Xiao v. Canada ( Minister of Citizenship and Immigration )
IMM-1845-99
Blais J.
13/12/99
7 pp.
Judicial review of visa officer's refusal of applicant's application for permanent residence-Applicant citizen of People's Republic of China-Has bachelor of arts degree, English major-Worked as interpreter-Assessed in occupa tion of interpreter-As found not to meet entry requirements as provided by National Occupational Classification (NOC), work experience under occupation of interpreter could not be considered-Under NOC employment requirements, visa officer to determine whether applicant had bachelor's degree in translation-If did not, whether had bachelor's degree in related discipline-Upon concluding applicant not having bachelor's degree in translation, visa officer concluding did not have graduate degree in related discipline instead of determining whether had bachelor's degree in related field-NOC requirements not mentioning related discipline at graduate level-Visa officer misinterpreted requirement-Not necessary to have graduate degree in related discipline; bachelor's degree will suffice-NOC employment requirements providing specialization in interpretation, translation, terminology at graduate level usually required-In assessing applicants under occupational factor, "usually requires" not meaning "always", but what says: Karathanos v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] F.C.J. No. 1528 (T.D.) (QL)-Introductory section of NOC Handbook explaining use of "is usually required" indicating something usually, but not always, required by employers-Applicant lost points on occupational factor, experience, not educational requirement-While "is usually required" under education requirements mandatory, not so under employment requirements-Visa officer erred in interpreting "is usually required" as mandatory, concluding applicant not having any graduate studies in related discipline-Application allowed.