上周，加拿大使馆负责签证事务的参赞麦尼考姆先生（Mr　David　Manicom）就大家关注的拒签上诉事接受了采访并回答了如下问题： 　　问：不久前，中国的一些报纸刊登了这样一件事：几名中国年轻人被加拿大使馆拒签了，后来他们聘请了一个加拿大律师起诉加拿大使馆，并且打赢了这场官司，请问您对此有何评论？ 　　答：首先，我要澄清的是这件事所涉及的法律程序的本质。此事并非是对加拿大政府的诉讼，而是移民法中所允许的上诉程序。不管谁被拒签，也不管签证的种类是什么，他都有权上诉到加拿大联邦法院。因此这仅仅是一个上诉程序，是包括在移民法里面的。任何国家的任何公民，只要是被拒签了，就可以上诉该法院要求重审自己的签证决定，这就像在中国的法律下，在有些案件中法院做出了判决，而当事人可以向高一级法院提出上诉一样，两者没有什么区别。虽然签证处不是法院，但它是根据法律做出决定的国家机构，因此，一个人若是被拒签了，他的确可以请一名加拿大律师向加拿大联邦法院上诉。该法院是一个特别的法院，它的职责就是重审加拿大政府所做出的各项决定，它不处理刑事案件也不处理商业案件，只审查政府的决定。就我的观点来看，你提到的那件事并非罕见，这种向加拿大联邦法院要求核查签证决定的事多年来一直发生着。实际上，这不仅不是新鲜事，而且相当普通，每年在北京的签证处有几十起，在世界范围内有数百起：那些因没有获得签证而失望的人们请加拿大律师上诉。因此这是人们有权使用的一个普通程序。我希望人们能了解这一程序是如何进行的。我要指出的是，在多数情况下，联邦法院不改变原来的决定，不推翻原来的决定。在某些情况下，也仅是要求签证处派另一名签证官重新核查，而并非由他们来做出是否发放签证的决定。 　　问：在我开始提到的那件事中，"另一名签证官"也是加拿大驻华使馆签证处的官员吗！ 　　答：是的，是我们处的另一名签证官。 　　问：如果我要上诉，具体该怎么办？ 　　答：你必须请一位加拿大律师，因为只有加拿大律师才有资格受理这类向联邦政府上诉的案件。如果申请人觉得签证结果错了，可以给我们签证处写信，我们会尽力再浏览一遍你的申请以确保没错，但是要很仔细地一遍又一遍地核查每一个申请，这种可能性并非总是存在，通常会维持第一次的决定。要求核查签证决定的正式的唯一办法是再次申请或提出上诉。 　　问：每天你们会收到很多来信吗？ 答：很多很多。对于这些信，如果他们的争辨中确有某些根据，我们会再核查；但很多的信仅仅说"请发给我签证"，在这种情况下我们就只能维持原决定。 　　问：现在不少中国青年想去美国或加拿大留学，在被美国使馆拒签的人当中，主要原因之一是"移民倾向"，这也是加拿大使馆拒签的主要原因吗！ 　　答：我想不是。一名中国学生在加拿大完成了学业，然后依法申请永久居留权，这是可以的，是合法的，也是可能的，他们可以到我们这儿或是加拿大驻美国使馆的签证处去申请永久居留权。我们不会因为一个学生有可能在几年以后打算留居加拿大而拒签他。有些人被拒签是因为我们考虑这些申请人会成为非法移民，而上学对他们并没有真正的意义，他们实际上想拿到签证去加拿大找工作，或是去声称自己是"难民"，或是溜到美国去，因此有些人被拒签是出于这一类理由。还有很多人被拒签是因为申请材料不完备，没有提供申请所需要的材料。令人遗憾的是，还有很多申请被拒签是因为提供了假证明，这是被拒签的一个普遍的原因。这种假证明常常是父母的收入与工作职务的证明，每天我们都能发现。 　　问：如果一个人去加拿大的真正目的就是去上学，那签证就不应该有问题，对吧？ 　　答：不该有问题。如果你是个年轻人，高中毕业了，又被加拿大一所在册学校所接纳，上学具有实际意义，父母又有能力供你上学，而且能够提供财力证明，那获得签证就不应该有任何困难。我们批准了约60％的学生签证的申请。 　　Last week, Mr David Manicom, Counselor and Manager of the non-immigrant visa section of the Canadian Embassy was interviewed by a Chinese press. The interview began with a discussion of an event that has many people concerned. Q: Not long ago, Chinese newspapers ran a story about several young Chinese applicants who were denied visas, but then retained a Canadian lawyer to sue Canadian Embassy and won the lawsuit. Could you comment on this? A: Firstly, I should clarify the nature of the legal procedure that was involved. This is not a lawsuit against Canadian government, but an appeal procedure under the Immigration Act. Any one who was refused a visa of any kind does have the right to make an appeal to the federal court of Canada. So this is simply an appeal procedure that is covered in the Immigration Law. Any national in any country who has been denied a visa can appeal to the court to have the visa decision reviewed. It is the same under Chinese law in cases where one court makes a decision and then, afterwards, the individual can appeal to a higher court. This is no different. Although the visa office is not a court, it is a government body that makes decisions based on law, so if a person is denied a visa, yes, indeed, he can hire a Canadian lawyer to appeal the decision to the federal court of Canada. That is a special court, whose job is to review the decisions made by Canadian governmental bodies. It doesn't deal with criminal law and commercial law. It just reviews the decisions made by the government. So my opinion on the situation is not unusual. Individuals have been appealing visa decisions to the federal court of Canada for many years. Not only is this not new, but it is in fact fairly common. It happens several dozen times each year at our office in Beijing, and hundreds times each year worldwide: applicant disappointed that they did not receiving a visa hired a Canadian lawyer to appeal. So this is a normal procedure which people have the right to use. I hope people understand how the procedure works. In most cases, I should point out, the federal court doesn't changes the decision-- it does not overturn the decision. And in some cases, the court simply decides that a new decision should be made by a new visa officer. They typically will not by themselves decide that a visa should be issued. Q: In the case I mentioned, a "new visa officer" reviewed the case, from the same Canadian Embassy in Beijing? A: Yes, that would be another officer in our section. Q: If I wanted to appeal, how would I go about it? A: You would have to hire a Canadian lawyer, because only Canadian lawyer can take the case to the federal court. If an applicant feels there is a mistake, they can write to us, and we would take a quick look at the case to make sure there was no mistake. But it is not always possible for us to closely examine each case again and again. Normally, the first decision will be maintained. Formally, the only way to have visa application examined again is to start a new application or to make an appeal. Q: Do you receive many letters each day? A: Yes, we receive a great many. If we feel there is some basis for their argument, we'll take a look at the case. But many letters simply say: "please give me a visa." In those cases, we have to stick with the first decision. Q: Now many Chinese young people are going to the US or Canada to study. Among those who are refused by American Embassy, the main reason is "immigration tendency". Is it same for Canadian Embassy? A: I would not say so. A Chinese student who finished education in Canada could apply legally to change their non-immigration visa status to permanent residency Status. This is OK. It is legal and possible. You can make an application either at our office or at one of the Canadian visa offices in the United States for permanent residency in Canada. We don't refuse a student application because the student might some years later decide to make a legal application to become a permanent resident. Some of applicants are refused because we are concerned that the students may become illegal immigrants. We are concerned that the education program doesn't make real sense for them, and that they may simply use the visa as a way to get to Canada to work illegally, or to make claim refugee status, or sneak to the United States. So some applicants are refused for those or similar reasons. Many applicants are refused because their applications are incomplete, or they fail to provide documents that are required. Other applicants are refused because the documents they provided are not true documents. This is a very common reason for refusal. The fake documents are often financial documents of parents' income or parents' employment. We find false documents in this area every day. Q: If a person's purpose to Canada is really to study, it shouldn't be problem, right? A: It shouldn't be a problem. If you were a young person who has graduated from senior middle school and has been accepted by a licensed Canadian school, and the education program makes sense, and their parents have the ability to support their study in Canada, and they are able to provide the documents to support it, they shouldn't have any difficulty getting a visa. We approve about 60% of all applicants.