Rao v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), docket IMM-4999-97

Date: 19980722

Docket: IMM-4999-97

BETWEEN:

     ARUNA DHARAM KUMAR RAO,

     Applicant,

     - and -

     THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION,

     Respondent.

     REASONS FOR ORDER

DUBÉ J :

[1]      This applicant attacks the decision of a visa officer of the Canadian Consulate General in Seattle, Washington, dated October 20, 1997, denying her application for permanent residence in Canada under the skilled workers program as Executive Secretary.

[2]      The sole issue to be resolved is whether the visa officer erred when he failed to award the applicant the full 13 units of assessment (instead of 10) for the Education factor.

[3]      The applicant is a national of India who has been residing in the United States since 1995. She states in her affidavit that she completed her secondary school education in 1981 in Maharashtra, India, and obtained a secondary school certificate. In 1982, she began her post-secondary schooling and completed a "College" Diploma in 1984 in Bhopal, India. However, the diploma attached to her affidavit is granted by a Board of Secondary Education entitled "Intermediate Examination".

[4]      In the course of the years 1984 to 1992, she began a training program for a period of 13 months with Gulf School of Languages and obtained a Certificate of Completion in typing and word processing. Annexed to her affidavit is a certificate to that effect from the Gulf School of Languages, Manama, State of Bahrain, dated January 6, 1985. There is another certificate dated August 2, 1992, from the same school to the effect that she has completed an English Word Processing course.

[5]      From 1986 to 1991, she worked with International Food Services in Manama, Bahrain, as an executive secretary and from 1991 to 1995 with Tachu Middle East in the same city as executive secretary. Since that time, she has been employed by Econo Lodge Motel in Houston, Texas, also as an executive secretary.

[6]      Because the visa officer awarded her only 10 units of assessment under the Education factor, she is two units short from the total of 70 units necessary for qualification.

[7]      In his affidavit, the visa officer states that he asked her "several times to confirm the fact that she had completed only grade 12", which she affirmed. Upon questioning her with reference to the two certificates from the Gulf School of Languages, she answered that both courses were "short-term, part-time courses" and "she did not earn a post secondary certificate or diploma from this institution".

[8]      The visa officer concluded as follows in paragraphs 10 and 11 of his affidavit:

10. According to Schedule I.1.1(b)(i) and (c)(i) (referred to in SS. 7, 8 and 11) of the Immigration Regulations ("Education"): the applicant is awarded five units if secondary school has been completed, but the completed program does not normally provide entrance to university and the diploma does not include trade of occupational certification (in the country of study); applicant is awarded ten (10) units if the applicant has completed a post-secondary program which requires, as an admission standard, secondary schooling at the level described in (b)(i) or (iii). The program must have included at least one year of full-time classroom study.

11. Based on my assessment of these regulations, Mrs. Rao was entitled to only 10 units for education, not 13 claimed by her legal representative. This I explained to Mrs. Rao in detail, using a copy of the directive to illustrate the point (exhibit A).

(my emphasis)

[9]      The relevant provisions of Schedule I, referred to by the visa officer, are as follows:

1. Education      (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), units of assessment shall be awarded as follows:

(a) where a diploma from a secondary school has not been completed, zero units;

(b) where a diploma from a secondary school has been completed, the greater number of the following applicable units:

(i) in the case of a diploma that does not lead to entrance to university in the country of study and does not include trade or occupational certification in the country of study, five units,

(ii) in the case of a diploma that may lead to entrance to university in the country of study, ten units, and

(iii) in the case of a diploma that includes trade or occupational certification in the country of study, ten units;

(c) where a diploma or apprenticeship certificate that requires at least one year of full-time classroom study has been completed at a college, trade school or other post- secondary institution, the greater number of the following applicable units:

(i) in the case of a diploma or apprenticeship certificate program that requires completion of a secondary school diploma referred to in subparagraph (b)(i) or (iii) as a condition of admission, ten units, and

(ii) in the case of a diploma or apprenticeship certificate program that requires completion of a secondary school diploma referred to in subparagraph (b)(ii) as a condition of admission, thirteen units;

[10]      Exhibit A, the directive referred to by the visa officer in paragraph 11, reads as follows:

Factor 2: Education (maximum 16 points)

You have not completed secondary school                  0

You have completed secondary school but not in a program that

allows for university entrance or does not include trade or

occupational certification                          5

Secondary school completed in a program that provides for

university entrance                          10

Secondary school completed in a program that includes trade or

occupational certification                          10

Post-secondary program completed (for example, college, trade

school or apprenticeship) which required, as a condition of

admission, secondary schooling at a level that does not ordinarily

allow for entrance to a university (the program must have included

at least one year of full-time classroom study)              10

Post-secondary program completed (for example, college, trade

school or apprenticeship) which required, as a condition of

admission, secondary schooling at a level that allows for entrance

to a university (the program must have included at least one year of

full-time classroom study)                          13

University degree in a program that requires at least three years of

full-time study                              15

Second or third-level university degree (for example, Masters, PhD)      16

[11]      The visa officer circled figure 10 in the fifth box which is difficult to understand as he states in paragraph 9 of his affidavit that the applicant informed him that both courses she took at the Gulf School of Languages were short-term and part-time. He also states in that paragraph that she did not earn a post-secondary certificate or diploma from this institution. Admittedly, the provisions under the factor Education in Schedule I are far from crystal clear and even counsel for the Minister could not explain to the Court how the visa officer could have classified the applicant in the post-secondary category.

[12]      However this error by the visa officer does not vitiate his decision (i.e. that the claimant does not meet the requirements). He awarded 10 units for Education for a total of 68. The only provision in the Education factor that provides more than 10 units is 1(c)(ii). However, subsection 1(c) stipulates that the diploma must be far at least "one year of full-time classroom study" which is not the situation in the instant case. Consequently, the applicant cannot be awarded the extra units needed to support her claim.

[13]      Hence, the application is denied. Both counsel and the Court agree there is no question of general public importance to be certified.

O T T A W A, Ontario

July 22, 1998

    

     Judge