Family class sponsorship refused
- Who appeals
- The sponsor in Canada
- Deadline to file
- 30 days
- Provision
- IRPA s. 63(1)
The Immigration Appeal Division
The Immigration Appeal Division is a tribunal, not a court, and that difference is why it is often the better forum. It can hear new evidence, and it can allow an appeal on compassionate grounds even where the decision under appeal was legally correct.
About this work
What can you actually appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division?
Four things. A sponsorship refusal, where you sponsored a family member and their permanent residence application was refused. A removal order made under subsection 44(2) or at an admissibility hearing, which a permanent resident or a protected person may appeal. A residency obligation decision, where you applied at a visa office abroad for a travel document and were refused. And a Minister's appeal, where the Immigration Division decided in your favour and the Minister of Public Safety appeals that decision, leaving you to respond.
The right of appeal comes from section 63 of the Act and is specific about who holds it. On a family class refusal it is the sponsor who appeals under subsection 63(1), not the applicant abroad. On a residency obligation refusal it is the permanent resident, under subsection 63(4).
A refusal outside those four categories has no appeal here at all. A visitor visa refusal, a study permit refusal and a work permit refusal go to the Federal Court instead, and the pages on refusals and judicial review set out that route.
The rule that decides more appeals than argument does
Sixty days from the appeal record, either way
The disclosure rule has two halves and only one of them is widely known. Missing the second half puts an appeal at risk of being declared abandoned before anybody has considered its merits.
Sixty days to disclose your documents
The clock runs from the day you receive the appeal record, not from filing and not from the hearing date. Under the rules before 14 January 2023 the limit was 20 days before the hearing, which is a different thing entirely, and older guidance still describes it.
The same sixty days to say you have none
A party who is not filing documents has to notify the Division within that period. This is the half that catches people, because doing nothing feels like the same thing as having nothing.
Rule 30 is the consequence
Where neither is done the Division may declare the appeal abandoned. The merits are never reached, and the route back is an application to reopen rather than a hearing.
Side by side
Which appeal is yours?
4 routes, each with its own clock
The four appeals run on different provisions, are brought by different people and carry different filing periods. Identifying which one you have is the first question.
| Who appeals | Deadline to file | Provision | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family class sponsorship refused | The sponsor in Canada | 30 days | IRPA s. 63(1) |
| Removal order against a permanent resident | The permanent resident | 30 days | IRPA s. 63(3) |
| Residency obligation, travel document refused abroad | The permanent resident | 60 days | IRPA s. 63(4) |
| Immigration Division decided in your favour | The Minister appeals, you respond | Set on the Minister | IRPA s. 63(5) |
Removal order against a permanent resident
- Who appeals
- The permanent resident
- Deadline to file
- 30 days
- Provision
- IRPA s. 63(3)
Residency obligation, travel document refused abroad
- Who appeals
- The permanent resident
- Deadline to file
- 60 days
- Provision
- IRPA s. 63(4)
Immigration Division decided in your favour
- Who appeals
- The Minister appeals, you respond
- Deadline to file
- Set on the Minister
- Provision
- IRPA s. 63(5)
The route
How does the process run?
5 stages, each with its own clock
The rule numbers below are the Immigration Appeal Division Rules, SOR/2022-277, in force since 14 January 2023 and replacing the 2002 Rules. The time limits changed with them, so guidance written before that date describes a different process.
01
File the notice of appeal
Rules 16(a) and 16(c)Within 30 days of receiving the refusal on a sponsorship or removal order appeal, and 60 days on a residency obligation appeal. The Division may extend a limit even after it has passed under rule 4(e), but the application has to be justified.
02
The appeal record arrives
60 or 30 daysThe Minister provides it within 60 days on a sponsorship or residency obligation appeal, and the Immigration Division or the Minister within 30 days on a removal order or Minister's appeal. Your own clock starts from receipt.
03
Disclose, or say you are not disclosing
Rules 24, 26 and 3060 days from receiving the record to provide your documents, or to notify the Division that you are providing none. Silence risks the appeal being declared abandoned.
04
Alternative dispute resolution, on some files
Rules 66 and 67A conference held for certain appeals only. What is discussed stays confidential, but documents provided for it are no longer confidential under the current rules and can be used later in the appeal.
05
Respond and prepare for hearing
Rules 27 and 55Documents answering the other party's evidence are due 30 days before the hearing. Witness information is due on the same 30 day limit and now has to include a brief statement of the purpose and substance of the testimony.
Before the meeting
What to bring to the first meeting
5 things to bring
Bring what you have and say what is missing. A meeting with the papers in front of it settles in one sitting what two telephone calls will not.
- ✓The refusal letter or the removal order, with the date you received it
- ✓The notice of appeal if one has been filed, and the appeal record if it has arrived
- ✓Any correspondence from the Division, including notices of hearing or of an ADR conference
- ✓For a sponsorship appeal, the application that was refused and the relationship evidence
- ✓For a removal order appeal, the conviction and sentence details, and the length of any sentence
Our approach
A clear path forward
The same four steps on every matter, whether it is a refusal at the Federal Court or a ticket at the Provincial Offences court.
Book a consultation01
Understand
We take the full history and read the documents before offering an opinion. Most bad advice comes from acting on half the facts.
02
Assess
You get a candid read on strength, timeline and cost, including when the honest answer is that you do not need to hire anyone.
03
Act
We prepare the application, the defence or the appeal properly the first time, because fixing a weak record later is harder and dearer.
04
Report
You hear from us at each stage, and you hear what a wait actually means rather than a date chosen to sound better.
Reported decisions
What has this work produced?
7 allowed of 22 reported since 2023
Public judgments of the Federal Court with Kapil Rathod as counsel of record, each checkable by citation on the court's own site. The rest were dismissed and are listed with these ones.
Super visa, parents and grandparents
Sharifi v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2026 FC 99Docket IMM-23381-24
Application allowedWork permit, Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Sing v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2026 FC 105Docket IMM-18690-24
Application allowedTemporary resident visa
Rehman v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2026 FC 805Docket IMM-20802-24
Application allowedPermanent residence, Express Entry
Goel v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2025 FC 275Docket IMM-1797-24
Application allowedWork permit, job offer
Sharma v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2024 FC 1928Docket IMM-6445-23
Application allowedStudy permit
Tandel v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2024 FC 1487Docket IMM-3700-23
Application allowedTemporary resident visa
Gill v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2024 FC 1453Docket IMM-10337-23
Application allowed
Where to go next
The Immigration Appeal Division hears sponsorship, removal order, residency obligation and Minister's appeals.
It can take new evidence and can allow an appeal on compassionate grounds, and its disclosure limits run from the appeal record rather than the hearing.
Common questions
What do people ask about Immigration Appeal Division?
7 answered here
Written to be read once and acted on rather than to be rung about. Each answer is complete where the law allows a complete answer.
Who has no right of appeal?
Section 64 removes it in defined situations, and the removal is absolute rather than discretionary. A permanent resident sentenced in Canada to a term of imprisonment of at least six months loses the appeal against a removal order under subsection 64(2).
Subsection 64(3) is narrower than it is usually quoted as being. It removes an appeal under subsection 63(1), which is the appeal a sponsor brings against a refused family class visa, and it keeps that appeal where the person refused is the sponsor's spouse, common-law partner or child. A permanent resident appealing a removal order does so under subsection 63(3), and subsection 64(3) does not reach it. The misrepresentation page works through both.
Where section 64 applies the file does not simply end. The Federal Court route survives, on leave, and it asks a different and narrower question than the Division would have.
The 60 day clock that ends appeals quietly
Filing the notice of appeal is the beginning. The Minister then has 60 days to provide the appeal record on a sponsorship or residency obligation appeal, and 30 days on a removal order or Minister's appeal.
From the day you receive that record you have 60 days to disclose the documents supporting your appeal, under rules 24(1) and 26. The part people miss is the other half of the same rule: if you are not providing documents, you have to tell the Division so, inside the same 60 days, under rule 24(2).
Doing neither has a defined consequence. Rule 30 allows the Division to declare the appeal abandoned. An appeal with real merit can be lost through silence at this stage, and this is the single most common way that happens.
What the Division can do that a court cannot
It can hear evidence that was never before the officer. A judicial review is decided on the record the decision maker had, and the Federal Court asks only whether that decision was reasonable and the process fair. The Division decides the matter again.
It can also allow an appeal on compassionate grounds. Paragraph 67(1)(c) lets it grant relief where, taking account of the best interests of a child directly affected, sufficient humanitarian and compassionate considerations justify it. That power reaches decisions that were correct in law.
On a removal order appeal it can stay the removal on conditions rather than allowing or dismissing outright, which keeps the person in Canada while the conditions run and brings the file back for review.
How long do I have to appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division?
Thirty days from receiving the decision on a sponsorship refusal or a removal order, and 60 days on a residency obligation decision made abroad. The periods are set by rules 16(a) and 16(c) of the Immigration Appeal Division Rules. The Division may extend a limit even after it has passed under rule 4(e), though the application to extend has to be justified and is easier the shorter the delay.
Can I bring new evidence to the Immigration Appeal Division?
Yes, and it is the main practical difference from the Federal Court. The Division decides the matter again rather than reviewing what the officer had, so evidence that did not exist or was never filed can be put before it. A judicial review is argued on the record the decision maker actually had.
What happens at an alternative dispute resolution meeting?
It is an informal conference held on certain files, aimed at resolving the appeal without a hearing. What is discussed there remains confidential. Documents provided for the conference are not confidential under the current rules and can be used later in the appeal, which is a change from the position before 14 January 2023.
What if I miss the disclosure deadline?
The Division may declare the appeal abandoned under rule 30, and where a late document is offered it must consider a defined set of factors before allowing its use under rule 29. Neither outcome is automatic, and the answer to a missed limit is to deal with it immediately rather than at the hearing.
Speak to someone this week
Bring the refusal or the removal order and the date you received it. Whether the Immigration Appeal Division has jurisdiction, and whether section 64 removed the right of appeal, decides everything that follows.
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