Appeals & Mandamus

Mandamus & Federal Court appeals: forcing a fair outcome

A refusal letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is not the final word, and neither is an application that has been left to sit for years. As a licensed Canadian lawyer, Inna Kogan takes immigration matters to the Federal Court of Canada — the one forum with the power to overturn an unreasonable refusal and to compel IRCC to decide a delayed file. This is the firm’s defining practice area, and it is work that a consultant simply cannot do: only a lawyer can appear before the Federal Court.

There are two distinct tools, and choosing the right one is the first thing we get right. If your application was refused, the remedy is an application for leave and judicial review, asking the Court to find the decision unreasonable and send it back for a fresh determination. If your application has not been decided at all and has run far past normal processing times, the remedy is a writ of Mandamus, which orders IRCC to make a decision.

When a Mandamus application makes sense

Mandamus is the answer to unreasonable delay. If your permanent residence, work permit, study permit, spousal sponsorship or citizenship application has sat well beyond IRCC’s published processing time with no adequate explanation, the Federal Court can order a decision. The legal test requires a public duty to act, a reasonable time that has passed after you demanded a decision, and no other adequate remedy. In practice, the strongest cases are those where the delay is clearly beyond the service standard and is not the applicant’s fault.

One of the most useful features of Mandamus is that filing it frequently resolves the problem on its own. A large share of delayed files are simply decided by IRCC once the demand letter is sent or the application is filed at the Court — which means many clients get their decision without ever reaching a hearing.

• Permanent residence applications stuck years past the service standard
• Spousal and family sponsorships delayed without explanation
• Work and study permits caught in indefinite background or security checks
• Citizenship applications stalled after the test or interview
• Any file where repeated inquiries to IRCC have gone nowhere

When judicial review is the right challenge

Where a decision has actually been made and it is wrong, judicial review is the path. Visa refusals, study and work permit refusals, misrepresentation findings, and refused sponsorships are all reviewable. The Court does not substitute its own decision; instead it asks whether the officer’s decision was reasonable and procedurally fair. Where an officer ignored evidence, applied the wrong test, or gave inadequate reasons, the refusal can be quashed and sent back to a different officer.

Deadlines here are short and unforgiving — often 15 days for a decision made inside Canada and 60 days for one made outside Canada. Because the leave stage is decided on the written record, the quality of the memorandum of argument is decisive. This is detailed, standards-driven legal writing, and it is where experience at the Federal Court pays off.

Why applicants across Toronto and Canada choose Inna Kogan

Inna Kogan is a Toronto immigration lawyer whose litigation practice reaches clients across Canada and abroad. Federal Court applications are conducted on the written record and by video where appropriate, so where you live rarely matters — what matters is that a licensed lawyer, not a consultant, is handling your court file. The firm serves clients in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, North York, Scarborough, Vaughan and Markham, and works in English, Ukrainian and Russian.

If you have received a refusal or your application has been delayed for far too long, the sooner it is reviewed the more options you have — Federal Court deadlines are strict. Book a consultation for an honest assessment of whether judicial review or a Mandamus application is the right move for your case.