Last Updated on April 14, 2020

Canada Start-Up Business Class – The Withdrawal of an Application from an Essential Applicant

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance that the staff of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) typically refer to. The authorities have placed this on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) as a courtesy to stakeholders.

Situations could arise where applicants wish to receive a refund of the cost recovery fee. In this scenario, the applicants would need to request a withdrawal before the officers commence evaluating the application.

In addition, situations could also take place where an ‘essential’ applicant decides to withdraw the application and request a refund. On coming across situations like these, the officers would need to refuse all other applications in the same business proposal. Moreover, the officers would only issue refunds to refused applicants, as long as the authorities have not placed the application into the process.

It is worth highlighting that clients typically pay various processing fees towards the processing of their application rather than for the outcome of their application. Therefore, these processing fees will be non-refundable once the processing of the application begins – regardless of its outcome. The responsible Case Processing Centre (CPC) or visa office would need to issue a cheque to the payer (who will usually be the applicant or the sponsor). In addition, they would need to send a letter of explanation along with the refund cheque.

The authorities have made provisions to enable officers to issue refunds in the following situations:

• In situations where the officers have not processed the application
  • Officers would need to refund the fees for service if:
    • They have not processed an application and,
    • The client has formally indicated that the client wishes to withdraw the application OR,
    • The client decides not to submit the application
• In situations where the applicant has paid fees in error or in excess
  • For instance, an applicant might have paid the Right of Permanent Resident Fee (RPRF) in excess as against the fee prescribed following the reduction announcement)
• In situations where the authorities have not granted a right or where the applicants do not exercise a right
• In situations where applicants have submitted multiple applications for the same service
• In situations where the applicants cannot obtain the status, they desire for various reasons
  • For instance, if a Canadian citizen submits an application for the grant of citizenship when the person is already a citizen
  • This is in accordance with the provisions specified in the Citizenship Regulations
• In situations where the applicants cannot obtain the services they seek
  • A typical example could be when an applicant submits an application that the authorities cannot grant because of the applicant’s status
  • This would typically be the case where a permanent resident or a Canadian citizen submits an application for permanent residence
  • This is in accordance with the provisions specified in the Immigration Regulations
• In situations where the officers might accept a fee from the applicant before subsequently realising that the applicant is fee exempt
• In situations where the applicants received incorrect information from the officers of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) concerning their citizenship applications
  • In this scenario, the applicant would need to provide the appropriate documents that support the error
• In situations where the applicant for a citizenship application dies before the authorities render a decision or issue a proof certificate
  • In scenarios such as this, the authorities would only issue refunds once they receive the refund request from the applicant’s spouse or common-law partner, a parent or an executor
  • In addition, the applicant submitting the refund request would need to furnish a copy of the death certificate as evidence along with the refund request

It is worth highlighting that officers would only refund revenues in certain cases. These cases could include situations where the officers:

• Have collected certain fees in error, before subsequently realising the mistake
• Have collected certain fees in excess of the prescribed requirements
• Come across the requests for the withdrawal of an application – especially if the officers find that the processing of the application has not yet commenced
• Find that applicants have not exercised a right or have not received the right from the authorities e.g. this would typically take place in situations where an applicant might pay a privilege fee such as the Right of Permanent Resident Fee (RPRF) and not exercise the right subsequently or receive this right from the authorities
• Find that they have collected the appropriate fees from an applicant, before subsequently ascertaining that the applicant qualified for a fee exemption or,
• Find that the applicant has applied for a specific service that the authorities cannot provide because of the applicant’s status

Related links:

• Start Up Business Class Application: Requests a Refund 
• Start-Up Business Class Application is Incomplete or Rejected

Source: Citizenship and Immigration