New Policy on fee refunds when IRCC service standards are not met for Canadian Citizenship, IEC and some passport or travel document services
The Service Fees Act is Canadian legislation that increases accountability and predictability regarding service fees that the Government of Canada charges to Canadians. In most cases, when submitting an application to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, applicants are required to pay a processing fee.
Under this new policy, the department involved is required to return a portion of the fee for some applications. As of April 1, 2021, partial refunds will be issued to complete applications received on or after April 1, 2021, for the following programs:
Citizenship Application – Right of Citizenship Fee: $100CAD
International Experience Canada- Participation Fee: $156CAD
Other fees relating to passports and travel documents: Fees vary based on service
If you submitted one of the above applications prior to April 1, 2021, this policy would not apply.
Are there any exceptions to this policy?
If service standards are not met due to ‘exceptional circumstances,’ a partial refund will not be available. The following have been defined as circumstances outside of IRCCs control:
unforeseen system disruptions and/or failures
natural disasters
emergency situations that cause
closure of an office
a reduction in the service offerings within the office, or
a surge of applications outside the department’s control that causes a disruption to the normal operation of an office
unforeseen office closures
labor disruption
third-party service and/or service provider service interruptions or delays, where IRCC does not have a contractual agreement with the service provider
major legislative and/or policy changes enacted by foreign governments.
Right of Citizenship
The Right of Citizenship service standard is a maximum of 4 months. Specifically, the first invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony must be sent to the application within four months of the date of their positive grant decision.
The refund amount will be:
25% of the fee for less than four months past the service standard, and
50% of the fee, if for more than four months past the service standard
If the citizenship application is refused, abandoned, or withdrawn, applicants will still receive a full refund on their Right of Citizenship fee.
International Experience Canada
The service standard for IEC is 56 days.
The refund amount will be:
25% of the fee for 28 calendar days or less past the service standard, and
50% of the fee for 29 calendar days or more past the service standard
Passport Services
Given the short nature of processing times related to passport services, COVID-19 has been considered an exceptional circumstance where service standards may not be met, and applicants will not be entitled to a refund. Applicants who submit a passport or travel document between April 1, 2021, and June 30, 2021, will not be eligible for any fee refunds under the Service Fees Act.
Processing service standards range from 1-20 business days (does not include mailing time):
Applications submitted in Canada by mail: 20 business days
Urgent applications in Canada (in-person): end of next business day
Express applications in Canada (in-person): 2-9 business days
Applications submitted from the United States: 20 business days
Applications submitted from outside Canada and the United States: 20 business days
This new policy applies to the following passport and travel document processing fees (does not include the consular fee in the adult travel documents):
adult 5-year/10-year passport requested in Canada or the U.S.
Child regular passport requested in Canada or the U.S.
Adult 5-year/10-year passport requested outside of Canada or the U.S.
Child regular passport requested outside of Canada or the U.S.
temporary passport fee
adult refugee travel document
adult certificate of identity
The refund amount will be:
25% of the fee for 10 business days or less past the service standard, and
50% of the fee for 11 or more business days past the service standard
How do I get my partial refund?
Applicants do not need to contact the government to request their refund. The refunds are estimated to be issued by July 1 of the following fiscal year via the method of original payment or by cheque for payments that were not made online.