Humanitarian PR for Elderly Parents: Approved in Three Weeks
How a solid H&C application turned an 85% refusal rate into a swift approval
The backstory to this case stretches back over a decade. In late 2013, our clients obtained permanent resident status in Canada. Since then, they have been systematically bringing their relatives – siblings, parents – to join them, with our assistance at every step. This case is about the parents.
As everyone familiar with Canadian immigration knows, the system is not a charitable enterprise – it is a pillar of the national economy. Its purpose is to attract skilled professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators from around the world: people who will contribute to Canada's growth. For this reason, there are very few pathways for elderly individuals to obtain permanent residence.
The Challenge
One of the few options available to elderly applicants is family sponsorship, where Canadian citizens or permanent residents can sponsor their parents for PR status. It is, in a sense, a gesture of respect toward successful immigrants – a way for them to bring their parents to Canada and provide them with a dignified retirement.
However, the parental sponsorship program has always suffered from one chronic, incurable problem: the number of Canadians who want to bring their parents far exceeds Canada's capacity to accept them, given its already aging population. The question of who gets to bring their parents and who does not has no answer that is not inherently unfair.
The parental sponsorship program – whose latest experimental iteration was a lottery – has effectively ceased to function as a reliable pathway.
And yet, options for people nearing retirement age do exist. This case is a textbook example of the right approach producing the right result.
The Humanitarian and Compassionate Program
The parents arrived in Canada in 2015 on ordinary visitor visas – they came to see their two daughters (by then, the second daughter had also moved to Canada) and their growing families. Grandchildren were being born, and they needed the help and attention that only grandparents can provide.
Throughout these years, the parents remained in Canada without leaving. Their temporary status was periodically renewed to keep their stay legal. At some point, they sold their property in Russia to help their daughters purchase homes in Canada.
In a situation like this, the question of permanent residence inevitably arises. The only viable option with a realistic chance of success was a Humanitarian and Compassionate (H&C) application.
If the essence of this program could be summed up in a single sentence: H&C allows a person to obtain permanent resident status if removing them from Canada would be inhumane.
Unfortunately, very few people fully understand how the H&C program actually works. Instead, persistent myths surround it, fueled primarily by one fact: anyone can apply for PR through the H&C program. And this is true – nothing prevents a person from filing an H&C application and requesting permanent residence. But filing an application and receiving an approval are two entirely different things, and this distinction is often forgotten. Unscrupulous consultants, if they understand it at all, prefer to keep quiet about it.
This is precisely what explains the staggering refusal rate of approximately 85% for H&C applications. Swayed by rumours or talked into it by consultants, people file applications without understanding that approval requires exceptionally compelling arguments on the central issue: humanitarian grounds. And people tend to interpret "humane" and "inhumane" on their own terms, often considering it inhumane simply to have to leave Canada and return to a country with a lower standard of living.
Building the Case
In this case, every circumstance aligned perfectly with a scenario destined for success: years of continuous residence in Canada, deep integration into the community, two immediate families in Canada, complete severance of ties with Russia (including the sale of their home), and the interests of young grandchildren who had been in a close emotional bond with their grandparents from birth.
Despite the apparent simplicity (this material is deliberately written in the most accessible form), the application itself was substantial. The final package submitted to the visa office totalled just over 200 pages.
Immigration forms, cover letters, letters of support, excerpts from court decisions, affidavits, financial documents, proof of status, personal documents, medical records, family photographs – all of this made for a weighty package, as H&C applications are accepted only in paper form.
The Result
The outcome made every effort worthwhile: the application, filed in March 2022, was approved in just three weeks.
We consider this an outstanding result, and one that demonstrates an important truth: even under the program with the worst refusal statistics in Canadian immigration, approval is entirely possible when you truly understand the principles on which the program is built.
Lawpoint Immigration has deep experience with Humanitarian and Compassionate applications. If you or your family members are considering this pathway, we can assess whether your circumstances support a strong application and guide you through the process.