Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA)
Canada is often reluctant to send someone back to their home country if they face the risk of persecution or cruel treatment or torture, or punishment. Moreover, Canada does not want to send someone to a country where their life is in danger.
If you’re under a removal order from Canada, you may apply under PRRA. Generally, PRRA is a paper-based review that assesses the impending risks that a foreigner will encounter if they were to be sent back to their home country of citizenship or permanent residency.
However, not everyone facing a removal order from Canada can apply for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment. Generally, you can’t apply for a PRRA if the following circumstances are true:
- You had submitted a PRRA previously or claimed refugee status in Canada, but the request was rejected.
- At least a year has not passed after your previously applied PRRA refugee claim was withdrawn or abandoned.
- Your home country is among those that Canada has designated as safe. In such cases, you may not be eligible to apply for a PRRA until not less than three years have passed since your previous PRRA application or refugee claim was abandoned, refused, or withdrawn.
- Canada has established that you are a Convention Refugee elsewhere where you may return safely.
- You’re subject to extradition.
- Canadian bodies handling your case have concluded that your application doesn’t meet the eligibility criteria for referral to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
- Your Refugee protection in Canada is still active.
Some foreigners are exempt from the 12-month limit and may not necessarily wait for a year to submit their Pre-Removal Risk Assessment application.
Canada has a list of exempt countries and persons coming from such countries and have received a decision from the Immigration and Refugees Board of Canada or a final Pre-Removal Risk Assessment decision or between the timelines indicated below may submit their application for PRRA.
The PRRA application process
If a foreigner meets the eligibility criteria 4 Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, they will have half a month (15 days) to fill out the PRAA application forms. If PRRA forms are sent by mail, you have an additional one week to fill out the forms.
During the 15 (or 21) days application time, your removal order remains suspended.
A PRRA applicant has an opportunity to support their application. They’ll explain the risks and provide written evidence to show the dangers they’ll face in their home country should we leave Canada.
Considerations when reviewing your PRRA application
- Persecution risks as contained in the Geneva Convention
- Danger to life or the possibility that the person’s home country may subject the person to unusual or cruel treatment, or punishment
- Danger of torture
If Canada has accepted your PRRA application, you will become what is called a “protected person.” Protected persons are eligible to apply for Canadian permanent residency.
Unfortunately, if your PRRA application is refused, you’ll have to leave Canada almost immediately. However, you may submit your application for a Judicial Review to the Federal Court of Canada (if you can demonstrate that the decision to reject your PRRA application was a flawed one).
As your immigration attorney, the Rameh Law Firm will help you prepare a strong PRRA, ensuring it’s meticulously prepared. We’ll ensure it’s well supported with enough documentary proof to establish that you indeed need the Canadian government’s protection. We’ll aim at ensuring your application has the best chance of getting approval.
Once we submit your application to the Pre-Removal Risk Assessment officer, we’ll arrange with you where future communications and correspondence on your PRRA application will be forwarded to us. Thus, Rameh Law Firm will continue to be your trusted legal representative from start to end of the process. Should issues arise relating to the processing of your PRRA application, we will help address them instantly.