You only have 30 days after receiving the refusal letter to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD). If you have received a refusal letter, contact us immediately.
If you have missed the 30-day appeal window, we may be able to help.
Want to Sponsor Your Spouse or Appeal a Sponsorship Refusal?
We’re available and we offer free consultations.
Who Can and Cannot Appeal?
The appeal option is available to the Sponsor of the refused application. The appeal must be brought by a Canadian permanent resident or citizen. The option to appeal is not available directly to the applicant.
Appeals to the IAD are not allowed if the applicant was found inadmissible on the following grounds:
- Serious criminality, which is defined as having:
- Organized crime
- Security grounds
- Violations of human or international rights, or
- Misrepresentation
Spousal Sponsorship Appeal
Spousal Sponsorship applications may be refused for a variety of reasons, often because Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is not convinced that your relationship to the application is genuine or it was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring immigration status.
Depending on the specifics of your file, reasons for refusal and current appeal timelines it can be beneficial to file a new application. Alternatively, in some circumstances, an appeal to the IAD can be either the fastest and/or best method for addressing a Sponsorship application refusal.
Some of the key questions that arise is assessing a Spousal Sponsorship application are:
- How did you meet your spouse or partner and how did your relationship develop?
- How long have you known your spouse or partner? How well do you know each other?
- Do your friends and family know about your relationship?
- How did you get married? If you live common-law, how did you arrange to live together? If you are conjugal partners, what is the nature of your relationship?
- What do you and your spouse or partner plan for your future together?
Parental Sponsorship Appeal
Unlike Spousal sponsorship refusals, the genuineness of relationship is not normally a reason for Parental Sponsorship refusals. Often Parental Sponsorship applications are refused if IRCC decided that you (and your co-signer if you have one) do not have the income required to sponsor a parent or grandparent.
We can also help you by proving that there are sufficient humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds for your appeal, even if you did not have the minimum necessary income + 30% when you applied to sponsor.
How We Can Help
If you’ve received a Sponsorship Refusal, we can immediately file a Notice of Appeal (NOA). Once the appeal is started, we will work with you to gather any and all documents required to address the concerns raised by IRCC.
Furthermore, we will help you and the applicant prepare for the IAD hearing and work with you to prepare, produce or call any witnesses that establish the genuineness of the relationship, or your ability to support the applicant.