Assignment task:
This assignment is designed to simulate an in-land H&C interview with an Immigration Officer. For this assignment, develop a persuasive argument in support of your client's H&C application based on a single Compassionate factor. There may, in fact, be other factors that are important to the application, but you will focus on a single factor, as indicated by the facts of the case study (See "Case Study" below). No additional legal research is required to do this assignment. Use the Canadian law and policy. Instructions: Draft a brief submission in point form and (that will be delivered by oral submission to the Immigration Officer via a recording) First, draft your brief point-form argument in around three hundred words. Keep the FILAC (legal reasoning) and CREAC (legal writing) structures in mind as you prepare your notes. Even though the main goal is an oral (not written) submission, these structures help to keep you organized and clear in your reasoning and your presentation. Make sure to use only the facts presented in the affidavit. Do not make up additional facts that were not in the affidavit. Then, based on your written point-form argument, make a brief oral submission arguing your client's case on H&C considerations. Remember, that no additional legal research is required to complete this assignment.
Your submission must include:
1) A brief opening statement that identifies your client's goal, gives a brief summary of the relevant facts of their case, and provides an outline of your argument
2) A statement of the central legal issue and a brief summary of the relevant H&C factor that you have identified, drawing from the relevant law and policy.
3) The legally relevant facts raised in your client's affidavit that support your argument
4) Your argument (including applying the law and policy that you know to the facts you have identified) as to the reasons the H&C exemption should be granted.
5) A brief conclusion
Affidavit of Ana Reyna Davila Ruiz:
1. My name is Ana Reyna Davila Ruiz. I am a 68-year-old citizen of Nicaragua, born in Jinotepe, Carazo, on November 27, 1955.
2. I arrived in Canada in October of 2021 after I was granted a 5-year super visa.
3. I live in Vancouver with my daughter, Pilar, my 8 yrs, grandson José and 5 years granddaughter Maricarmen.
4. I had raised Pilar and her three siblings by myself after their father left us when Pilar was seven years old.
5. My daughter who is now a PR, arrived in Canada in 2017 as a refugee due to domestic abuse from her boyfriend. She was five-months pregnant at the time. However, the separation was still so hard. I was treated at a hospital for the emotional problems due to this.
4. In 2018, my daughter married Joaquin. He was employed full-time.
5. In January of 2019, Pilar gave birth to Maricarmen, who was diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism and would have to take medication every day for the rest of her life. She began to suffer from post-partum depression.
6. Her depression was overwhelming. I applied for a temporary resident visa that same year so that I could look after her, but the application was denied. I tried two or three times more but was denied.
6. Pilar's had to care for a baby who required medication given with a syringe, every single day, which was a struggle for her. Pilar had to be cautious about ensuring that her baby took the right amount of medication, she had to make sure that the medication was given on a schedule, she had to take her daughter to the doctor for blood tests regularly. It was hard for my daughter to deal with this without my support.
7. Throughout Pilar's first years in Canada, when she was going through her first pregnancy alone and now she was struggling with post-partum depression after the birth of her daughter, I had wanted to come to Canada to support her in person.
8. In April of 2020, Joaquin had a stroke. He could no longer work, and he had limited involvement in caring for the children.
Pilar was now caring for Joaquin and both her children. She eventually lost her job, unable to care for him.
9. In June of 2020, Canada granted me a travel visa for the period of a month and a half.
I helped with housekeeping, cooking and preparing meals, and looking after the children. This practical help around the home improved my daughter's well-being. I assumed the role of another parent to help lessen the burden.
10. I did not stay in Canada permanently at this time, nor did I apply for permanent residence because I wanted to continue working until retirement so that I would be able to provide financial support to Pilar if she needed it.
11. By 2021, I was retired and I applied for and finally was granted a super visa, from October 2021 to September of 2026. My application for a super visa was approved because Joaquin wanted me to be able to visit Pilar, so he included his financial information with hers to show that, together, they could financially support my visit. Joaquin had received a lump sum payment from Work Safe BC, so this source of funding was referenced in their application. My daughter was receiving disability payments during this period, too, because of her mental illness. When they combined their Notices of Assessment and submitted them with the application for my visa, they could show that they were able to financially support.
me during this visit.
12. I arrived in Canada in October of 2021. I briefly returned to Nicaragua in February of 2022 to visit family there, Joachim had another stroke and died while l was away. Pillar has depression and anxiety, and she also has diabetes. I remind her to take her medication every day, and also to go to doctor appointments to treat those medical problems.
13. On a day-to-day basis, I help Pilar with her children. I make sure that they have completed their homework which improved their performance as students.
14. I have provided assistance to Pilar when Maricarmen needed medical attention. Maricarmen's medical appointments are less disruptive to their lives than they were when Pilar was on her own. Their lives are much more structured now.
15. My influence is especially important now that the children are getting older, and the structure I am able to enforce and the expectations that I am able to set for the children are now more critical to their development.
16. I have also developed ties to Canada outside of my family. I am involved in the Nuestra Señora de los Dolores church. I have met friends through this church, and now these friends are like family to me. I volunteer with the church, helping to clean it and prepare the linens and floral arrangements for mass. On the first day of every month, I help prepare a meal and serve it, along with coffee, to congregants during a lunch that is hosted by the church following church service. I am also involved in a senior group through the church.
17. On Mondays and Fridays, at the Mennonite Central Committee on Commercial Drive, I take English classes. I enjoy it. I like the environment, and I feel confident that I am learning the language so that I can communicate with others in Canada.
18. If I had to return to Nicaragua, I do not know how my daughter would manage her children's education, discipline, and overall upbringing. With Pilar's mental health struggles, she needs my support to uphold that structure and discipline in her children's lives. Her anxiety and depression prevent her from keeping track of obligations or remembering important tasks, so she would struggle to raise her children by herself.
33. My daughter also needs my support for herself. Pilar is alone, without support in Canada, so she does not have anyone close to her to rely on for advice and support. She needs me, both for her children and for her own well-being. If I am able to stay in Canada as a permanent resident, I can provide this support.
34. I am able to financially support myself with a monthly pension of $1246.46. I started receiving this pension in January of 2021, after qualifying to receive this pension in November 2020. I support myself with this pension. Pilar receives disability benefits, but since the death of her husband, she does not meet the income requirements to sponsor me under the Family Class.
35. I make this affidavit in good faith and for the purpose of my application for permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, and for no other improper purpose.