Refugee Claim
Timeline and Deadlines
The time limits that the Act, the Regulations and the IRB's rules and practice notices set for each stage of a refugee claim, from the point you are at now. Where no time limit is fixed, the tool says so and points to the figures the IRB and IRCC publish.
Your Claim Information
What the rules fix, and what they leave open
Fixed by the Regulations
The Basis of Claim form for a port of entry claim (IRPR 159.8), the outside date for fixing the hearing (IRPR 159.9), the time to file and perfect an appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (IRPR 159.91) and the time for the Refugee Appeal Division to decide (IRPR 159.92). Each of these has an exception for fairness and natural justice, and IRPR 159.9(3) also allows a later hearing because of operational limitations of the Refugee Protection Division.
Fixed by the Act
The 15 day time limit to apply for leave for judicial review of a matter arising in Canada (IRPA 72(2)(b)), the detention review schedule (IRPA 57), the 12 month bar on a pre-removal risk assessment after a rejected claim (IRPA 112), and the cases in which no appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division is available (IRPA 110(2)).
Changed by IRB practice notices
The Refugee Protection Division currently extends the Basis of Claim form time limit for port of entry claimants from 15 to 45 calendar days, and the Refugee Appeal Division currently extends the time to perfect an appeal from 30 to 45 days. Both are practice notices, not amendments to the Regulations, and the IRB can withdraw or change them.
Not fixed anywhere
The time for the officer's eligibility decision, the time the Refugee Protection Division takes to issue a decision after the hearing, and the processing time for a protected person's permanent residence application. For those, the IRB's published statistics and IRCC's published processing times are the only official figures.