Specialized Immigration Needs: Refusals, Status, Inadmissibility and PR Issues

Some situations need a process other than a standard application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): seeing the officer's notes, answering concerns, responding to a refusal, fixing a lapse in status, overcoming a criminal record or past removal, or keeping permanent resident status after time abroad.

These rules come mainly from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and its Regulations (IRPR). Access to your file comes from the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act. Residency appeals go to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), and judicial review goes to the Federal Court.

Likely a good fit if:

• IRCC refused your application, or sent a letter raising concerns.
• Your visitor, work or student status expired.
• You have a conviction, a past removal order or another inadmissibility.
• You are a permanent resident with an expiring PR card or long periods outside Canada.
• An IRCC document has an error or was lost.
• You want to work remotely from Canada for a foreign employer.

Look at other options if:

• You want a new visa or permit: see the Visitor, Work permits and Study pages.
• You are making a refugee claim: see the IRB and protection page.
• You want to sponsor family or appeal a sponsorship refusal: see Family sponsorship.

Officers record notes and decisions in IRCC's Global Case Management System (GCMS). Since July 29, 2025, IRCC sends an officer decision note with the refusal letter for most temporary resident applications (visas, visitor records, study and work permits), and since May 26, 2026 for most permanent residence applications. Notes are not provided for eTAs, temporary resident permits or humanitarian and compassionate applications, and IRCC may remove sensitive parts.

For your full file, you have two routes. A Privacy Act request for your own information is free, and anyone can make one, wherever they live. An Access to Information Act request costs $5 and can only be made by Canadian citizens, permanent residents and people or corporations in Canada; a representative in Canada uses it for a client who is abroad.

1. 1

   Add consent if someone requests for you

   Include form IMM 5744 for each person on the file aged 18 or older (Access to Information Act) or 16 or older (Privacy Act).

2. 2

   Submit the request

   Use IRCC's Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request tool, or mail form IMM 5563 or a letter that names the Act and describes the records.

3. 3

   Wait for the response

   Both laws give IRCC 30 days to respond. IRCC can extend this, and warns that high volumes may delay responses.

A procedural fairness letter explains an officer's concern that could lead to a refusal and invites you to respond before the decision. IRCC's instructions require that applicants learn the decision-maker's concerns and get a meaningful chance to respond, for example when the officer relies on information from other sources or new concerns arise after an interview. The letter must convey the essence of the concern, though not necessarily the documents behind it.

The letter states your deadline and how to reply. IRCC's guidance says that when an applicant is given a set period, such as 30 days, no negative decision should be made before it ends.

Read your refusal letter with the officer decision note. IRPA has no formal appeal for temporary residence refusals, so your options are below.

Reapplying: you can apply again at any time unless the letter says otherwise. IRCC advises doing so only if your situation has changed or you have new information that addresses the refusal reasons. The same application again, even through a representative, will likely be refused.

Reconsideration: an informal, free request asking IRCC to reopen its decision, sent to the visa office or through IRCC's web form. The officer has discretion. IRCC's examples of justified cases include a breach of procedural fairness or a clerical error; disagreement alone is not enough. It does not stop the judicial review clock.

Judicial review: the Federal Court reviews whether the decision was unreasonable, wrong in law or unfair. Under section 72 of IRPA, you first ask the Court for leave within 15 days (decision in Canada) or 60 days (outside Canada) after you learn of it. A judge may extend the time for special reasons. You must first use any appeal right, such as an IAD appeal. In the Federal Court you may act for yourself or use a lawyer; immigration consultants cannot appear there. IRCC asks applicants to state they have not received the reasons, even with a decision note, so the Court can request the full reasons.

Under section 182 of IRPR, a visitor, worker or student who lost status, most often because their stay ended before they applied to extend it, may apply to restore it if they:

• apply within 90 days of losing status (online, before midnight Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, on the last day)
• met the requirements of their stay (for example, did not work without authorization)
• met the conditions on their permit, and are not a TRP holder

Visitors use form IMM 5708; workers and students restore status and apply for a new permit at the same time. Each family member applies and pays separately. You may stay in Canada while waiting, but normally cannot work until restored. A student who did not stay enrolled or actively study cannot be restored as a student. After 90 days, you must leave and apply from outside Canada; workers with an open work permit support letter from a participating province are an exception.

A TRP (section 24 of IRPA) lets a foreign national who is inadmissible, or who does not meet IRPA requirements (for example, after overstaying or working without a permit), enter or stay temporarily. You must not hold temporary resident status and must have a compelling reason that, in the officer's view, outweighs the health or safety risks to Canadians, even for a minor inadmissibility.

A TRP does not permanently overcome inadmissibility and can be cancelled at any time. It lasts at most 3 years and ends if you leave Canada without authorization to re-enter. Applicants do not have maintained status. With a TRP valid for at least 6 months you can apply in Canada for a work or study permit. Victims of trafficking or family violence pay no fee. Some holders may become permanent residents after 3 or 5 years of continuous residence as permit holders.

After a removal order is enforced, section 52 of IRPA bars your return without authorization. Whether you need an ARC depends on the order:

• Departure order: no ARC if you left within 30 days with a Certificate of Departure. If you did not leave in time or did not confirm your departure with a border officer, you need one; an order not enforced within 30 days becomes a deportation order.
• Exclusion order: an ARC is needed to return within 1 year (5 years for misrepresentation) or without a Certificate of Departure.
• Deportation order: an ARC is always needed.
• Direction to Leave Canada: not a removal order; no ARC needed.

Apply with a letter in English or French explaining in detail why you should be allowed to return, plus proof of the ARC fee, usually alongside a visa, permit or PR application. Removal orders are enforced by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and you must also resolve any inadmissibility or ask for a TRP.

Crimes committed outside Canada, including theft, assault and impaired driving, can make you inadmissible. You may still enter if you are deemed rehabilitated, approved for individual rehabilitation, hold a valid record suspension or have a TRP. Canadian convictions need a record suspension from the Parole Board of Canada.

Deemed rehabilitation needs no application, but an officer must be satisfied you meet every condition. Individual rehabilitation is decided by the Minister or a delegate: you must show you are highly unlikely to reoffend. The sentence includes probation. If you need an eTA, apply for rehabilitation first. Processing can take over a year.

Your PR card, usually valid for 5 years, proves your status. Renew it when it expires in less than 9 months or has expired; earlier applications are returned unless your name or gender changed. You must be physically present in Canada and meet the residency obligation. Apply in the Permanent Residence Portal. Urgent processing takes at least 3 weeks.

If your card is lost or stolen in Canada, apply for a new one, with a police report number if you have one. If IRCC made a mistake on your card, it reissues it free if you ask within 60 days of receiving it.

Outside Canada without a valid card, you need a permanent resident travel document (PRTD) to return by plane, boat, train or bus. IRCC checks the residency obligation, processes PRTDs on priority and normally issues them for one entry.

Section 28 of IRPA requires 730 days in Canada in every five-year period, not necessarily continuous. Days abroad also count while accompanying a Canadian citizen spouse, partner or parent, or while working full-time for a Canadian business or public service (or accompanying a permanent resident spouse or parent who does). Humanitarian and compassionate factors, including a child's best interests, can overcome a breach.

If an officer outside Canada finds you did not comply, for example when refusing a PRTD, you can appeal to the IAD (section 63(4) of IRPA). The IAD must receive your notice of appeal and decision letter within 60 days after you receive the decision. For a removal order made in Canada, the limit is 30 days. The IAD can allow an appeal for legal or factual error, unfairness, or humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

IRCC corrects, for free, errors its officials made on a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (CoPR), Record of Landing, protected person document, or a valid visitor record, work permit, study permit or TRP (Guide 5218). Names, date and country of birth, citizenship and gender identifier can be fixed with evidence. Details that changed later are not errors: a temporary document follows your entry passport, so a new passport means a new document, and expired documents are not amended. A name or gender change that is not an IRCC error costs a fee. CoPR corrections are issued as a Verification of Status.

A lost or stolen valid visitor record, work permit, study permit or TRP can be replaced with a police report number (Guide 5545). A Verification of Status (VOS) is a plain paper record of your immigration history, such as your date of entry. It is not an identity or travel document.

Paragraph 205(b) of IRPR allows an employer-specific work permit without a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) when the job creates or maintains similar jobs abroad for Canadians (code C20). Exchanges need not be one-for-one but should be of similar size each year. IRCC updated its C20 instructions three times in 2026; on August 13 it removed a July 29 requirement that the worker already work for the organization abroad. The Work permits page covers other LMIA-exempt routes.

Canada has no digital nomad visa. Under IRCC's guidance, someone working remotely for a foreign employer, or self-employed with clients only outside Canada, needs only visitor status, for up to 6 months at a time. You must still meet visitor requirements and prove your income is earned entirely outside Canada, for example with an employment letter, pay stubs, client contracts, tax documents and bank statements. To stay longer, apply for a visitor record. You need a work permit before working for a Canadian employer unless exempt under section 186 of IRPR.

You do not need a representative; IRCC treats everyone equally and its forms are free. Some applicants prepare their own file and have a licensed representative review it. Under section 91 of IRPA, only lawyers, Quebec notaries, paralegals licensed by a law society and College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) licensees may be paid for immigration advice.

Education assistance means help choosing a designated learning institution (DLI) and applying for admission; a DLI acceptance letter is required for a study permit. Under section 18 of the CICC Code of Professional Conduct, a consultant who also recruits students must disclose any fees the school pays them for it. Caps and attestation letters are covered on the Study page.

Most IRCC processing fees are not refunded once processing starts. Live processing times for PR card renewals, visitor records and work permit extensions appear below. Rehabilitation can take over a year.

• Missing a deadline, such as the 90-day restoration window (IRPR section 182) or the judicial review limit (IRPA section 72).
• Seeking restoration after working or studying without authorization.
• Reapplying with the same information without addressing the refusal reasons.
• Answering a procedural fairness letter without addressing the concern or adding documents.
• Requesting a TRP without a compelling reason.
• Applying for rehabilitation before 5 years have passed since the end of the full sentence.
• PR card or PRTD applications without proof of 730 qualifying days.
• Remote workers who cannot show their income comes from outside Canada.