After Your Hearing

What can I do if the Minister appeals?

The Minister may want a review of the IRB-RPD decision. This means the Minister is appealing your positive decision. To make an appeal, the Minister must show that the IRB-RPD made mistakes in the decision on your refugee claim. 

If the Minister appeals within 15 days, you have to put your application for permanent residence on hold.

If the Minister appeals the decision, you will be notified and you will have the chance to respond. When you respond, you will give the reasons why you disagree with the Minister’s appeal.

To respond to the appeal, you or your legal representative must:

• Prepare a Notice of Intent to Respond.
• Prepare a Respondent’s Record with the reasons why you disagree and any supporting documents.
• Send a copy of both of these documents to the Minister and to the IRB-RAD office in your region by email, fax, or courier. If you have a legal representative they can do this for you.
• Give the IRB-RAD proof that you sent your documents to the Minister.

After you respond to the appeal by sending in the required documents, the IRB-RAD will usually  make a decision without a hearing. In some cases, the Minister may request a hearing. 

The IRB-RAD will make one of the following decisions:

• Confirm the IRB-RPD decision. This means your positive decision will remain.
• Disagree with the IRB-RPD decision, and replace it with a new decision.
• Refer your case back to the IRB-RPD and order a new hearing.

Travel outside of Canada

If you plan to travel outside of Canada after you become a refugee or a protected person, you must apply for a Refugee Travel Document with Passport Canada. If the Minister has appealed, do not leave Canada.

Start Your Application

You can apply online using the Permanent Residence Portal or send forms by mail or courier.

How to start your application on the PR Portal

• Create your account.  
• Sign in to your account.
• Select the following in the drop-down menus:
  • Program under which you are applying: “Permanent Residence, including Refugee Resettlement”.
  • Program under which you are applying (2): “Refugee”.
  • Category you’re applying under: In Canada – “Protected Person”.
• Fill out your profile information and then your family members profile information.
• Click “Save and Continue”.

Prepare the documents

To apply, you must prepare:

• Document Checklist (IMM 5286 E)
• Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008)
• Additional Dependants/Declaration (IMM 0008DEP-E)
• Protected Persons and Convention Refugees (IMM 0008: Schedule 14)
• Background/Declaration (IMM 5669 E : Schedule A)
• Additional Family Information (IMM 5406 E)
• Use of a Representative (IMM 5476 E)
• A copy of the Notice of Decision giving you Convention Refugee or Protected Person status in Canada
• One recent two-sided digital photo (passport size stamped at the back by the studio)
• Photocopies of your identity documents that were taken from you:
  • passport (even if it is expired), 
  • travel documents,
  • translated birth certificate, and
  • other identity documents such as a translated marriage certificate.

Dependants and family members

If you have dependants inside or outside Canada, you must fill out a separate set of forms for them. You must prepare:

• Document Checklist (IMM 5286 E)
• Generic Application Form for Canada (IMM 0008 E)
• Protected Persons and Convention Refugees (IMM 0008: Schedule 14)
• Background/Declaration (IMM 5669 E : Schedule A)
• Additional Family Information (IMM 5406 E)
• Use of a Representative (IMM 5476 E), if applicable
• One two-sided digital photo (passport size)
• Photocopies of their passport, travel documents, or identity documents
• Photocopies of documents that prove their relationship to you, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, or common-law declaration (Form 5409)

In your application, you must update IRCC with the names of a spouse or any dependent family members you have gained since you arrived in Canada.

You may not know where some family members are, but you can list them in your application. They will have one year from the day you get PR to apply for it themselves. Only someone who IRCC considers a family member can do this, not a de facto family member. Talk to a lawyer if you have family members who are de facto family members.

Translate documents

For any document (including any stamps and seals) that is not in English or French, you must send in:

• The English or French translation. See the IRCC website to follow their requirements to translate documents.
• If you cannot get a certified translator for your identification documents, you can use a non-certified translator. If you do this you will need:
  • an affidavit from the person who did the translation, and
  • a certified copy of the original document. It must be certified in Canada by a notary public, a commissioner of oaths, or a commissioner for taking affidavits.

Pay fees

You must pay a fee when you apply for PR for yourself and for any family members. You pay all fees online. To pay your fees you need:

• An email address to set up a login and password,
• Access to a computer to save your receipt,
• Access to a printer (to print the receipt), and
• A credit card, Debit MasterCard® or Visa® Debit card.

When you are ready to pay:

• Go to Online Payment.
• Follow the instructions.
  • At the end, click on the button to print the IRCC official receipt with a barcode.
  • Print two copies.
  • Save a copy on your computer.
  • Email yourself a copy.
  • Attach a printed copy of this receipt to your application.
  • Keep the other copies of the receipt for your records.

Biometrics

If you have to give biometrics (such as fingerprints), after you have applied for permanent residency and paid your biometric fees, you will receive a Biometric Instruction Letter (BIL). This letter will tell you it is time to make an appointment to give biometrics. The letter will contain a link to designated Service Canada locations where you can go to give your biometrics in Canada and overseas.

Give your biometrics as soon as possible. Nothing happens with your application until you send them in.

Send in your application

You can apply and send in your forms through the online Permanent Residence Portal.

You can also send your paper application to IRCC by mail or courier:

Mailing address

Protected Persons in Canada application
Box 12153 STN A
Sydney, NS
B1P 0L1

Courier address

Protected Persons in Canada application
3050 Wilson Avenue
New Waterford, NS
B1H 5V8

Final steps

If you properly submitted the required information and documents for your PR application, you will receive a letter from IRCC that tells you if you are approved for PR. 

Your PR card will arrive in the mail. It is important to keep your address updated with IRCC so you do not miss this letter!

Sometimes, IRCC asks to interview you. They may want you to confirm facts or send them more information. Once IRCC has what they need, you could also obtain your PR status at a final interview.

Can I lose my status in Canada after I get refugee protection?

IRCC or CBSA may apply to the IRB-RPD to have your Convention Refugee or Protected Person status taken away.

You can lose your status in Canada because an IRCC or CBSA Minister:

• believes that you gave evidence that is not true or that you hid important facts.
• believes that you have received protection or citizenship in another country. The reasons for this may include:
  • You chose to accept the protection of your country. You may have renewed or applied for a passport from your country, used your old passport, or traveled to your country.
  • You lost citizenship in your country and then chose to reapply for it after getting refugee status in Canada.
  • You got citizenship (and protection) in a new country.
  • You chose to return to live in your country.
• believes that the reasons you asked for protection are now gone and you are no longer in danger in your country. In this case, you may be able to show there are still serious reasons why you cannot go back.

If IRCC or CBSA has reasons to believe these, the IRB-RPD may ask you to come to a hearing.

Keep your refugee status in Canada

There are a number of ways to protect your refugee status in Canada:

Use of passport and travel:

• Do not apply for or renew a passport from your former country (or countries). 
• Do not use your old passport to travel to any country for any purpose.
• If you need to travel, apply for a Refugee Travel Document.
• Do not visit your former country or countries.

Maintaining credibility throughout your refugee claim process:

• Make sure that everything you say or give to the IRB-RPD for your refugee hearing is true and fully accurate.
• Do not exaggerate or downplay evidence.
• Do not hide any important and relevant information about your claim from the IRB-RPD.
• Do not take legal advice from unqualified people or from anyone who tells you to lie.

Citizenship:

• Think carefully before applying for citizenship in another country because it may jeopardize your ability to stay in Canada.
• Apply for Canadian citizenship as soon as you can. Before you apply, talk with a legal representative.

Criminal activity:

• Do not commit a crime. For some serious crimes, Canada can remove a refugee claimant, a protected person, or even a permanent resident. If you are involved in criminal court, let your lawyer know your immigration status. Ask your criminal and immigration lawyers how being found guilty might affect your status. Ask your criminal lawyer to contact your immigration lawyer so they can both assist you.

Eligibility for Appeal

Most refugee claimants can appeal (ask for a review) to the IRB-RAD if their refugee claim is rejected by the IRB-RPD. The IRB-RAD will tell you if you can appeal.

You may not be able to appeal to the IRB-RAD namely if:

• You withdrew or abandoned your refugee claim.
• Your negative IRB-RPD decision says that your claim has no credible basis or is untrue.
• You entered Canada from the United States land border through one of the exceptions under the Safe Third Country Agreement.
• You are a designated foreign national.
• IRB-RPD took away your refugee protection after giving it to you.

If you are not allowed to appeal to the IRB-RAD, you may file a Judicial Review application to the Federal Court of Canada to review your claim. Ask a lawyer what steps you should take.

Start your Notice of Appeal

To start the appeal process, you must:

• Complete your Notice of Appeal form.
• List everyone who is appealing or do a separate Notice of Appeal for each person.
• Mail three copies or email one copy of your Notice of Appeal​ to the registry of the IRB-RAD.

If you have a legal representative they can help you submit your Notice of Appeal. 

After you send in the Notice of Appeal form, you will receive an Acknowledgement Letter. This letter will tell you the date when you must file the next part of your appeal, called the Appellant’s Record. It will also tell you the IRB-RAD registry office and contact information where you should send it, and will explain what will happen next.

Complete your Appellant’s record

The Appellant’s record is an important part of your appeal. In your Appellant’s Record you will explain why you do not agree with the IRB-RPD decision. This is your chance to show what mistakes you think were made in the decision.

For your appellant’s record, you must:

• Fill in an Appellant’s Record form.
• Follow the instructions in the Appellant’s Guide about what documents and information must be included in your Appellant’s Record.
• Send the following documents, in this order:
  • A written transcript of your IRB-RPD hearing, if you want to use this to support your appeal. This is not required. If you want to include a transcript, you or your legal representative will have to pay for it to be created from the recording of the hearing you received with your IRB-RPD decision. You also need to send a statement that the transcript that you are relying on is accurate, signed by the person who made it.
  • Any evidence the IRB-RPD did not allow during or after your refugee hearing.
  • A written statement saying:
    • Whether you are including new evidence that did not exist or was not available to you when your claim was rejected,
    • Whether you are asking for a hearing to be held at the IRB-RAD, and
    • Whether you will need an interpreter if a hearing is set.
  • Any other documents that support your appeal.
  • Any law, case law, or other legal documents that support your appeal.
  • A memorandum document that describes:
    • The mistakes made by the IRB-RPD that you want the IRB-RAD to review.
    • Where to find these mistakes in the IRB-RPD document or in the recording or transcript of the hearing.
    • The decision you want the IRB-RAD to make.
• Review the IRB-RAD Appeal Checklist before sending in your Appellant’s Record.
• Mail two copies or email one pdf digital copy of your Appellant’s Record to the IRB-RAD.

Make sure you mail your appeal documents to the correct IRB-RAD registry office. If you aren’t sure, check the IRB-RAD address on your appeal acknowledgement letter.

IRB-RAD decision

When the IRB-RAD Member makes a decision on your appeal they can:

• Reject your appeal,
• Decide to give you refugee protection, or
• Send your claim back to a different Member at the IRB-RPD for a new hearing.

The IRB-RAD will send you their decision and their reasons in the mail. They also send a copy of the decision to IRCC and CBSA.

If your IRB-RAD appeal is approved

If the IRB-RAD decides to approve your appeal, you are a protected person and can apply for permanent residence.

If your IRB-RAD appeal is rejected

If the IRB-RAD rejects your appeal, you may apply to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the IRB-RAD’s decision. If you do not file an application for Judicial Review before the Federal Court within 15 days of the refusal, CBSA could try to remove you from Canada. If you do file an application for Judicial Review on time, you do not have to leave Canada.

You might be able to apply to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Understand Judicial Review

A judicial review means a Federal Court judge will look at the IRB-RPD or IRB-RAD rejection of your claim or appeal. If the judge decides the Member made a legal mistake, they send your claim back to the IRB-RPD. A different IRB-RPD Member will make a new decision.

You may be able to apply for judicial review if:

• You are not allowed to appeal to the IRB-RAD.
• The IRB-RAD rejects your appeal.

Get legal representation

Judicial Reviews are very complicated. If you want to file an Application for Judicial Review, get an experienced lawyer as soon as possible. Other types of legal representatives (such as an immigration consultant) are not allowed to represent you in Federal Court.

In some cases, you might be able to get legal aid or pro bono representation. 

Stay in Canada

Whether you are eligible to stay in Canada depends on the IRB decision you want reviewed.

• If you are asking for an IRB-RAD decision to be reviewed:
  • You can stay in Canada until the Federal Court makes a decision.
• If you are asking for an IRB-RPD decision to be reviewed:
  • You may need to leave Canada. If CBSA tries to remove you before the judicial review, you can ask for an “administrative stay of removal.”

Start your application

To apply for judicial review, you need permission (called leave) from a Federal Court judge.  You must show that the decision on your refugee claim was not fair or reasonable, or that there was an error in the decision.

To start your application for judicial review, you must:

• Submit an Application for Leave within 15 days of getting your Notice of Decision from either the IRB-RPD or IRB-RAD.
• Submit an Application Record within 30 days of submitting your Application for Leave. Your Application Record is where you explain the legal reasons why you do not agree with the decision. 

A judge looks over your documents and decides if you can get a full judicial review of your claim. If you cannot, your application is denied and your file will be closed.

If you are allowed to have a judicial review, the judge will set a date for a hearing. The hearing is the chance for your lawyer to speak to the judge about your claim.

Get your decision

You may get the judge’s decision on the day of the hearing or later.

• If the judge agrees with the IRB-RPD or IRB-RAD decision and says there was a legal mistake or a factual error, you may need to leave Canada. Discuss next steps with your lawyer if you have not done so already.
• If the judge decides the IRB-RPD or IRB-RAD Member made a legal mistake or a factual error, the judge can send your claim back to the IRB-RPD. A different IRB-RPD Member will make a new decision. This does not always mean that your refugee claim will be approved.

Who can apply

CBSA will tell you if you can apply for a PRRA. You cannot just decide to apply for one. CBSA will provide you with a Notification Regarding a PRRA. This explains your right to complete a PRRA and the deadlines when you need to complete it by. Read this notice carefully.

Remaining in Canada

You may wonder if you can stay in Canada while your PRRA application is being decided.

If this is your first PRRA application, you will be allowed to stay in Canada while your PRRA application is being decided. To make sure you can stay in Canada, be careful to meet the deadlines in the Notification Regarding a PRRA.

You will not be allowed to stay in Canada if:

• You miss the PRRA application deadline.
• This is not your first PRRA application.
• You are applying for a PRRA from a Port of Entry (POE).

How to apply

CBSA will give you an application form and instruction guide. Fill in the Application for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment form. Any family members in Canada who are 18 years of age or older must do their own form. 

Check the deadline for this application form on your Notification Regarding a PRRA. Usually you must send this form to IRCC within 15 days of receiving the notification form. 

The next step is to prepare and submit written documents (submissions) that describe your situation. This is your chance to explain why you think you would be at risk if sent back to your country. You must send these documents to IRCC within 30 days of receiving the PRRA notification form.

In these submissions, it is important that you clearly answer the following questions:

• Why would I be at risk if I was returned to the country?
• What kind of risks would I face and why?
• How are these risks tied to me personally?
• Can I move to another part of the country?
• Does everyone else in the country have the same risk?

You can include evidence to support your submissions. These are documents that show you are at risk in your country. Some examples are:

• Newspaper articles describing the situation in your country
• Legal documents
• Police documents
• Medical documents
• Written testimonies
• Personal letters

If your refugee claim or an earlier PRRA application was rejected, you are not allowed to include evidence that you have already submitted to support your refugee claim. You are only allowed to give new evidence. This is evidence you got after the rejection, or that you could not get earlier for a good reason.

Submit your application and documents

Submit your completed PRRA application form, written documents (submissions) and evidence by mail to the IRCC office on your Notification Regarding a PRRA. You can also submit your PRRA application through Canada Post’s Connect service. Pay close attention to the deadlines on this notice. 

After you apply

IRCC will look at your PRRA application and make a decision. 

IRCC usually makes the decision just by looking at the application forms and documents you have provided. Sometimes IRCC will ask you to come to a hearing if they have questions to ask you. If you need to attend a hearing IRCC will send you a notice with the time, date, location, and issues they want to discuss.

Your application is accepted

If your PRRA application is accepted, you usually become a protected person. This means you can apply for permanent residence.

Your application is not accepted

If your PRRA application is rejected, you must leave Canada.

You can apply to the Federal Court of Canada for a judicial review. You will still have to leave Canada unless you obtain an administrative stay of removal or ask the court for a temporary stay of removal.

Who can apply

Before you can make an H&C application, you have to wait for 12 months after the IRB-RPD or IRB-RAD reject your refugee claim. You also normally have to wait 12 months if you withdraw or abandon your refugee claim.

You may not have to wait to apply if you can show:

• It would not be in the best interests of a child (under 18 year of age) for you to leave Canada, or
• Your life (or the life of one of your dependants) would be at risk because of a lack of health care if you return to your home country.

Be aware, some people are not allowed to make an H&C application. You cannot apply for H&C if:

• You have a refugee claim in process.
• You were told you are a designated foreign national at some point within the last 5 years.

Remaining in Canada

While you wait for the decision on your H&C application, you could be removed from Canada.

You may be able to stay in Canada if you are waiting for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) decision.

If you have been given a date you must leave Canada, talk to your lawyer about asking to postpone your removal or asking for a stay of removal before the Federal Court.

Things to consider before you apply

Applying for H&C is an exceptional measure. This means it is not simply another way of applying for permanent resident status in Canada. You are responsible for clearly showing that you should be granted an exception to apply for permanent residency in Canada.

Keep in mind that IRCC considers a number of factors when deciding your H&C application, including:

• How settled you are in Canada

You must show that you have created a life in Canada. This includes: the amount of time you have lived in Canada, your language skills, your efforts to improve education and skills, your ties to family members living in Canada, and any volunteer, education, employment and financial contributions.

• Any impact on children

You must show that your child(ren), or children you support in Canada or overseas, would be negatively impacted if you are removed from Canada. This includes: the child’s emotional, social, cultural and physical wellbeing, and the child’s relationship to other family members in Canada. 

• Potential for hardships or health risks in your country.

You must show that you will experience hardships if you return to your country.  This could mean that you cannot get important medical treatments or that you are facing discrimination or bad treatment. You can also include other difficulties that you did not present at your refugee hearing.

How to apply

The H&C Application must now be made online through the PR portal or the Authorized Representative Permanent Residence (PR) Portal. If you can’t apply online, for example because of a disability, you can ask the IRCC to send you the application form in paper or other format. 

Use this checklist to gather all of the forms and documents you need to complete to support your application. 

You must send evidence that supports what you say in your application. For example, you might have documents related to the difficulty you face in your country or the best interests of a child. 

If you do not include all the required forms and documents, your application will not be processed and returned back to you by IRCC.

After you apply

You can update your application right up until you get a decision.

If you completed your application properly your application will be processed. You may be asked to have an interview, confirm information, or give more details.

If your application was incomplete, or you did not send the proper payment, it will be sent back with instructions.

You will be told in writing if your application is approved or refused. If you are approved, information will be included in the decision about your next steps to become a permanent resident (such as a medical exam and background checks).

Discuss next steps with your lawyer.