Judicial review is not an appeal. The Federal Court does not decide your application again or hear new evidence. It examines whether the decision was reasonable and whether the process was fair. If it was not, the decision is usually sent back for a different officer to decide afresh.
It is the route for decisions that carry no appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division: refused study and work permits, refused visitor visas, most inland spousal refusals, refused humanitarian applications and many refugee decisions.
The deadlines are unforgiving. An application for leave and judicial review generally has to be filed within 15 days of a decision made in Canada, or 60 days of one made outside Canada. Leave must be granted before the case is heard, so the written argument carries most of the weight.
What we help with
- Reviewing a refusal and obtaining the officer’s notes
- Applications for leave and for judicial review
- Written argument on reasonableness and procedural fairness
- Stays of removal where a removal date has been set
- Advice on whether a fresh application would be faster than a challenge
How it usually works
- 01
Act within the deadline
The application starts the clock running for everything else, so it is filed first and the argument is developed afterwards.
- 02
Get the reasons
The officer’s notes usually explain the refusal in far more detail than the letter, and they shape the argument.
- 03
Leave, then hearing
A judge decides on paper whether the case may proceed. If leave is granted, the matter is argued at a hearing, and a successful case is normally sent back for redetermination.
Related services
- Permanent Residence & Express EntryRoutes to permanent residence, including Express Entry, the BC Provincial Nominee Program and humanitarian applications.
- Family SponsorshipSponsoring a spouse, partner, dependent child, parent or grandparent.
- Refugee ClaimsClaims for protection in Canada, from the first interview through the hearing at the Refugee Protection Division.