There have been important new developments in the Class Action lawsuit filed by Campbell Cohen and co-counsel Caron & Partners of Calgary against the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP)’s arbitrary closure of applications filed under the US Visa Holder category.
Background
The AINP launched the US Visa Holder program in 2008. Individuals working in the United States on H1-B visas in certain occupations were eligible to apply under this category for Provincial Nomination, and thereafter for Canadian Permanent Residence.
In March 2010, the AINP sent notices to a large number of individuals who had applied under the US Visa Holder program, informing them that their applications were being closed. Most of these applicants had applied based on work experience in the US in Information Technology (IT) occupations. The applicants were advised that if they submitted a job offer in their occupation from an Alberta employer within one year from the date of the notice, their applications would be reopened and processed.
Litigation Agreement
As part of the legal action against the arbirtrary closure of files by the AINP, Attorney Cohen and Caron & Partners have entered into an agreement with the Government of Alberta as follows:
- All the individuals who were affected by the arbitrary closure of their applications under the US Visa Holder program are entitled to file an individual judicial review case in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench against the closure of their file.
- All such judicial review cases will be jointly decided by way of a test case. This means that one of the judicial review cases will be selected as a test case and taken to trial. The result of the trial will then be applicable to all the judicial review cases.
Proceeding by way of a test case provides all of the benefits of a Class Action lawsuit, in that it allows a group of individuals to pursue a joint legal action against the AINP’s arbitrary closure of their applications.
Individual Judicial Review applications must be filed before March 31st, 2013.
Click here if you want to join this legal action.