Step 1: How to start a residency obligation appeal

Generally, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) requires permanent residents to be physically present in Canada for at least 730 days out of every five years. If you are a permanent resident who is outside Canada and a visa officer (also outside Canada) finds that you did not meet your residency obligation, you may lose your permanent resident status. You can appeal the decision to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) in order to explain why you should keep your permanent resident status. This is known as a residency obligation appeal (subsection 63(4) of the IRPA).

Who can appeal

You can make a residency obligation appeal if a Canadian overseas visa office found that you did not meet your residency obligation as a permanent resident.

Who cannot appeal

There are no restrictions or exceptions to make a residency obligation appeal. However, if you received a removal order inside Canada because you did not meet your residency obligation, you will need to make a removal order appeal.

How to start an appeal

You have 60 days after the refusal to appeal to the IAD.

To file a residency obligation appeal, you must submit:

  • A completed Notice of Appeal form for each person in your family affected by the decision
  • Two copies of the decision from the overseas visa office

Public Proceedings

Immigration appeals are usually open to the public. This means that information used in your appeal is treated as public information and may appear in your decision. Your decision may also be published on the Internet. The public and the media will be given a copy of the documents in your appeal upon request, unless a confidentiality order is obtained or unless exceptional circumstances apply.