Chapter CP 8 - Appeals

Section 1 - Overview

1.1 This chapter is about

appeal of judge’s decision to Federal Court of Canada

1.2 Related topics

See chapters on residence, waivers,

1.3 Authorities

1.4 Applicant and Minister have right to appeal

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the applicant both have the right to appeal a judge's decision to the Federal Court of Canada-Trial Division.

1.5 Appeal at Federal Court

The Federal Court justice assesses the evidence reviewed by the citizenship judge. The Federal Court justice then makes a decision. The decision of the Federal Court is final and no further appeals are allowed.

1.6 Reasons for appeal

An applicant may appeal the judge’s decision where the judge did not approve the application and the applicant believes the judge made an error in the decision or did not take all evidence into account. The most common reasons for applicant appeals are for applications non-approved on the basis of language, knowledge or residence.

The Minister may appeal the judge’s decision where the judge did approve the application and the Minister believes the judge made an error or did not correctly apply Federal Court jurisprudence.

1.7 Time period to file appeal

An appeal must be filed with the Federal Court of Canada–Trial Division:

within 60 days of the date of the judge's decision to approve the application in the case of a Ministerial appeal

OR

within 60 days of the date that the registered letter was mailed to the applicant informing him or her of the judge’s decision not to approve the application, or the date the letter was given to the applicant.

New Federal Court Rules came into force on April 25, 1998. These new Rules impact on how citizenship appeal cases are managed both by the Federal Court and CIC.