Date: 20040916
Docket: IMM-1541-04
Citation: 2004 FC 1269
Calgary, Alberta, September 16, 2004.
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice von Finckenstein
BETWEEN:
CHAU CONG DO
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
(Delivered Orally from the Bench and Subsequently Written for Clarification and Precision)
[1] The applicant is a citizen of Vietnam and applied for a work permit so that he could work on a temporary basis in Canada as a cook at Bagolac Saigon Restaurant Inc., a Vietnamese restaurant in Calgary owned by his sister's mother-in-law. The applicant holds a cooking certificate from the Women's House of Culture of Ho Chi Minh City and was employed at the Minh Trang Restaurant in Tien Giang, Vietnam since 2001. His job offer of employment from Bagolac Saigon was validated by Human Resources Development Canada by a letter dated May 16, 2003.
[2] The Applicant submitted his completed application for Foreign Worker on November 13, 2003 to the Consulate General of Canada in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and was interviewed there on December 23, 2003 and his application was rejected on that day.
[3] In making the rejection the visa officer made the following errors.
[4] First, she asserted that the " the job offer was submitted in order to help the applicant to gain access to Canada and that he would not leave Canada but would eventually bring wife and children over". No rationale was given for this assertion and there is no evidence to that effect on the record. Rather the record reveals that the Applicant's ties to Vietnam, namely he has a job in Vietnam, owns land and has his family resides there.
[5] Secondly, she questioned the Applicant's qualification as a cook asking him about one speciality dish. His negative answer was taken as indicating lack of training as an experienced cook. Given that he had two years experience in a Vietnamese restaurant and a certificate from a cooking school, it was unreasonable to make this conclusion about his cooking skills on his failure to know about one dish.
[6] Thirdly, she found that he did not look like a cook, was tanned like a farmer and lacked the cuts and burns on his hands that a cook normally displays. Obviously his tanned appearance and the shape of his hands are completely irrelevant to determining his qualifications as a cook.
[7] In light of these errors I find the decision to be patently unreasonable.. The decision will be set aside and must be redone by another visa officer.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that the decision of the visa officer dated December 23 , 2003 is set aside and the matter is referred back to another visa officer for reconsideration.
"K. von Finckenstein"
J. F. C.
FEDERAL COURT
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-1541-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: Chau Cong Do v. The Minister of Citizenship
and Immigration
PLACE OF HEARING: Calgary, Alberta
DATE OF HEARING: September 16, 2004
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER : von Finckenstein J.
DATED: September 16, 2004
APPEARANCES:
Mr. Peter W. Wong, Q.C. FOR APPLICANT
Mr. Robert Drummond FOR RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Caron & Partners LLP
Calgary, Alberta FOR APPLICANT
Morris A. Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General of Canada FOR RESPONDENT
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