I got a call from a kababayan asking me about a medical examination that she received for her mother who applied for an extension of her visitor visa. Three days after, the visitor extension application was approved. So the question is: Does her mother need to undergo the medical examination? She actually has a legitimate question: Why would Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) request a medical examination if they have already made a decision?
I got a call from a kababayan asking me about a medical examination that she received for her mother who applied for an extension of her visitor visa. Three days after, the visitor extension application was approved. So the question is: Does her mother need to undergo the medical examination? She actually has a legitimate question: Why would Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) request a medical examination if they have already made a decision?
I strongly recommend that the mother still undergo the medical examination.
Let us examine the provisions under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Temporary Residents do not require a medical examination. However, Immigration Officers are able to ask temporary residents to undergo a medical examination in certain circumstances. The authority for an officer to do so comes from the following provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act:
6 (1.1) A person who makes an application must, on request of an officer, appear for an examination.Obligation – relevant evidence
(2) In the case of a foreign national, (b) subject to the regulations, the foreign national must submit to a medical examination.
30 (1) For the purposes of paragraph 16(2) (b) of the Act, the following foreign nationals are exempt from the requirement to submit to a medical examination:
(a) foreign nationals other than[…]
(ii) foreign nationals who are seeking to work in Canada in an occupation in which the protection of public health is essential,
(iii) foreign nationals who (A) are seeking to enter Canada or applying for renewal of their work or study permit or authorization to remain in Canada as a temporary resident for a period in excess of six consecutive months, including an actual or proposed period of absence from Canada of less than 14 days, and (B) have resided or stayed for a period of six consecutive months, at any time during the one-year period immediately preceding the date that they sought entry or made their application, in an area that the Minister determines, after consultation with the Minister of Health, has a higher incidence of serious communicable disease than Canada,
(iv) foreign nationals who an officer, or the Immigration Division, has reasonable grounds to believe are inadmissible under subsection 38(1) of the Act […]
In summary:
The Regulations require that foreign nationals undergo medical examinations, for example if they are intending to reside in Canada for more than 6 months and if they have resided in a country during the last year which is designated as an area which has a higher incidence of communicable diseases than Canada.
In the case of persons who are seeking to visit Canada for periods of less than 6 months, or come from countries which are not designated by the Minister of Health, medical examinations are not required unless an officer has reason to believe that such persons might be medically inadmissible to Canada.
[1] In my experience, when it comes to visitor extensions, visa officers tend to request medical examinations for clients who are older or if they apply to stay for a long period of time.I know it seems odd that an approval would come so quickly after the request for a medical examination and without the results from said examination. But I can tell you that there have been instances wherein an officer simply does not want to delay the processing of the application, as medical examinations “will normally delay the processing of the application process by 2-3 months because of the time required to process the medicals”.
Upon receipt of the Visitor Record I strongly recommend that you check under the notes if a medical examination is a condition of the applicant’s stay. The authority which enables officers to impose conditions on a visitor’s stay comes from section 185 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations:
185 An officer may impose, vary or cancel the following specific conditions on a temporary resident:
(a) the period authorized for their stay;
(e) the times and places at which they must report for (i) medical examination, surveillance or treatment, or (ii) the presentation of evidence of compliance with applicable conditions
Let’s say the officer did not make medical examination a condition on the Visitor Record. The applicant should still go for a medical examination. I know that you are thinking that it’s an additional expense but as per R185 above an officer can still vary the period of the authorized stay, even after the application to stay has been approved.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
