1. Find out if you can appeal to the IAD

In some cases, when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) refuses a sponsorship application, you cannot appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board.

If IRCC says you cannot sponsor

When you completed the sponsorship application form, you had to decide what you’d do if IRCC said you could not be a sponsor. If you said you would withdraw your application, this means that you don’t have the right to appeal to the IAD.

If you applied to sponsor a spouse or partner living in Canada

You don’t have the right to appeal to the IAD if you applied to sponsor your partner through the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class.

You can apply to the Federal Court to ask for a judicial review of the decision. You must do this within 15 days.

You’ll need to get legal advice about your options.

If IRCC says your relative or family member is inadmissible

If IRCC decides that your relative or family member is inadmissible to Canada, they’ll refuse the application. In some cases, you will not have the right to appeal that decision to the IAD.

Security, human rights, and organized crime

You don’t have a right to appeal to the IAD if IRCC decides that someone is inadmissible to Canada for:

• security reasons
• violations of human or international rights
• involvement in organized crime

Criminal activity

You don’t have a right to appeal to the IAD, if the person who applies for permanent resident status is inadmissible to Canada because they have:

• been convicted of a crime in Canada and sentenced to 6 months or more in prison or jail
• committed or been convicted of a crime outside Canada that in Canada could be punished by 10 or more years in prison

A crime committed outside Canada counts only if it’s also a crime in Canada. The law about this is complicated.

Misrepresentation

A person who applies for permanent resident status must:

• give information that’s true and correct, and
• give all of the information they’re required to give.

If they don’t do this, it’s called misrepresentation. And IRCC can say that they’re inadmissible to Canada.

If IRCC refuses your sponsorship application because of misrepresentation, you can appeal to the IAD only if you applied to sponsor your spouse, common-law partner, or child.

The IAD can consider humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds or reasons that your family member’s application for permanent residence should proceed. These reasons include information about the hardship for you and your family member if you were permanently separated. 

If you cannot appeal to the IAD

Your options might include:

• finding another IRCC program that your relative or family member can apply to
• gathering new evidence that can help you re-apply to sponsor your relative or family member
• having your relative or family member take steps to deal with being inadmissible for criminal activity
• asking the Federal Court to review the decision

An immigration lawyer can tell you which options are available in your situation.