Appealing a Sponsorship Refusal to the IAD

01 What a Sponsorship Appeal Is

A sponsorship appeal is a way to challenge a decision by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to refuse the permanent residence application of a family member you sponsored. The appeal is decided by the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), an independent tribunal that is separate from IRCC.

The IAD hearing is a fresh consideration of your case (a hearing "de novo"). That means you can submit new documents and evidence that were not before the original visa officer, and you can give and call testimony. The IAD looks at whether the refusal was correct in law and, in many cases, whether there are humanitarian and compassionate reasons to allow the appeal even if the refusal was technically valid.

02 Who Can Appeal

Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the right to appeal a sponsorship refusal belongs to the sponsor — not the relative who was refused. In general, you can appeal if:

• you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada;
• you applied to sponsor a family member for permanent residence; and
• IRCC refused that family member's permanent resident visa application.

A right of appeal to the IAD does not exist for every kind of refusal — for example, refusals of temporary applications such as visitor visas or super visas cannot be appealed to the IAD, even when they involve family members. The next section covers the situations where an appeal is barred.

03 When There Is No Appeal

The law removes the right of appeal in certain cases. You cannot appeal to the IAD if the person you sponsored was found inadmissible to Canada on any of these grounds:

• Serious criminality — a crime punished in Canada by a prison sentence of six months or more, or a crime committed or convicted outside Canada that would be punishable in Canada by a maximum term of at least ten years;
• Organized criminality — for example, people smuggling or money laundering;
• Security grounds — for example, espionage, subversion, or terrorism;
• Violating human or international rights — for example, war crimes; and
• Sanctions — inadmissibility tied to sanctions provisions.

If your appeal is barred, other avenues may still exist — for example, an application for judicial review at the Federal Court of Canada, which reviews the decision for legal or procedural error rather than re-hearing the facts. A licensed representative can confirm whether you have a right of appeal or whether judicial review is the appropriate route.

04 The Deadline to File

A sponsorship appeal is started by filing a Notice of Appeal with the IAD, together with a copy of the IRCC refusal letter sent to the person you sponsored. You may also include additional documents that could help resolve the appeal.

If you miss the 30-day deadline, you must file a written application for an extension of time explaining the reasons for the delay; granting it is not guaranteed. Because the window is short, it is wise to act as soon as you receive the refusal. Keep your contact information current with the IAD — if you or your representative do not respond to the IAD's communications, the appeal can be declared abandoned or dismissed.

05 The IAD Process

The appeal generally moves through these stages:

06 What You Must Prove

What you have to establish depends on why the application was refused. As the appellant, you generally carry the burden, on a balance of probabilities (more likely than not). Common scenarios:

• Spouse / common-law / conjugal partner refusals. Where the refusal turns on the genuineness of the relationship, you must show that the relationship is genuine and was not entered into primarily to acquire an immigration status or privilege. Both parts must be satisfied.
• Eligibility and definition refusals. Where the issue is whether the applicant fits the family-class definition or meets a requirement, you show the legal requirement is in fact met — for example, with corrected or complete documents.
• Humanitarian & compassionate (H&C) relief. Even where the refusal was legally correct, the IAD may allow the appeal on H&C grounds — but only after it is first satisfied that you are a valid sponsor and the applicant is a member of the family class. H&C factors can include the best interests of any children directly affected, hardship, and family circumstances.

07 Possible Outcomes

An IAD appeal can end in one of the following ways:

08 Frequently Asked Questions