Reference no: EM133294111
Assignment:
Marcus is an immigration consultant in Windsor, Ontario. He is a sole practitioner and does not employ any assistants. His client Shireen was accepted as a provincial nominee, and he made the PR application for her almost two years ago; the processing of PNP cases has been painfully slow.
Marcus received an email on August 1st requesting Shireen to update her Schedule A - Background Declaration form within 30 days. This is a key form setting out work history, address history, education, etc. Marcus knew it would be a simple matter of getting Shireen in, completing the information on the new form, signing the original as required, and uploading it to his Representative's portal account before the due date of August 31st.
However, Marcus was extremely busy over the next two weeks. He had two work permit extensions due this week as well as an Express Entry file to upload by Friday. On the weekend he had to prepare for two refugee hearings for next Monday and Wednesday, as well as an IAD sponsorship appeal hearing Friday - so that week was fully booked.
He decided he would just wait until after his IAD appeal, and then contact Shireen on Monday to come in and get it done. There would still be two weeks left, which would leave him plenty of time.
On the Sunday following his IAD appeal, Marcus received word that his father had suddenly passed away in Italy. He dropped everything and booked a flight to Italy- he was too distraught to think about Shireen's matter; and spent the week grieving with his mother and family. He flew back to Windsor on Sunday, August 26th. He knew he had to contact Shireen first thing Monday morning and would still have until Friday to get the Schedule A signed and uploaded.
When Marcus was back in the office Monday morning, he emailed Shireen about the request from IRCC, asking her to make an appointment immediately so they could get the form done. He did not hear back. He emailed again on Tuesday and texted Shireen. He was starting to wonder whether he might need to request an extension of time from IRCC. On Wednesday afternoon, he heard from Shireen that she had been camping in Algonquin Park for a week and was offline. She would be back in town Thursday night. She had a medical procedure Friday morning but could attend at his office by 1 pm at the latest. Marcus cleared his schedule to be free to focus solely on this matter Friday afternoon, the last day.
Shireen arrived at 1 pm. They completed the new Schedule A. She signed the form and left. Marcus then opened his Representative portal account to upload the document. The IRCC portal was down. He spent several anxious hours trying everything possible to access the portal until IRCC finally tweeted that an unexpected software glitch had occurred, and they expected the online application system to be back up and running around noon, September 1st. As a result, Marcus missed the deadline.
Q1. Identify five key provisions of the Code of Professional Conduct that most directly apply to this scenario, and which Marcus breached. Analyze each of the provisions identified in sufficient detail to show understanding of the provision, and how it applies to Marcus.
Q2. Assume you were the RCIC who received the email from IRCC on August 1st. What specific steps should you have taken to ensure you did not breach any provisions of the Code? Your explanation of the course of action you would take should demonstrate an awareness of the fact that unexpected events can happen (like a family emergency), or a client may be unavailable.