Judicial Review of IRCC Refusals
If you are reading this because a refusal just arrived, the clock has already started.
Judicial review is how a refused applicant asks the Federal Court to examine whether IRCC's decision was reasonable and whether the process was fair. It is not an appeal and the Court does not substitute its own decision. It reviews how the original one was made.
The deadline to start is short, it is set by statute, and missing it generally ends the option permanently. That single fact is the reason this page exists, and it is why the first thing worth doing after a refusal is speaking to a licensed representative rather than reading further.
What you need to know
You have 15 days to apply for leave if the matter arose in Canada, or 60 days if it arose outside Canada. Both run from the day you were notified of the decision.
The count includes weekends and holidays. Fifteen days is closer to two weeks than three.
You must obtain leave, meaning the Court's permission, before a judicial review can proceed at all.
Leave is decided on the written record without a hearing, and a refusal of leave cannot be appealed.
This is Federal Court litigation. BorderPass works with licensed Canadian immigration lawyers, which is what this process requires.
What is the deadline to apply?
Fifteen days for a matter arising in Canada, sixty days for a matter arising outside Canada. Both periods run from the day you are notified of, or otherwise become aware of, the decision. These limits are set by section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act rather than by IRCC policy, which is why they are not negotiable in the way an administrative deadline sometimes is.
Three things about that count catch people out.
It includes every day. Weekends and public holidays are not excluded, so fifteen days is roughly ten working days once a weekend or two is accounted for.
The application has to be served and filed within the period, not merely started. Leaving it to the final day removes any room for an administrative problem.
An extension is possible for special reasons, but it has to be requested within the application for leave itself and it is not granted routinely. Planning around getting one is not a plan.
What happens after you file?
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is the respondent, not IRCC as a department, and has ten days from service to file a notice of appearance indicating an intention to oppose.
You will normally have asked for the tribunal's reasons for the refusal. This matters more than it sounds. Your refusal letter is a summary, while the officer's notes on the file usually contain the actual reasoning, and arguing against a decision without seeing why it was made is close to impossible. Waiting for those reasons is often the longest single stretch of the process.
The applicant's record follows, and it is where the case is actually made. It contains an affidavit setting out the facts relied on, the supporting exhibits, and a memorandum of argument that has to establish, with reference to case law, that the decision was unreasonable or the process unfair.
That document is legal argument. It is not a letter explaining your circumstances, and a well-intentioned personal account will not stand in for it.
How long does the whole process take?
Longer than most people expect, and only part of it is fixed by rule.
The statute does fix one stretch. If leave is granted, the hearing must be held no sooner than 30 days and no later than 90 days afterward, unless the parties agree to something earlier.
Everything else varies. How quickly the reasons arrive, how long the Court takes to decide leave, and how long a judgment takes after the hearing are all outside your control and outside anyone's ability to predict for your specific file. Treating the total as a matter of months rather than weeks is the realistic starting point.
Settlement is also possible. Where the Minister concludes the decision will not hold up, a matter can resolve without reaching a hearing, which shortens things considerably.
Why leave is the hardest part
Most people picture judicial review as a hearing. Most applications never reach one.
Leave is decided by a judge on the written record, without anyone appearing, and a decision refusing leave cannot be appealed. If leave is refused, the matter ends there.
Which puts the entire weight of the case on documents filed early, often before the officer's reasons have even been digested. The quality of the memorandum of argument is the case. There is no later stage at which a strong oral submission rescues a weak filing, because for most applications there is no later stage.
This is also why a competent representative will tell you honestly whether your file has a reviewable error in it. Not every unfair-feeling refusal is an unreasonable decision in law, and pursuing one that is not costs time and money without changing anything.
Where BorderPass fits
Judicial review is Federal Court litigation against a government minister, run to statutory deadlines, decided largely on paper. It sits well outside what an applicant can reasonably take on unassisted.
BorderPass works with licensed Canadian immigration lawyers. That means an assessment of whether your refusal contains a reviewable error before you commit to anything, and legal accountability for the work if it does. You get clear guidance at a fraction of what a traditional firm charges.
If a refusal has arrived, the deadline is already running. Start with an assessment of where you stand.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for judicial review of an IRCC refusal?
Section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act sets 15 days for a matter arising in Canada and 60 days for a matter arising outside Canada, counted from the day you are notified of the decision. The count includes weekends and holidays, and the application must be served and filed within that period.
Can the deadline be extended?
An extension may be requested for special reasons, and the request has to be made within the application for leave itself. It is not granted as a matter of course, and relying on obtaining one is a poor strategy where the original deadline is still open.
Is judicial review the same as an appeal?
No. The Federal Court examines whether the decision was reasonable and whether the process was fair. It does not decide your immigration application itself. A successful judicial review usually sends the matter back for a fresh decision by a different officer rather than granting what you originally applied for.
What happens if leave is refused?
The matter ends. Leave is decided on the written record without a hearing, and a decision refusing leave cannot be appealed. This is why the documents filed at the leave stage carry the weight of the entire case.
When would the hearing take place if leave is granted?
The Act requires the hearing to be held no sooner than 30 days and no later than 90 days after leave is granted, unless the parties agree to an earlier date. The time before leave is decided, and the time to judgment afterward, are not fixed in the same way.
