The authorities have formulated the process for returning the fees paid to CIC. The amendments had resulted in the termination of the affected applications. Therefore, the authorities have centralised the process. The process for returning the fees and investments paid to CIC would take place at NHQ – Finance. They have taken this step in consultation with the visa offices.
The CIC bears the responsibility for:
- Returning the fees and investments and,
- Communicating with the affected applicants in a timely manner
The POS+ data at missions would form the basis for the amounts that the CIC refunds to various affected applicants. The NHQ – Finance would need to communicate with the affected missions in a timely manner. It would provide further instructions to the missions about the extraction of the required data. Officers would match the POS+ data with the eligible fees extracted from the GCMS or CAIPS. Eventually, the POS+ data would form the baseline data used for the objective of returning the fees to the payee.
The NHQ – Finance would need to communicate with the eligible applicants in a timely manner. It would:
- Confirm contact and payee information prior to initiating any return of fees paid to the CIC and,
- Provide the affected applicants with a reasonable time period for reverting to the NHQ – Finance
In certain situations, it is likely that the NHQ – Finance would not receive any response to any initial or follow-up communications. In such cases, officers would still terminate the applications. However, the NHQ – Finance still bears the authority for taking action at a future date. They would do so especially in those cases, where the CIC needs to return the fees to the person who paid it initially.
The CIC would issue fee returns in the appropriate currency for the country in which the person who paid them resides. For this, the CIC would use the daily exchange conversion rate in effect on the date of issuance.
Several unsuccessful applicants would have paid the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF). They would continue to be entitled to obtaining a return of that fee they paid. This is in accordance with the existing procedures.
Source: Citizenship and Immigration
