There are several scenarios in which you may have to attend an interview with either Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), including “landing” interviews after your application for permanent residence is approved. However, during the processing of an application, an immigration interview is not a standard part of the process and usually signals an issue. The interview, therefore, is an important chance to present information, documents, and testimony to mitigate the officer’s concerns, and a bad interview most likely will result in a refusal. It is extremely important to be well-prepared and to know what to expect. While an interview can be requested for any application, the most common types are interviews for spousal/common-law sponsorship or prior to issuing a removal order to a permanent resident. In the spousal/common-law context, if the officer suspects that the relationship is not genuine, or has concerns about admissibility, you may simply receive a request to provide extra documents (known as a “procedural fairness letter”), but you may also have to attend an in-person interview. For applications submitted inside Canada, both spouses must attend, while overseas, only the sponsored spouse. The interview process can be intimidating and cause high anxiety, especially for applicants who require an interpreter. This sometimes results in panicked answers and contradictions, even when the relationship is genuine! We understand the importance of this event, and we can prepare you for the type of questions that may be asked, focusing on any potential problem areas in your application. If you have been asked to attend an interview, we encourage you to contact us as soon as possible so that you can increase your chances of receiving an approval.
