Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) Refund

The Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) Refund

Depending on the circumstances in the case, the process for refunds could differ.

• For Family Class Applicants
• Who May Request the Refund: The sponsor
• The Issuing Office:
• The Case Processing Centre Mississauga or,
• The Case Processing Centre Vegreville
• For Other Permanent Residence Categories
• Who May Request the Refund: The principal applicant
• The Issuing Office: The case processing centre (CPC) or the visa office processing the application
• If the authorities refuse the application:
• The case processing centre (CPC) or the visa office processing the application would need to automatically initiate the refund if the applicant has not filed an appeal
• However, if the applicant files an appeal, the authorities would not be able to issue a refund until the rendering of a final decision
• If an applicant wishes to withdraw an application:
• The applicant would need to provide the request for withdrawal in writing to the responsible office and,
• The officers would need to initiate the refund after they receive the withdrawal notice

Note:

• Economic and business class applicants outside Canada would be able to pay the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) online with effect from January 14, 2014
• They would be able to do so by using an accepted credit card i.e. Visa, MasterCard and American Express only
• For more information on processing refunds for online Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) payments, officers would need to review the Payments abroad section on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)

At the end of a pre-determined span of time, the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta (CPC-V) would need to release the Confirmation of Permanent Residence i.e. IMM 5292 for the applicant and the eligible family members in Canada. However, it would do this only to enable the responsible inland office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and the visa office overseas to proceed with finalising the case in accordance with the provisions specified in the section titled “The Process for Finalising Approved Cases” that appears subsequently in this document.

Note:

• It is not necessary for applicants to delete ineligible family members from their applications for permanent residence
• However, officers would need to give applicants the opportunity to provide evidence that the family members are in fact eligible
• This is in accordance with the norms concerning procedural fairness

The authorities have made provisions to enable officers to issue refunds in the following situations:

• Fees paid in error or in excess (such as the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) following the reduction announcement)
• According to the Department’s policy, officers would need to refund the fees in situations where they have collected the fees in error or in excess
• Application not processed
• Officers would need to refund the fees for service if:
• They have not processed an application and,
• The client has formally indicated that the client wishes to withdraw the application OR,
• The client decides not to submit the application
• Right not granted or right not exercised
• Officers would need to refund the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) or the Right of Citizenship Fee (ROCF) if the authorities do not grant this right or if the applicants do not exercise this right
• Multiple applications
• Clients can only submit a single application per requested service. As such, officers would need to refund the fees collected for the submission of multiple applications for the same service.
• Status cannot be obtained
• If a Canadian citizen submits an application for a status that they cannot obtain, the officers would need to refund the appropriate fees
• This is typically the case if a Canadian citizen submits an application for the grant of citizenship when the person is already a citizen
• This is in accordance with the provisions specified in the Citizenship Regulations
• Service cannot be obtained
• If a person submits an application for which the authorities cannot grant the service because of the applicant’s status, the officers would need to refund the fees
• This would typically be the case where a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen submits an application for permanent residence
• This is in accordance with the provisions specified in the Immigration Regulations
• Fee exempt
• In some cases, the officers might accept a fee for a citizenship or an immigration application
• However, the officers might subsequently discover that the client is fee exempt
• In this scenario, the officers would need to refund all processing fees collected
• Applicant for a citizenship application received incorrect information
• Officers would need to provide a refund when the applicant applies for a proof or a grant of citizenship on the basis of receiving incorrect information from officials of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
• However, in this scenario, the applicant would need to provide the relevant documentation supporting the error
• Applicant for a citizenship application dies (proof or grant)
• Officers would need to provide a refund if the applicant dies before the authorities make a decision or issue a proof certificate
• In this scenario, the refund request would typically need to come from a spouse or common-law partner (CLP), a parent or an executor
• The applicant submitting the refund request would need to include a copy of the death certificate along with the refund request
• The officers would pay the refund to the applicant’s estate

Note:

• It is worth highlighting that officers would not refund the processing fee for applications that the applicants withdraw before the authorities render a decision
• Officers could refer to Section 9.5 of CP 13 for more detailed information