Your application was refused, and you can see exactly why. A document was missing that you actually had. The officer misread a date. A letter from your employer was never uploaded because of a technical problem. It feels like a mistake that a short email could fix.
That instinct leads many people to a reconsideration request. Sometimes it is the right move. Often it is not, and the danger is that while you wait for an answer, the deadline for the option that would actually have worked quietly passes.
What a reconsideration request is
A reconsideration request asks the officer, or the office that made the decision, to look at the file again and change the outcome. There is no form and no statutory right to it. It is a request made to IRCC’s discretion, usually by webform or letter, and IRCC is under no obligation to grant it or even to respond quickly.
Once an officer has made a final decision, the general rule is that they have no power to change it. The exception is narrow. An officer may reopen a decision where there is a genuine reason to do so, such as:
- a clear error on the face of the decision, like a document that was in the file but was overlooked;
- new evidence that was not reasonably available before the decision and that goes to the heart of the refusal;
- a breach of procedural fairness, such as a request for documents that was never received.
A reconsideration request that simply disagrees with the officer’s assessment, or that attaches documents that could have been provided the first time, will almost always be declined.
The problem with waiting
A reconsideration request does not stop the clock on judicial review. The deadline to file for leave at the Federal Court is 15 days from receiving a decision made inside Canada, and 60 days for a decision made abroad. Those days run whether or not a reconsideration request is pending.
IRCC often takes weeks or months to respond to a reconsideration request, if it responds at all. An applicant who files the request and waits for an answer will usually find the court deadline has passed before any reply arrives. At that point, the only route into Federal Court is a request for an extension of time, which must be justified, and waiting on IRCC is not always accepted as a reason.
The safer approach, where the refusal is one that should be challenged, is to file the leave application within the deadline and pursue reconsideration at the same time. If IRCC reopens the file, the court application can be discontinued. If it does not, nothing has been lost.
When reconsideration makes sense
Reconsideration is most useful when the error is obvious and the fix is simple. Examples of the kind of error that can be corrected this way:
- a work permit refused for lack of a document that was uploaded but not opened, where the upload history proves it;
- a refusal based on an expired police certificate where a valid one was already in the file;
- a decision made before the deadline for a response to a request letter had passed.
In each case the request is short, specific, and supported by evidence that the officer can verify in minutes. The request should identify the decision, explain the error in a paragraph, and attach only what is needed to prove it.
When it is the wrong tool
Reconsideration is the wrong tool when the officer considered your evidence and reached a conclusion you disagree with. Officers are not required to change their minds because you have explained yourself more fully the second time. Where the real complaint is that the officer’s reasoning was unreasonable, or that they ignored evidence, the proper forum is the Federal Court on judicial review, and our post on judicial review at the Federal Court sets out how that process runs.
It is also the wrong tool when the refusal identifies a substantive gap. If the officer was not satisfied about proof of funds, a genuine relationship, or the purpose of a visit, the answer is usually a new application that addresses the concern, not a request to reconsider the old one. Our post on what to do when your immigration application is refused works through those choices.
Reconsideration after a court application is filed
Once a leave application is served on the Department of Justice, its counsel reviews the file. If they see a problem with the decision, they may propose settling by sending the matter back for redetermination. That is a form of reconsideration, but it arrives through a different door and carries far more weight, because it is backed by a court process.
Before you send the request
Ask two questions. Is the error something the officer can see without re-weighing the evidence? And what is the court deadline for this decision? If the answer to the first is yes, a reconsideration request is worth sending, provided the second question has been dealt with.
If you have received a refusal and are unsure whether to request reconsideration, reapply, or go to court, book a consultation with Kabir & Alam Lawyers.