What is IAD and what does it do?
IMMIGRATION APPEAL DIVISION
The Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) hears appeals on immigration
matters.
There are four types of appeals:
- sponsorship appeals
- removal order appeals
- residency obligation appeals
- Minister’s appeals
The IAD may allow an appeal - and set aside the original decision - if there was:
- an error in law or fact
- a breach of a principle of natural justice
- What happens if you appeal a sponsorship refusal?
- As a sponsor, you have 30 days after the refusal to appeal to the IAD. Some sponsorship appeals go through an informal alternative dispute resolution process.
If your appeal is allowed and the original decision is set aside, CIC will resume processing the sponsorship application. CIC is bound by the IRB's decision. However, it is possible for CIC to refuse the application on other grounds, which you may also appeal to the IAD.
- IMMIGRATION DIVISION
- What does it do?
- The Immigration Division (ID) holds admissibility hearings for people who are believed to have contravened the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). If the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) believes you are inadmissible to Canada, it will ask the IRB to hold an admissibility hearing to determine if you are admissible, that is, whether you may enter or remain in Canada.
The ID also holds detention reviews for people who are detained, or held, by the CBSA for immigration reasons. If you are detained, you must have your detention reviewed within a certain time, as set out in IRPA. At a detention review, the IRB decides if you may be released from detention.
REFUGEE PROTECTION DIVISION - What does it do?The Refugee Protection Division (RPD) decides refugee claims made by people who are in Canada. It holds refugee determination hearings or uses other processes to come to these decisions. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) decides refugee claims made by people outside Canada, for example, through resettlement programs for people living in refugee camps.
Canada has an obligation to grant protection to Convention refugees and other persons in need of protection. This is because Canada has signed a number of United Nations conventions, including:
- the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
- the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
- the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The RPD determines whether people who appear before it are:
- Convention refugees
- persons in need of protection
If your appeal is allowed and the original decision is set aside, CIC will resume processing the sponsorship application. CIC is bound by the IRB's decision. However, it is possible for CIC to refuse the application on other grounds, which you may also appeal to the IAD.
The ID also holds detention reviews for people who are detained, or held, by the CBSA for immigration reasons. If you are detained, you must have your detention reviewed within a certain time, as set out in IRPA. At a detention review, the IRB decides if you may be released from detention.
REFUGEE PROTECTION DIVISION
Canada has an obligation to grant protection to Convention refugees and other persons in need of protection. This is because Canada has signed a number of United Nations conventions, including:
- the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
- the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
- the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- Convention refugees
- persons in need of protection
