Complete your eligible claim

Once you get a Notice of Application Due Date you have 60 days to complete your asylum claim.

If you don’t complete your claim by the due date, we’ll send your claim to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) for pre-referral abandonment proceedings.

1. Sign in to the IRCC Portal

   Sign in to your existing account or create a new account if you started your claim with the CBSA.

   Sign in to the IRCC portal

2. Complete your claim

   In your IRCC Portal account:

   • If you started your claim in Canada, select “Continue” under “Continue an application you haven't submitted.”
   • If you started your claim at a port of entry, select “Make a new refugee claim or Continue a claim made to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).”

   You’ll need to answer questions to explain why you need refugee protection and why you can’t return to your country. We may also ask you for extra background information.

   If you made your claim to the CBSA (at a port of entry)

   You must answer Yes to the first question: Did you already make a claim to an officer when you entered Canada (for example, at a land border or an airport)?

   Don’t answer No if you get an error message or have other problems—this will make a duplicate application and can delay processing.

   Enter the information listed on your Refugee Protection Identity Document, including your application number, unique client identifier (UCI) and date of birth.

   Confirm your application and review the name(s) listed in the claim. If you have immediate family members who entered Canada and made asylum claims at the same time as you, make sure they are also listed.

   If information about your family is wrong

   It’s very important that you contact the CBSA if your group information is incorrect before proceeding. You can’t add family members unless they are immediate family and made their claim at the same time as you.

   If your group needs to be corrected, click “No” and contact the CBSA by email at Refugee_Portal_Support-Soutien_Portail_Asile@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca and include

   • your application number (starts with the letter “L”)
   • the name(s) and application number(s) of your family member(s)

   You can ask to have your application separated if required.

   Get help completing your application

   Use the instruction guide if you need help answering questions and submitting documents in the IRCC Portal:

   • Guide 0174 for claims started inside Canada
   • Guide 0192 for claims started at a port of entry or CBSA office

   If you want to work

   You need a valid work permit to legally work in Canada.

   You can ask for one when you complete your refugee claim application by answering Yes to the question Would you like to request a work permit?

   You don’t need to submit a separate application or pay fees.

   You won’t get a work permit until you submit your complete application and pass your immigration medical examination.

3. Upload your documents

   After you enter all of your information, you’ll get a list of mandatory documents that you must upload.

   If you already have personal evidence (opens in a new tab) to support your claim, you can upload it in the IRCC Portal. We’ll include everything when we send your claim to the IRB.

   Don’t upload any country condition evidence  (opens in a new tab) in the IRCC Portal. You need to send this directly to the IRB at least 10 days before your hearing.

4. After you submit your refugee claim application

   After you submit your claim, we review it to make sure it’s complete.

   If there’s any missing or incomplete information, we’ll send you a message in your IRCC Portal account that states:

   • what information we still need
   • the deadline for submitting that information

   If you don’t send us the information we ask for by the deadline, we’ll send your claim to the IRB for pre-referral abandonment proceedings.

   Once we confirm your claim is complete, we conduct screening and other verifications.

   If you need to update your application or send documents before we send your claim to the IRB

   If we haven’t sent your claim to the IRB, you can update your application or send more supporting personal documents by using the IRCC web form. Don’t use the IRCC web form if you’ve already received a Confirmation of Referral document.

   Update your application

5. After we send your claim to the IRB

   We’ll send you a Confirmation of Referral document once we send your claim to the IRB.

   From this point on, you need to send any updates or documents directly to the IRB.

   How to send evidence to the IRB (opens in a new tab)

   If you need more time to send documents and evidence

   The IRB may accept documents after the deadline if they’re important to your case and needed to make a fair decision. You’ll need to submit a special request.

   Learn how to submit late disclosure (opens in a new tab)

   Scheduling your hearing

   The IRB will schedule a hearing to decide if you need Canada’s protection and send you a Notice to Appear. It has the date, time and place of your hearing, along with instructions on how to join your hearing.

   Learn how to get ready for your hearing (opens in a new tab)