A refusal is not always the end of the road, but the right next step depends on why you were refused and on strict deadlines. Start by reading the reasons carefully.
1. Find out why you were refused
Officer decision notes. Since 29 July 2025, most refusal letters for temporary residence applications (visitor visas, study and work permits) include the officer's decision notes. Since 26 May 2026, most permanent residence refusals include them too. They are not provided for eTAs, temporary resident permits or humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications.
Your full file (GCMS notes). If the notes aren't included, or your file is still in process, you can ask IRCC for your file through an access to information and privacy (ATIP) request, filed online:
- Privacy Act request: free. Open to citizens, permanent residents and foreign nationals, wherever they live (since 13 July 2022).
- Access to Information Act request: $5. For people in Canada, or made for you by a representative in Canada with your consent (form IMM 5744).
2. Choose your next step
Reapply. You can usually submit a new application that addresses the officer's concerns with new or better evidence. Sending the same file again rarely changes the result.
Request reconsideration. You can ask the office that decided to look at its decision again, for example if the officer missed a document you sent. This is a discretionary request, not an appeal: there is no formal process for it, and the office is not required to reopen the file. IRCC's Help Centre says there's no formal process to appeal decisions on temporary residence applications.
Judicial review in the Federal Court. You can ask the Federal Court for leave to review a decision. Under section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the deadline is 15 days after you are notified of a decision made in Canada and 60 days for a decision made outside Canada. Judicial review is handled by lawyers. We don't represent clients in Federal Court, so if you are considering it, contact a lawyer right away; the deadline keeps running while you decide.
Appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division. Some decisions, such as most refused family-class sponsorships, can be appealed to the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). Our licence (Class L2) does not allow us to appear before the IRB, so we refer these cases to a lawyer or an RCIC-IRB (Class L3) licensee.
Criminal inadmissibility and temporary resident permits
A criminal conviction inside or outside Canada can make you inadmissible, even for an offence that seems minor or is many years old.
- Individual rehabilitation: you can apply once 5 years have passed since the end of your sentence.
- Deemed rehabilitation: may apply after 10 years for a single offence that would be indictable in Canada, but only where the maximum penalty in Canada is under 10 years.
- Impaired driving has been treated as serious criminality since 18 December 2018.
- Temporary resident permit (TRP): if you are inadmissible but have a justified reason to come to Canada, an officer may issue a TRP.
Fees for rehabilitation, TRPs and ARCs are indexed every year on 1 December; see IRCC's fee changes page.
Authorization to Return to Canada (ARC)
You need an ARC to come back to Canada after:
- a deportation order, at any time;
- an exclusion order, within 12 months (5 years if the order was for misrepresentation);
- a departure order, only if you didn't leave within 30 days or didn't confirm your departure.
You may also have to repay the cost of your removal.
Humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) applications
Section 25 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act lets IRCC grant permanent residence on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, for example establishment in Canada, the best interests of a child or hardship.
- You can have only one H&C application in process at a time.
- You can't apply while a refugee claim is pending, and in general not for 12 months after a negative refugee decision, with exceptions for the best interests of a child and serious medical risk.
- IRCC said in 2026 that most new H&C applicants can expect to wait more than 10 years.
More detail: our humanitarian and compassionate applications page.
How we can help
Anasse Boulbaroud, RCIC, can:
- request and review your decision notes or GCMS notes and explain the refusal;
- advise whether to reapply, request reconsideration or speak with a lawyer about judicial review;
- prepare a new application, a reconsideration request, a rehabilitation, TRP or ARC application, or an H&C application.
We don't represent clients before the IRB or in Federal Court. See our scope of practice. Book a consultation, or see our fees.