The Immigration Appeal Division or IAD is tasked with hearing appeals on all matters related to immigration involving permanent residents or Canadian citizens, including sponsorship appeals, residency obligation appeals and removal order appeals.
If your family sponsorship application got rejected, there’s still hope. You can follow these steps to appeal to the IAD.
How to Start A Family Sponsorship Appeal?
A Canadian citizen or permanent resident who filed the sponsorship application could appeal to the IAD if an IRCC officer rejected the application.
Step 1: Notice of Appeal
After receiving the rejection and the reason for rejection, you’ll have 30 days to appeal. You must submit a complete notice of appeal form and a copy of the IRCC rejection letter to the IAD office serving the territory where you live.
Step 2: Appeal Record
You’ll receive the appeal record from the IAD. It contains all the necessary information related to the refusal. The Minister provides all the records to the IAD and you or your counsel within 120 days.
Step 3: ADR Conference
The IAD may suggest an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) depending on the facts of the case. These meetings involve you, your counsel, the IAD officer and Minister’s Counsel to clarify issues and discuss the case to resolve.
Step 4: Hearing Date
If an ADR meeting doesn’t resolve the issue, it leads to an oral hearing. The oral hearing allows you to present the evidence and testify before the IAD panel.
If you have hired a legal representative, they’ll receive a Notice to Appear containing all the information for the hearing. If you haven’t, the IAD will directly contact you with a Notice to Appear to explain the process.
Step 5: Document Preparation
You must prepare all your documents at this point. Anything that can support your case and possible witnesses to strengthen the cause. Your documents must be in English or French and comply with disclosure package rules.
Send the copy of your documents to the IAD and Minster’s counsel no later than 20 days before the hearing.
Step 6: Hearing Day
Arrive ahead of time on hearing day. The appellant (you) is the first to testify and answer the questions posed by the Board Member, Minister’s representative and your counsel. After every witness is questioned, each party is given a chance to make final submission and argument.
Step 7: Final Decision
The members decide after the hearing. The member may either allow or dismiss the appeal. In case of approval, the IRCC will process your sponsorship application. In case it’s dismissed, the decision will remain the same.
Family sponsorship appeal can vary in complexity. It’s better to hire an experienced legal representative. Nanda & Associate Lawyers have a multilingual and brilliant team of lawyers who can help you with appeals for a rejected family sponsorship application. Book an appointment with us today!
Disclaimer: This post is only intended for educational purposes and shouldn’t be used as a substitute for legal advice.
