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Spousal Sponsorship Refused: How the 30-Day IAD Appeal Works

If IRCC refuses a permanent resident visa for a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner you sponsored, you as the sponsor can appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division. The IAD must receive your notice of appeal and the refusal within 30 days of you receiving the decision (IAD Rules r.16(a)).

A refused spousal sponsorship feels final. For many sponsors it isn't: Canadian law gives the sponsor, not the partner, a right of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The deadline is 30 days and it is counted from when you receive the decision.

This guide covers who can appeal, who can't, what to send and where, what happens between filing and a hearing, and what the IAD is allowed to decide. It describes the process; it can't tell you how your appeal would go.

Who can appeal

IRPA s.63(1): "A person who has filed in the prescribed manner an application to sponsor a foreign national as a member of the family class may appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division against a decision not to issue the foreign national a permanent resident visa."

The IRB puts it in plain terms: you can appeal "if you are a permanent resident or Canadian citizen who made an application to sponsor a family member to immigrate to Canada and the visa application was refused by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada."

So the appellant is the sponsor. The right is written around a refused permanent resident visa. If your partner applied from inside Canada, read your refusal letter for whether an IAD appeal is mentioned. Where there's no appeal right, IRPA s.72 judicial review in the Federal Court is the court route, with 15 days for a matter arising in Canada.

Who can't appeal

IRPA s.64(1) bars an IAD appeal by a sponsor if the person sponsored was found inadmissible on grounds of security, violating human or international rights, sanctions, serious criminality or organized criminality. For this purpose, "serious criminality" means a crime punished in Canada by at least six months' imprisonment, or one described in s.36(1)(b) or (c) (s.64(2)).

Misrepresentation has a carve-out that matters for couples. Section 64(3) says there's no appeal from a refusal based on misrepresentation "unless the foreign national in question is the sponsor's spouse, common-law partner or child." So a spouse or partner refused for misrepresentation can still be the subject of an appeal.

The 30-day deadline and what to send

Rule 16(a) of the Immigration Appeal Division Rules, 2022: in a sponsorship appeal, the notice of appeal and accompanying documents must be received by the Division "no later than ... 30 days after the day on which the appellant receives the officer's decision and the written reasons, if any, for the refusal."

Note the word "received". Sending it on day 30 is not the same as it arriving on day 30. If the last day isn't a working day, rule 41 moves the deadline to the next working day.

The IRB's "File your Notice of Appeal" page lists what to send:

  • a completed Notice of Appeal – Sponsorship form;
  • a copy of the IRCC refusal letter sent to the family member you sponsored;
  • a copy of the officer's decision notes, if you received them.

You may add documents that help resolve the appeal. The IRB's example: if the refusal says a specific document was missing and you now have it, you can send it with the notice.

Rule 4 of the IAD Rules allows the Division to extend a time limit, including after it has passed. That is a discretion, so nobody can promise a late appeal will be accepted.

From filing to hearing

Once your notice arrives, the IAD asks the Minister for your sponsorship file. This is the appeal record. The IRB says "The Minister has 60 days to send the appeal record to you and the IAD." It contains the refused application, the sponsorship and undertaking, relevant documents and the written reasons (IAD Rules r.20(1)).

Disclosure. Your documents, or a written statement that you won't use any, must be received no later than 60 days after you receive the appeal record (r.26). Late documents can be refused at the hearing unless the member allows them. If you neither send disclosure nor say you won't, the IRB says the IAD "can dismiss your appeal or declare it abandoned."

Early resolution. An Early Resolution Officer may contact you to see whether the appeal can be resolved without a hearing. Some appeals go to an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) conference with Minister's counsel. An agreement reached there must be approved in writing by the Division (r.71). The IRB notes that an Early Resolution Officer "cannot give any legal advice."

Self-represented appellants, or those with unpaid counsel, are invited to a virtual preparation meeting. The IRB publishes a guide for appeals about "bad faith" relationship decisions.

Keep your contact details current. The IRB says that if you or your counsel don't respond to the IAD, it can dismiss or abandon the appeal.

What the IAD decides

Under IRPA s.67(1), the IAD can allow an appeal if it is satisfied, at the time of the decision, that:

(a) the decision was wrong in law or fact or mixed law and fact; (b) a principle of natural justice was not observed; or (c) taking into account the best interests of a child directly affected, sufficient humanitarian and compassionate considerations warrant special relief.

Ground (c) has a precondition. Section 65 says the IAD can consider humanitarian and compassionate factors only once it has decided that the foreign national is a member of the family class and the sponsor is a sponsor within the meaning of the regulations.

In spousal refusals the legal test is often Regulation 4(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations: a person isn't considered a spouse or partner if the relationship "was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act" or "is not genuine." As the appellant, the IRB says, "you are the one who must prove that the decision should be changed in your favour."

If the appeal is allowed, the IAD sets the decision aside and substitutes its own determination or refers the matter back for reconsideration (s.67(2)).

Hearings are public

The IRB warns that "Members of the public can attend most immigration appeal hearings", that information you use may appear in the written decision, which may be published, and that documents can be provided to someone who asks unless a confidentiality order was obtained. That's worth knowing before you file personal material.

Appeal or apply again?

Some couples file a new sponsorship instead of, or as well as, appealing. Each route has its own fees and timeline. The current fee to sponsor a spouse or partner is $1,260 including the right of permanent residence fee (IRCC fee list, as at 21 September 2026). An appeal is decided on the record plus new evidence and testimony; a new application starts fresh before an officer. Which suits a case depends on why it was refused, which is why the reasons and decision notes are the starting point.

When people bring in a regulated adviser

Before the IAD, you can represent yourself. If you're paying someone, they must be a lawyer, a Quebec notary or paralegal permitted by their law society, or an RCIC with the RCIC-IRB (Class L3) licence. The College says Class L1 and L2 RCICs "cannot practise before the IRB" unless also licensed as Ontario paralegals. Check the licence class on the CICC register before signing.

Migratio's directory lists only advisers who signed up with us and are in good standing with their regulator, with a link to the official register on each listing. Migratio is not an immigration consultant and doesn't give advice.

Questions people ask

How long do I have to appeal a spousal sponsorship refusal?

The IAD must receive the notice of appeal and the refusal within 30 days after you receive the officer's decision and written reasons (IAD Rules, 2022, r.16(a)).

Can my spouse appeal, or only me?

The appeal right in IRPA s.63(1) belongs to the sponsor, the Canadian citizen or permanent resident who filed the sponsorship.

Can I appeal if my spouse was refused for misrepresentation?

Yes, in principle. IRPA s.64(3) bars appeals on misrepresentation refusals except where the person is the sponsor's spouse, common-law partner or child.

What does the IAD look at in a spousal appeal?

Whether the refusal was wrong in law or fact, whether natural justice was observed, and, if the person is a family class member and the sponsor qualifies, humanitarian and compassionate grounds including the best interests of affected children (IRPA s.65, s.67).

How long does an IAD sponsorship appeal take?

The rules set some steps: the Minister has 60 days to send the appeal record, and your disclosure is due 60 days after you receive it. The total time to a decision isn't fixed and depends on whether the appeal resolves early, at ADR or at a hearing.

Can an RCIC represent me at the IAD?

Only an RCIC with the RCIC-IRB (Class L3) licence, unless they're also an Ontario-licensed paralegal. Lawyers can. You can also represent yourself.

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-09.

Related guides

  • Spousal Sponsorship in Canada: Inland vs Outland, Eligibility and the Process — A Canadian citizen or permanent resident who is 18 or older and lives in Canada can sponsor a spouse, common-law partner, conjugal partner or dependent child. Spouses and common-law partners can be sponsored in the 'in Canada' class (IRPR s.124) or the family class from outside; the choice depends on residence and status, and the appeal rights differ.
  • Judicial Review of an IRCC Refusal: The 15-Day and 60-Day Deadlines — To challenge an IRCC decision in the Federal Court you first need leave. The application must be filed within 15 days if the matter arose in Canada, or 60 days if it arose outside Canada, after you're notified (IRPA s.72). Any appeal right, such as an IAD appeal, must be used first.
  • Misrepresentation in Canada: The Five-Year Inadmissibility Rule — Under section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, misrepresenting or withholding a material fact that induces or could induce an error makes a person inadmissible for five years, and during that time a foreign national cannot apply for permanent residence. The five years run from the final determination if it was made outside Canada, or from the day a removal order is enforced if it was made in Canada.
  • Getting Your GCMS and Officer Notes After a Refusal — Since 29 July 2025 IRCC sends an officer's decision note with refusal letters for most temporary resident applications, and since 26 May 2026 for most permanent resident applications. Other notes in your file can be requested through access to information or privacy requests, which have a 30-day response period and a $5 application fee for access-to-information requests.
  • Common-law partner in Canadian immigration: the legal definition, the 12 months and where it matters — Under section 1(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, a common-law partner is someone who is cohabiting with you in a conjugal relationship and has done so for at least one year. IRCC's sponsorship page words this as 12 consecutive months without long periods apart. This guide explains the rule and the form that supports it (IMM 5409). It cannot tell you whether your relationship counts.
  • Spousal Sponsorship Cost in 2026: Every Government Fee and What Else to Budget For — On the IRCC fee list (modified 2026-09-21), sponsoring a spouse or partner costs $1,260 including the right of permanent residence fee, or $660 without it, plus $180 for each dependent child and biometrics of $85 per person (family maximum $170). Medical exams, police certificates, translations and any adviser fees are extra and set by others.