Jelena Urosevic has extensive experience representing clients at all levels of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) – Immigration Appeal Division (IAD), Refugee Appeal Division (RAD), Immigration Division (ID) and Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the Federal Court of Canada.
Federal Court Matters
Application for Leave and for Judicial Review
As a former Canadian Department of Justice lawyer with many years of experience arguing cases in the Federal Court, Jelena Urosevic can help you with your application for leave and judicial review. The Federal Court has the authority to overturn the decisions of most immigration officers and each division of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
In most cases, an appeal of an immigration decision to the Federal Court is called an “application for leave and for judicial review”, It is a two-step process.
Step One
At the first stage, which is called “leave”, the Federal Court considers your appeal based on written arguments and evidence. The Federal Court will grant or deny leave.
- If leave is denied, there is no further appeal.
- If leave is granted, the second stage is for the Federal Court to schedule a “judicial review” hearing date.
Step Two
At the hearing, a Federal Court judge will consider the arguments of both sides (your lawyer and the Department of Justice lawyer representing the Canadian government). The judge will then decide whether to grant or dismiss the judicial review.
- If judicial review is dismissed, the judge’s decision is final and there is no further appeal.
- If judicial review is granted, your case will be returned for reconsideration by a different decision-maker.
It is important to note that the Federal Court will not approve your application. Every case is different, but statistics show that about 20% of cases are granted leave and about 50% of cases that go to a hearing are successful. In most cases, the Federal Court can only order that your case be returned to another decision maker and reconsidered.