic examination of that evidence. It was open to the visa
officer to decide that the applicant would not make a significant contribution
to the economy of Canada. The decision of the visa officer is not patently
unreasonable.
The
applicant asserts that he was denied fairness by not being given an opportunity
to respond to the visa officer's concerns. However, the onus is on the
applicant to prove that he has the ability to establish a business in Canada
and will create an employment opportunity for himself and will make a
significant contribution to the economy. It was open to the visa officer to
find that the applicant did not have a realistic plan of action and did not
understand the jewellery market conditions in Canada. It was also open to him
to find that the applicant did not have the necessary management skills in
business that would make a significant contribution to Canada. Thus, there was
no need for the visa officer to request the applicant to provide further
evidence on these points. The onus was on the applicant, and not on the visa officer.
The application is dismissed.
________________________________
Judge
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
April 16, 1997
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