Removal order appeals · Canada
Removal order appeals for permanent residents in Abbotsford, Surrey and Vancouver
This page is for permanent residents (PRs) facing a removal order. As a PR, you can usually appeal the removal order to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD). Visitors, students and workers generally cannot appeal to the IAD, but other options may be open, so book a consultation either way. While the appeal is pending you cannot be removed, and the IAD can cancel the order or give you a second chance with conditions. You have 30 days to file.
- For permanent residents (PRs) facing deportation
- Criminality, misrepresentation and residency obligation removals
- Stays of removal with conditions
Book a removal order appeal consultation
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Permanent resident with a removal order? Your Notice of Appeal must reach the IAD within 30 days of receiving the removal order, or be given at the end of your admissibility hearing.
Most removal order appeals turn on humanitarian grounds rather than legal errors. The IAD weighs the factors set out in Ribic and approved by the Supreme Court of Canada in Chieu (2002):
- How serious the offence or conduct was, and what led to the removal order.
- Remorse and the possibility of rehabilitation.
- How long you have lived in Canada and how established you are.
- Your family in Canada and how removal would affect them.
Letters of support, proof of work and treatment programs, and evidence about your family and children are often the heart of the appeal.
Instead of allowing or dismissing the appeal, the IAD can stay the removal order for a set period with conditions.
- Typical conditions include reporting to CBSA, keeping the peace, keeping your address updated and not committing any offence.
- The IAD reviews the stay. If the conditions are kept, the appeal can later be allowed and the order cancelled.
- If someone on a criminality-based stay is convicted of a further serious offence, the stay is cancelled automatically and the appeal ends.
A stay is often the realistic goal in criminality appeals, so the conditions you can commit to matter.
- File the Notice of AppealWe file your notice with the IAD within the 30 days, or confirm the notice you gave at the end of the admissibility hearing.
- Review the record and gather evidenceWe review the CBSA report and record, then gather evidence of rehabilitation, establishment, family ties and hardship.
- Early resolution where offeredSome appeals are offered an informal resolution meeting with the Minister’s counsel, which can lead to an agreed outcome such as a stay.
- Hearing and decisionAt the hearing you and your witnesses give evidence. The IAD then allows the appeal, dismisses it, or stays the removal with conditions.
Removal order appeal questions
The IAD must receive your Notice of Appeal within 30 days after you receive the removal order. If the order was made at an admissibility hearing, you can also give the notice at the end of the hearing.
No. A removal order against someone who has appealed to the IAD is not in force until the appeal is finally decided.
Generally yes. The Supreme Court of Canada held in Tran (2017) that a conditional sentence is not a term of imprisonment for serious criminality purposes.
Other options may still be available, including a stay or deferral of removal, a pre-removal risk assessment or a humanitarian and compassionate application. Contact us quickly, because these steps have short deadlines.
The Minister can ask the IAD to reopen the stay, and the appeal can be dismissed. A new conviction for a serious offence cancels a criminality-based stay automatically.
Official sources: IRB: Appeal your removal orderImmigration Appeal Division Rules, 2022 (rule 16)
Guides from our lawyers
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Removal order appeals help in Abbotsford, Surrey and Vancouver
Meet us at any of our offices, or by phone or video from anywhere in Canada or abroad.
Facing a removal order?
Book a consultation before the 30-day deadline and we will explain your options.