Visa Officers as Gatekeepers of a State's Borders: The Social Determinants of Discretion in Spousal Sponsorship Cases in Canada

Visa officers are one of the gatekeepers of a state's borders. Research on discretion exercised by immigration officials tends to focus on interdiction or the regulation of ports of entry. Though all border control agents are delegated with discretion, decisions about visa issuance are arguably more tightly bound by the rule of law. Based on in-depth interviews with overseas visa officers who work for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, this …