Operational Bulletin 355 - November 16, 2011

Increases to International Organization for Migration (IOM) services fees for services provided to persons resettled to Canada under the refugee protection classes

Issue

This Operational Bulletin is to advise visa offices that effective November 1, 2011, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) increased the service fee that is charged to resettled refugees who utilize IOM’s assistance in relocating to Canada. This service charge is passed onto refugees as part of their transportation loan (also known as the immigration loan).

The previous fee was $165 per person with the limit of four service fees per application (to a maximum of $660). This was increased to $180 per person with no limit on the number of service fees per loan. However, the $10,000 loan cap remains in place which means that any transportation loan amount in excess of $10,000 will continue to be paid by IOM, rather than billed to the refugee.

Background

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and IOM are parties to a Memorandum of Understanding on Migration Programs. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines the services that IOM will provide to assist in the movement of refugees, as well as the process for reimbursement to IOM. The services provided by IOM include booking transportation for refugees, obtaining travel documents, conducting medical exams and other services as required. A service fee, payable by the refugee, is added to each family’s transportation loan to cover IOM’s administrative costs associated with the delivery of its services.

In 2004, the MOU was amended to include a $10,000 cap on transportation loans. Any amount in excess of $10,000 was to be paid by IOM, rather than billed to the refugee. To offset the costs of the $10,000 cap, IOM received approval from CIC to increase the service fee to $165 per person, with a limit of four service fees per application to a maximum of $660 per loan.

The service fee was increased to $180 per person in order to cover the costs associated with the increasing trend of selecting refugees from more remote and challenging locations, as well as inflation. The limit to the number of service fees per loan was removed in order to minimize the increase per service fee, and to more fairly distribute the costs to all refugees, regardless of family size. It is anticipated that removing this limit will be mitigated for larger families of five or more by the loan cap of $10,000.

Role of visa officers

Visa officers will have a role in communicating these changes when they discuss the immigration loan program with resettled refugees at the time of their selection interviews. Should they agree and sign for an immigration loan, the refugees will need to understand that these service fees will be added to their loan, along with other costs related to travelling to Canada (i.e. medical examinations and travel costs to Canada). The loan is to be repaid by the family over time once they settle in Canada.