A refusal letter tells you almost nothing. The officer's actual reasoning sits in the case notes, and until you have read them you cannot tell whether to reapply, ask for reconsideration, or go to Federal Court. Two of those three options have hard deadlines, so order the notes today.
Our charges include applicable taxes. Disbursements are extra and billed at cost — itemized upfront, in writing, never hidden.
From $3,388.87 taxes included
Refusal letters are checkbox documents. 'I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay' is a conclusion, not a reason. The reason is in the Global Case Management System notes — the running commentary the officer typed while assessing your file.
Since 29 July 2025 IRCC has proactively included officer decision notes with many temporary resident refusals, including visitor visas, study permits and work permits. Check your refusal package before paying anyone for anything. If the notes were not included, you request them under access-to-information legislation: a Privacy Act request for your own records is free if you are entitled to make one, and an Access to Information Act request carries a $5 fee.
Processing takes weeks, and your appeal deadlines do not pause while you wait. If a Federal Court clock is already running, file first and read second — an application for leave can be perfected after it is started.
Reapplying is the default and usually the right call for temporary resident refusals. It is faster, cheaper, and there is no limit on how many times you may apply. It only works if you fix the thing the officer actually objected to. A reapplication with the same evidence and a longer cover letter gets refused for the same reason, and the second refusal makes the third harder.
A reconsideration request asks the same office to look again, usually on the basis that the officer overlooked evidence already on file or made a plain error. It is not a formal remedy, there is no obligation to respond, and it does not stop the judicial review clock. It is worth doing when the error is obvious and documentary, and a waste of time when the complaint is really that you disagree with a discretionary weighing.
Judicial review at the Federal Court is the real remedy for an unreasonable or procedurally unfair decision. It is not an appeal: the Court does not substitute its own decision, it sets the refusal aside and sends it back to a different officer. Most successful applications settle before hearing, with the Department of Justice agreeing to a redetermination.
Under section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, an application for leave and for judicial review must be filed within 15 days of notification for a matter arising in Canada, and 60 days for a matter arising outside Canada. That is the difference between an in-Canada extension refusal and a visa post refusal, and people get it wrong constantly.
Extensions of time are possible for special reasons and must be requested inside the leave application itself. They are granted, but they are not automatic, and 'I was waiting for my notes' is a weaker excuse than most applicants expect.
Some refusals go somewhere else entirely. A refused family class sponsorship generally gives the sponsor an appeal to the Immigration Appeal Division, filed within 30 days of receiving the written reasons, where new evidence and live testimony are allowed. Refugee claims go to the Refugee Appeal Division. Knowing which forum owns your refusal is the first legal question, not a detail.
Leave is granted on an arguable case, and the Federal Court refuses most immigration leave applications. What gets through is a specific, evidenced complaint: the officer ignored a document that squarely contradicts the finding, applied the wrong legal test, relied on extrinsic evidence without giving you a chance to answer, or gave reasons so thin they cannot be followed.
What does not get through is disagreement with weight. Officers are entitled to find your ties weak or your funds unconvincing. Reweighing is not the Court's job, and an application built on 'the officer should have been more generous' is refused at the leave stage without reasons.
Our flat fee for refusal work starts at $3,388.87, taxes included, with court filing fees and disbursements billed separately at cost. We will tell you honestly when reapplying is the better buy — it often is.
Fifteen days from notification if the matter arose in Canada, and 60 days if it arose outside Canada. Those limits come from section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and they are counted from when you were notified or became aware of the decision, not from when you understood it. The Court can extend time for special reasons, but you have to ask inside the leave application and explain the delay. If you are near either limit, file the application first and gather the record afterwards.
Reapply if the refusal identified a gap you can actually fill — thin funds, missing employment evidence, an unexplained travel history. Ask for reconsideration only if the officer missed or misread something already in the file, and you can point to the document. Reconsideration has no formal status, no timeline and no obligation on IRCC to answer, so treat it as a low-cost long shot rather than a plan. Crucially, it does not pause your Federal Court deadline.
They are the officer's working notes on your file in IRCC's case management system — the assessment, the concerns, the internal correspondence. They are the only reliable way to know why you were refused. Since July 2025 IRCC often sends decision notes with temporary resident refusal letters; if yours did not arrive that way, request them under access-to-information legislation. Budget several weeks. Do not let the wait consume a filing deadline.
No. The Federal Court does not grant the application you were refused. If you succeed, the refusal is quashed and the file goes back to a different officer for a fresh decision, sometimes with directions. That officer can refuse you again, though a second refusal on the same reasoning after a court ruling is unusual. Most successful files never reach a hearing — the Department of Justice agrees to a redetermination once the weakness in the decision is clear.
Usually yes, and it is a real appeal rather than judicial review. The sponsor generally files with the Immigration Appeal Division within 30 days of receiving the written reasons for the refusal. The Division hears witnesses, takes new evidence, and can substitute its own decision — which is why it is a much better forum than the Federal Court when the issue is whether the relationship is genuine. Some refusals, including those based on serious criminality, remove the right of appeal.
Open your file tonight — a licensed Ontario lawyer will confirm everything with you by tomorrow.