You have been given a pre-removal risk assessment. The forms arrived with a deadline, and you know the PRRA is your chance to show that returning to your country would put you at risk. But you also know the Refugee Protection Division already rejected your claim, and you have been told the PRRA officer cannot simply hear the same story again.
That is correct, and it is the single most important thing to understand about a PRRA. The officer is not reviewing the RPD’s decision. The officer is looking for something new. What “new” means is the subject of this post.
The rule
For a failed refugee claimant, the law limits a PRRA to evidence that:
- arose after the RPD rejected the claim; or
- was not reasonably available at the time of the RPD hearing; or
- could not reasonably have been expected, in the circumstances, to have been presented at the hearing.
Evidence that was available and could have been presented, but was not, is excluded. So is evidence that simply repeats what the RPD already considered.
The Federal Court has added a set of questions that officers apply to any document offered as new evidence. Is it credible? Is it relevant to the risk claimed? Is it genuinely new, in the sense above? Is it material, meaning could it affect the outcome? A document that fails any of these can be set aside by the officer without further analysis.
What usually qualifies
Changes in country conditions. A coup, a new law targeting your group, an escalation in violence in your region, or a change in the treatment of people in your situation. Reports from credible organisations dated after the RPD decision are the backbone of most PRRAs.
Events that happened to you or your family since the decision. A relative arrested or attacked, a threat received, a summons issued, a property seized. These need documentary support where possible, and a sworn statement where it is not.
Evidence that existed before but could not be obtained. A police report or medical record from home that you tried to get before the hearing and only received later, with proof of the attempts. The explanation for why it was not available matters as much as the document itself.
New risk grounds. A risk that did not exist or was not known at the time of the RPD hearing, such as a medical diagnosis that would attract persecution in your country, or a conversion or relationship that has developed since.
What usually does not
- Affidavits repeating the original claim in more detail.
- Documents that were in your possession before the hearing and were simply not filed.
- Country condition reports pre-dating the RPD decision, unless they were genuinely unavailable.
- Arguments that the RPD got it wrong. That is what the RAD and the Federal Court are for, not the PRRA.
Officers are also alert to documents that appear to have been created for the PRRA. Letters from relatives describing events that were never mentioned at the RPD, or that contradict the earlier account, are examined closely and often given little weight.
Adding evidence after you file
A PRRA has a short timeline. You have a fixed number of days after receiving the notice to file the application, and a further short period to file written submissions and evidence. Those deadlines should be met.
But the file does not close on the day the submissions are due. You may submit additional evidence at any time before the officer makes a decision, and PRRA decisions often take many months. Where new events occur, new reports are published, or documents you requested finally arrive, they can and should be sent in with a short covering letter explaining what they are and why they are new.
There is a practical caution. Officers are not obliged to wait, and you will not be told when the decision is about to be made. Evidence that is ready should be filed promptly rather than held for a final package. If a key document is still on its way, tell the officer in writing that it is expected and ask that the file not be decided until it arrives. The officer does not have to agree, but the request is on the record.
Submissions matter as much as documents
New evidence on its own does not decide a PRRA. The submissions must connect the evidence to the legal test: a serious possibility of persecution on a Convention ground, or, on a balance of probabilities, a risk to life, of torture, or of cruel and unusual treatment. They should also explain, for each document, why it meets the newness test, before the officer has to decide that question for themselves.
For the circumstances in which you can file a PRRA without being invited to, see our post on submitting a PRRA without a CBSA invitation.
If you have received a PRRA notice, or want to add evidence to a PRRA that is already filed, book a consultation with Kabir & Alam Lawyers. Our refugee law practice prepares PRRA submissions and supplementary filings.