Date: 19990129
Docket: IMM-5167-97
BETWEEN:
FAZAL WALI
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
EVANS J.
[1] This is an application for judicial review pursuant to section 18.1 of the Federal Court Act R.S.C. 1985, c. F-7 [as amended] in which the applicant requests the Court to review and set aside a decision of a visa officer dated September 23, 1997 refusing to issue to the applicant a visa to be admitted to Canada as an independent immigrant.
[2] The applicant is a citizen of Pakistan who has resided in the United States since 1994 where he has worked as a taxi driver, taxi dispatcher and manager of the dispatch office. He has a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in chemistry from the University of Karachi. In his visa application he gave as his intended occupation in Canada that of organic chemist.
[3] He was employed in Pakistan between 1987 and 1991 by a sugar mill, but the duties that he performed there did not correspond to those of an organic chemist as described in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations (CCDO) or the National Occupational Classification (NOC). The visa officer's letter and the interview notes that she entered on the computer system state that the applicant agreed with this conclusion.
[4] Accordingly, the visa officer awarded the applicant no units of assessment for experience. The officer also assessed the applicant in other included occupations, but he did not obtain sufficient units of assessment for these either. For "personal suitability", the applicant was awarded three units of assessment.
[5] Counsel who appeared for the applicant at the hearing asserted that on the facts more points of assessment should have been awarded by the visa officer for experience and personal suitability. In particular, he drew the Court's attention to a letter from the applicant's former employer in Pakistan stating that he had been employed as a chemist in a sugar mill. However, in view of the applicant's having agreed that his duties there did not meet the CCDO or NOC descriptions of organic chemist, there is nothing in this point.
[6] It is not the function of this Court to reassess the points to be awarded to visa applicants. In the absence of any demonstrated error of law, procedural unfairness, unreasonable findings of fact or abuse of discretion, this application for judicial review is dismissed.
"John M. Evans"
Judge
TORONTO, ONTARIO
January 29, 1999
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-5167-97
| STYLE OF CAUSE: FAZAL WALI |
and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP |
AND IMMIGRATION
DATE OF HEARING: THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1999
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: EVANS J.
DATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1999
APPEARANCES: Mr. Harry Erlich
For the Applicant
Ms. Bridget O'Leary
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Codina & Pukitis
Barristers & Solicitors
Suite 1708, 390 Bay St.
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 2Y2
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19990126
Docket: IMM-5167-97
Between:
FAZAL WALI
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER