Legal Help
Immigration and Refugee Board
The IRB is Canada’s largest independent administrative tribunal, and it deals with matters in regard to various refugee and immigration appeals. The IRB is made up of the following four divisions:
Immigration Division (ID)
The Immigration Division conducts admissibility hearings for certain categories of people believed to be inadmissible to, or removable from, Canada under the law. It also conducts detention reviews for most persons being detained under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Immigration Appeal Division (IAD)
The IAD hears appeals on immigration-related matters, including sponsorships, removal orders and residency obligations.
Refugee Protection Division (RPD)
The RPD hears and decides claims for refugee protection made in Canada in keeping with the international Geneva Convention, as implemented through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
The Refugee Appeal Division(RAD) decides appeals from decisions of the RPD to allow or reject claims for refugee protection.
Immigration Appeals
Immigration appeals are heard by the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the IRB. The IAD hears appeals in regard to sponsorship, removal order and residency obligation appeals.
- Sponsorship Appeals: If the application of a Canadian Citizen or Permanent resident to sponsor a spouse or close family member has been refused.
- Removal Order Appeals: If you are a permanent resident of Canada, refugee or foreign national with a visa and have been ordered removed from Canada.
- Residency Obligation Appeals: If you have not met the residency obligation in that you are required to be present in Canada for 730 days out of every five (5) years, you will not meet your residency requirement and, as a result, will be subject to removal.
Detention Review Hearings
If a CBSA officer feels that a person is a danger to the public, will not show up for further hearings, examination or removal and has not established his/her identity, a detention review hearing will have to take place for the ID to determine whether the person should be detained.
The initial review hearing will take place within 48 hours of the person’s detention. The second review will take place at least once during the seven-day period following the first detention review and subsequent reviews will take place at least once during each 30-day period following previous reviews.
Refugee Protection Division Applications (RPD)
The Refugee Protection Division of the IRB deals with claims for refugee protection. If you are a person in need of protection who would be subject to torture, risk of life or risk of cruel and unusual punishment if you are returned to your home country, you may apply to the RPD. Gold Coast will assist you with the process from helping you fill out the Basis of Claim (BOC) form, submitting the required pertinent documentation to support your claim, as well as represent you at the hearing.
Refugee Appeal Division (RAD)
If your application to the RPD has been refused, the last division in the IRB is the Refugee Appeal Division. Appeals to the RAD are generally from refugee claimants whose claims were negatively determined by the RPD. Under s.110(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Minister can also appeal a member’s decision on a question of law, question of fact or a question of mixed law and fact.
Most RAD appeals will be heard by a single member via paper review or, in exceptional cases, an oral hearing.
Inadmissibility
If a CBSA officer determines that you are inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act under the following grounds: security, criminality, serious criminality, health reasons, financial reasons, inadmissible family member, cessation of refugee protection, failure to comply with the IRPA or misrepresentation, you may appeal to the Immigration Division of the IRB.
H&C Applications
An H&C application is an application for permanent residence in Canada. In general, people must apply for permanent residence from outside Canada. In some cases, it is possible to ask IRCC to make an exception to this rule. An H&C application asks IRCC to allow the applicant to apply for permanent residence in Canada for humanitarian and compassionate reasons.
There are 2 stages of approval. A successful applicant will be:
- allowed to apply for permanent residence in Canada for humanitarian and compassionate reasons (“approval-in-principle”), and
- approved for permanent resident status in Canada.
Factors that may impact the outcome of the H&C application are:
- best interest of any child(ren) directly involved;
- how established or settled the applicant(s) is/are in Canada;
- their ties to Canada, including family ties;
- what would happen if family members were separated;
- their physical health or mental health concerns;
- the impact on their lives of family violence they have experienced or will experience if they have to return to their home country; and
- hardship or difficulties they might face if they were sent back to their own country.
Residency Obligation
Canada’s residency obligation for permanent residents requires a person to be physically present inside of Canada for at least 730 days within a five-year period, or to meet one of the following situations:
- The person is outside of Canada accompanying a Canadian citizen who is their spouse or common-law partner, or the person is a child accompanying their parent;
- The person is outside of Canada employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a Canadian province;
- The person is an accompanying spouse, common-law partner, or child of a permanent resident who is outside Canada and is employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business or in the public service of Canada or of a Canadian province; and
- If you have not met the residency obligation in that you are required to be present in Canada for 730 days out of every five (5) years, you will not meet your residency requirement and, as a result, will be subject to removal.
Temporary Resident Permit
A TRP is issued at the discretion of a Canadian Immigration Official and permits an individual to enter Canada legally for a certain period of time, despite the fact that the individual is in fact inadmissible. The individual may be inadmissible due to health or criminality reasons. The TRP temporarily excuses the individual’s inadmissibility so that he or she may enter Canada. It can be valid for as short as a couple of days up to a maximum of three years.
Removal Orders
A removal order is issued when someone is convicted of breaching the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in Canada. If you have committed a crime or are in Canada fraudulently, you could be issued a removal order.
There are three types of Removal Orders issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). These are Departure Orders, Exclusion Orders and Deportation Orders. The form number on the Removal Order indicates what type of order you received.
Departure Order – you must leave Canada within 30 days after the order takes effect.
It is imperative that you confirm your departure with the CBSA at your port of exit. If you leave Canada and fail to advise CBSA, you may not be able to return to Canada in the future provided you meet the entry requirements at that time.
If you leave Canada after 30 days or do not confirm your departure with the CBSA, your Departure Order will automatically become a Deportation Order. In order to return to Canada in the future, you must obtain an Authorization to Return to Canada(ARC).
Exclusion Order – you will not be able to return to Canada for one year.
If you do wish to return before the 12 months have passed, you must apply for an authorization to return.
If an exclusion order has been issued for misrepresentation, you cannot return to Canada for five years.
If the CBSA paid for your removal from Canada, you must repay that cost.
Deportation Order – you are permanently barred from returning to Canada and cannot return unless you apply for an
If the CBSA paid for your removal from Canada, you must also repay that cost before you are eligible to return.
Authorization to Return
If you have been issued a removal order, it means that you are no longer able to stay in Canada. Depending on the nature of your removal, you may be barred from re-entering Canada for a period of time or forever, without first receiving the proper documentation.
The document that you may require is called an Authorization to Return to Canada. If you have been issued an exclusion order and wish to return prior to the imposed bars or if you have been issued a deportation order, you will definitely require an Authorization to Return to Canada.
Notarization of Documents
As a notary public, one is designated as a public official, recognized worldwide, having several powers. One is to attest to the authenticity of a true copy of a document, or notarial copy. The second is to provide services of a commissioner of oaths with the addition that most jurisdictions require a notary to attest that the document meets the required construction as to legality.
The notary designation means there is a database maintained from which authorities worldwide may validate the authenticity of the notary’s mark.
Commissioning of Documents
If you require a document to be commissioned, we are provincially designated officials, with powers to verify that you, as the affiant/declarant, have confirmed the truth of your statement in the document, thus making us as commissioner a witness to both the identity of you being the affiant/declarant and your confirmation of the veracity of the statement.