Appeal to the Immigration and Refugee Board – Refugee Appeal Division (IRB-RAD)

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.