Typically, officers would refund revenues when:

• They have collected these in error
• They have collected these in excess of the requirements
• An applicant requests the withdrawal of the application before the officers begin processing it
• An applicant who has paid a privilege fee such as the Right of Permanent Residence Fee (RPRF) does not exercise the right or does not receive the right from the authorities
• An applicant paid a fee for a service fee before the authorities subsequently determine that the applicant qualifies for a fee exemption or,
• An applicant submits an application for which the authorities cannot grant the service because of the applicant’s status

The Scenarios Specific to Applications from Designated Foreign Nationals

It is worth mentioning that the authorities would not refund any fees for suspended cases. However, the authorities would need to refund the fees received for new permanent residence or temporary resident permit applications submitted by a Designated Foreign National on or after the date of designation if the five-year bar applies. In this scenario, the officers would also need to return the application to the applicant.

The Canadian Employer Compliance Fee Refunds

The officers would need to refund the employer compliance fee to the person who paid it if:

• The authorities refuse the work permit or,
• The employer withdraws the offer of employment and requests a refund prior to the issuance of the work permit

The Refunds for Open Work Permit Holder Fees

The officers would need to refund the open work permit holder fee to the person who paid it if:

• The authorities refuse the work permit or,
• The foreign national withdraws the application and requests a refund prior to the issuance of the work permit

The Applicant Changes Economic Category

In some situations, the officers might receive a provincial nominee certificate for a case in another economic class. In this scenario, they would need to follow the given procedures:

• If the authorities have not begun processing the case i.e. the case has not passed the initial evaluation stage
• The mission would receive the certificate
• Thereafter, the mission would need to inform the applicant that it has received a certificate and that the applicant needs to submit a new, complete application in the provincial nominee class (including annex 4)
• At this point, the applicant has the option of:
• Withdrawing the initial application or,
• In this scenario, the officers have the authority to assign the fees paid for the initial application to the PV2 application instead of refunding it
• However, the officers would need to indicate the action that they are taking and the basis for their decision clearly in the notes on the Computer Assisted Immigration Processing System (CAIPS)
• Continuing with both the applications
• If the authorities have begun processing the case i.e. the case has passed the initial evaluation stage
• Once a case passes the initial evaluation stages, the officers cannot provide refunds of the processing fees
• If the applicant submits a provincial nominee certificate and wants the authorities to consider the applicant in the provincial nominee class, the applicant has the option of withdrawing the federal application and submitting a new application in the provincial nominee class
• In this scenario, the officers would not refund the processing fees for the federal application
• As such, the officers would need the applicant to pay the new processing fees for the application in the provincial nominee class
• The second option that the applicant has is of allowing the authorities to continue processing the federal application, whilst submitting a new application in the provincial nominee class, along with paying the new fees
• It is worth mentioning that the applicant does not necessarily have to withdraw the initial application, because the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) does not prohibit applicants from submitting multiple applications
• Before the visa office finalises either application, it would need to inform the applicant that the applicant would need to withdraw the second application for the visa office to issue the visa
• This is because the visa office will not issue a visa for one file while the second remains open and in process
• Cases under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) are not in the selection inventory queueing
• As such, having the applicants withdraw and re-apply would not disadvantage them with regards to their places in the processing queue and their processing times
• Some general principles that the authorities use concerning fee refunds:
• Officers would only be able to reallocate funds when the file has not passed the initial evaluation stage and the request for transferring the fee to the new file accompanies the new file
• In other words, the officers cannot prescribe waiting periods or hold the fees for future considerations
• Similarly, the officers cannot refund or reallocate fees once a file passes the initial evaluation stages

Source: CIC