At Kingwell Immigration Law, we have helped clients fight PRRA refusals at the Federal Court of Canada — and the answer to who can apply depends on your immigration history, the type of removal order you face, and whether a 12-month waiting period applies to your situation.
A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) is Canada’s last formal protection mechanism before a person is deported, and not everyone facing removal qualifies.
If you are facing removal from Canada, speak with our deportation lawyer in Canada about your PRRA options.
A Pre-Removal Risk Assessment is a written application reviewed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that asks a single question: Would removing you from Canada put you at serious risk?
Under sections 112 to 115 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), IRCC officers assess whether your removal would expose you to:
A PRRA is not the same as a refugee claim. A refugee claim is heard by the independent Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). A PRRA is assessed by an IRCC officer on written submissions alone, with no in-person hearing unless credibility is a central issue and oral testimony is required under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
For many people facing removal, it is the last legal safeguard available in Canada — and we are here to help you use it effectively.
Not everyone facing removal is eligible to apply. Eligibility is determined by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) when the removal process begins. You can only apply if CBSA notifies you that you are eligible and provides you with a PRRA application package — you cannot self-refer.
You may be eligible if you fall into one of these categories:
Some people facing removal are not eligible for a PRRA, or face significant restrictions on what can be assessed:
If you are unsure which category applies to your situation, our lawyers can assess your eligibility and advise you on the options available before your removal date.
In most cases, if you have previously had a refugee claim or PRRA application refused, abandoned, or withdrawn, you must wait 12 months before becoming eligible to apply again. Under section 112(2)(b.1) of the IRPA, the 12-month bar is triggered by:
The 12-month period runs from whichever of these events occurred most recently. If you pursued multiple steps — for example, an RPD rejection followed by a RAD appeal and then a Federal Court application — the bar runs from the final negative outcome, not the first. For applicants from designated countries of origin, the waiting period is extended to 36 months under the same provision.
IRCC may waive the 12-month bar for nationals of specific countries where conditions have deteriorated rapidly. As of early 2026, IRCC maintains a list of country-based exemptions to the 12-month bar for nationals of certain countries — for example, Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela — each tied to specific decision date windows. These exemptions change over time, and the official IRCC eligibility page maintains the current list.
If you received a negative decision and are unsure whether an exemption applies to your country, we can review your timeline and confirm whether you are currently eligible to apply.
The PRRA landscape has shifted significantly since 2025. Bill C-12 — the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act — received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026, and introduced two rules that now direct a large group of asylum seekers away from the IRB and into the PRRA process instead.
IRCC has estimated that approximately 37% of asylum claims filed between June and October 2025 — roughly 19,000 applications — fall under these rules. For people in this category, the PRRA is no longer a fallback option; it is the primary mechanism for seeking protection in Canada.
Claimants diverted to PRRA under Bill C-12 are also not subject to the new evidence restriction — they can submit a full evidentiary record from the outset.
If you are affected by the Bill C-12 changes and are unsure of your pathway, our lawyers can assess your situation and help you build the strongest possible submission.
Not all PRRA applicants are assessed on the same grounds. The type of PRRA you receive depends on your removal history and the nature of the inadmissibility finding against you.
| PRRA Type | Who It Applies To | Risk Grounds Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted PRRA | Failed refugee claimants; people under removal without a prior refugee claim | Persecution (s. 96 IRPA), torture, risk to life, cruel and unusual treatment (s. 97 IRPA) |
| Restricted PRRA | Persons inadmissible for serious criminality, organized criminality, security, or human and international rights violations | Torture only (s. 97(1)(a) IRPA) |
For restricted applicants, the threshold is higher, and the grounds are narrower. We can advise you on what arguments are available within those limits and how to structure your submission accordingly.
If you previously had a refugee claim refused, there is a significant restriction on what evidence you can submit in your PRRA. Under section 113(a) of the IRPA, failed refugee claimants can only present evidence that:
This rule exists because the PRRA is not designed to be a second refugee hearing — its purpose is to capture new risks that did not exist, or were not known, at the time of the original decision. In practice, the question of what qualifies as genuinely “new” evidence has been debated at the Federal Court for years.
One of the most common reasons PRRA applications are refused is an officer’s failure to properly consider the evidence submitted
📌 In O.J. v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2019 FC 684), we successfully appealed a PRRA refusal to the Federal Court after the officer failed to consider important evidence of threats our client faced from her husband in Nigeria — and failed to hold a mandatory PRRA interview. The Court overturned the decision and sent the application back for review.
📌 In A.M. v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2019 FC 270), the Federal Court agreed with our position that the officer had improperly rejected new evidence of the ongoing danger our client faced in Iran, and ordered the PRRA reconsidered.
Screening your evidence carefully before submission — and identifying what qualifies as “new” — is one of the most valuable ways we can support you in preparing your PRRA.
To discuss your evidence and submission strategy, book a consultation at Kingwell Immigration Law.
When CBSA determines you are removal-ready and eligible for a PRRA, you will receive a notification package containing Form IMM 5508 (Application for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment) and Guide 5523. The deadlines that follow are strict. For a full overview of what the PRRA application involves, visit our dedicated service page.
Applications may be submitted online through Canada Post’s Connect service, which allows IRCC to register the stay of removal faster than paper submissions. Given how tight these timelines are, having a lawyer involved from the moment you receive the notification can make a significant difference.
Because most PRRA decisions are made entirely on the written record, the quality of your submission is the single most important factor in the outcome. Evidence that carries significant weight includes:
PRRA officers are bound by the rules of procedural fairness. In Yasmin v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2018 FC 265), we appealed successfully to the Federal Court on the basis that IRCC had failed to provide our client with evidence of a fingerprint match before refusing her application — a clear breach of procedural fairness.
The Court agreed and ordered her application reconsidered. The same principle applies in PRRA cases: if an officer relies on country condition documents they did not disclose to you, or raises credibility concerns without giving you an opportunity to respond, those failures can form the basis of a successful judicial review.
Building a submission that is both thorough and strategically sound — and identifying procedural errors if a refusal follows — is precisely where our lawyers can make a difference to your outcome.
💡 Additional reading: PRRA approval rate
If your PRRA is approved, you become a protected person under the IRPA. You may apply for permanent residence in Canada — with one notable exception. If your removal order was based on serious criminality, you may be recognized as a protected person but remain ineligible for permanent residence.
If your PRRA is refused, your removal order becomes enforceable again. Options that may remain available include:
It is also important to note that only a lawyer — not a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) — can represent you before the Federal Court. If your PRRA has been refused, we can assess whether judicial review is viable and move quickly to protect your right to remain in Canada.
When removal is approaching, and a PRRA is your last line of protection, the written submission you put before the officer — and the legal strategy behind it — can determine what happens next.
At Kingwell Immigration Law, our lawyers bring over 20 years of Canadian immigration experience to every PRRA file. We have taken PRRA decisions to the Federal Court and won, identifying the errors that officers make and building the arguments that courts have accepted.
Whether you have just received a PRRA notification, are concerned about the 12-month bar, have received a refusal, or are facing imminent removal, we can assess your situation and take action on your behalf.
Call us at 416.988.8853 or book a consultation to speak with a lawyer today.
Yes. If you have never sought refugee protection through the IRB and are facing removal for overstaying your visa or another non-criminal ground, you may be eligible for a PRRA once CBSA notifies you. Because you have no prior refused refugee claim, you are not subject to the new evidence restriction.
Filing a complete PRRA application on time triggers an automatic stay of removal in most cases — but only if you submit Form IMM 5508 by the deadline in your CBSA notification. Missing that deadline eliminates the automatic stay, and filing for judicial review alone does not pause removal.
Yes. Dependent family members who are in Canada and named in your PRRA notification may be included, but each person’s individual risk must be addressed in the submission. Risks that are distinct from yours should be presented separately with supporting evidence.
No. Documents in a language other than English or French must be accompanied by a certified translation before submission, or they risk being disregarded entirely. The translation must include a signed declaration from the translator confirming their competency and the accuracy of the translation.
Under section 72 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, you have 15 days from receiving the decision to file for leave and judicial review if you are in Canada — one of the shortest limitation periods in Canadian immigration law. Our lawyers can assess viability and file urgently to preserve your right to remain.
