Processing pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) applications: Intake

Applying for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA)

• Who can apply for a PRRA
• Regulatory stay of removal
• Triggering a PRRA
• Subsequent PRRA applicants
• Applicants described in subsection A112(3)
• People subject to security certificates

Who can apply for a PRRA

With some exceptions set out in subsection 112(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), people in Canada, other than those referred to in subsection A115(1) (protected persons or people who are recognized as Convention refugees by another country to which they may be returned), may apply for a pre-removal risk assessment (PRRA) if they are subject to a removal order that is in force or are named in a security certificate described in subsection A77(1). Excluding PRRAs at ports of entry and subsequent PRRAs, a person may not apply before being given notification of their entitlement to do so.

Regulatory stay of removal

When a person is notified, as per section 160 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), of their entitlement to apply for a PRRA, the removal order against them becomes subject to a regulatory stay of removal [R232]. Notification is normally done in person, by a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) removals officer who provides the candidate with a PRRA application kit. If the person applies within the 15-day application period (7 additional days are provided to those who are notified by mail), the stay is maintained until a decision is made on the application.

Learn more about removals and stays of removal.

Triggering a PRRA

Once the person is removal-ready, the CBSA issues a PRRA Notification, advising them that they are entitled to apply for PRRA. The notice informs the person that they have 15 days in which to apply, plus an additional 15 days in which to provide written submissions in support of their application. The address to which everything must be sent is specified in the PRRA Notification package.

Evidence provided by previous refugee claimants is limited to that which arose after the rejection of their claim by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) or evidence that was not reasonably available or that the applicant could not reasonably have been expected in the circumstances to have presented to the IRB at the time of the rejection of the claim [A113(a)].

Subsequent PRRA applicants

A foreign national who is subject to a removal order that is in force and whose previous PRRA application has been refused, abandoned or withdrawn may apply for a subsequent PRRA as long as they are not subject to the 12-month bar on PRRA applications (consult Who cannot apply for PRRA below).

However, subsequent PRRA applicants do not benefit from a regulatory stay of removal. Subsequent PRRA applicants have their application assessed only in terms of risk factors that have arisen since the last PRRA assessment, in accordance with the administrative law principle of issue estoppel, unless the officer is satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice to revisit an issue dealt with in a previous PRRA.

Applicants described in subsection A112(3)

In keeping with the principle that individuals such as serious criminals are excluded from refugee protection under the provisions of the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention), certain applications submitted by people described in subsection A112(3) are not assessed against Refugee Convention grounds. Examples include those excluded under Article 1F of the Refugee Convention.

Learn more about applicant restrictions on access to protection.

People subject to security certificates

Permanent residents and foreign nationals may be the subject of a certificate, signed by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety, stating that they are inadmissible on grounds of security, violating human or international rights, serious criminality or organized criminality [A77(1)].

Please contact the Immigration Program Guidance Branch (IPGB) for guidance on security certificate cases.

Who cannot apply for a PRRA

Outlined below are persons who cannot apply for a PRRA. The exceptions generally relate to persons who already have protection or have other means of seeking protection.

• Protected persons and Convention refugees
• Persons subject to an authority to proceed under the Extradition Act
• Claimants coming from a safe third country
• Certain unsuccessful refugee claimants and previous PRRA applicants

Protected persons and Convention refugees

Subsection A115(1) provides that a protected person or a person who is recognized as a Convention refugee by another country to which they may be returned shall not be removed from Canada to a country where they would be at risk of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; or at risk of torture or cruel and unusual treatment or punishment. Subsection A115(2) provides exceptions to this protection against refoulement for those who are inadmissible on grounds of serious criminality, of being a security risk, of violating human or international rights, or of organized criminality and who, in the opinion of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, are also a danger to the Canadian public, a danger to the security of Canada or (by reason of the nature and severity of the acts committed) should not be allowed to remain in Canada. Pursuant to subsection A112(1), persons described in section A115(1) cannot apply for a PRRA.

However, persons described in subsection A115(1) may apply for an assessment of the risk they would face in the country or countries to which they can be removed. For example, applicants may assert that they are at risk in a country that has granted them Convention refugee status and to which they can be returned.

Learn more about non-refoulement.

Persons subject to an authority to proceed under the Extradition Act

The authority to proceed (ATP) issued under section 15 of the Extradition Act is issued by the Department of Justice once it has sufficient documentation from the requesting country to proceed. A confirmation of the ATP is sent to the IRCC Case Management Branch (CMB), and an extradition info-alert is placed in the Global Case Management System, indicating that the ATP has been issued. A person against whom an ATP has been issued is not entitled, pursuant to paragraph A112(2)(a), to apply for a PRRA. If the ATP is issued after the PRRA application has been made, the officer assigned to assess the application should consult with the IPGB.

Claimants coming from a safe third country

A person is not entitled, pursuant to paragraph A112(2)(b), to apply for a PRRA if their claim for refugee protection was determined to be ineligible because they came to Canada directly or indirectly from a safe third country; that is, a country designated by the Regulations, other than the person’s country of nationality or, if the person is stateless, the person’s country of former habitual residence. To date, only the United States of America has been designated.

Certain unsuccessful refugee claimants and previous PRRA applicants

Certain unsuccessful refugee claimants or previous PRRA applicants may be barred from applying for a PRRA.

12-month PRRA bar

• Applicability of the PRRA bar
• Calculating the bar
• Exemptions from the 12-month bar

Certain unsuccessful refugee claimants or previous PRRA applicants may be barred from applying for a PRRA as described in paragraphs A112(2)(b.1) and A112(2)(c).

Before notifying an unsuccessful refugee claimant of their entitlement to apply for a PRRA (further to section R160), or before assessing a PRRA, the officer must verify if the person is subject to the 12-month PRRA bar.

In exceptional circumstances, for individuals who are barred from applying for a PRRA, CBSA may request that IRCC reviews a request for a PRRA bar waiver under subsection A25(1) in the context of a request to defer removal. Consult section 25.4 of ENF 10 – Removals (PDF, 879 KB).

Applicability of the PRRA bar

The 12-month PRRA bar applies to the following persons:

• persons who have received a negative decision from the IRB on a claim for refugee protection
• persons who have received a negative decision from IRCC on a past PRRA application
• persons who have received a negative decision from the Federal Court on an application for leave or judicial review regarding a claim for refugee protection or a PRRA decision

The PRRA bar does not apply to individuals whose

• refugee claim has been rejected on the basis of sections E or F of Article 1 of the Refugee Convention
• refugee protection has been vacated under subsection A109(3)

Calculating the bar

The bar is calculated from the date of the most recent Refugee Protection Division (RPD), Refugee Appeals Division (RAD) or PRRA decision, or from the date the Federal Court refuses the application for leave or confirms a negative RPD, RAD or PRRA decision.

The date of the decision is considered to be one of the following:

• when an IRB member states the decision and gives the reasons, if the decision is given orally at a hearing
• when an IRB member signs and dates the reason for the decision, if the decision is made in writing
• when the PRRA officer provides the written decision (following a PRRA)
• when the application for leave of the RPD, RAD or previous PRRA decision is denied by the Federal Court
• when the judicial review of the RPD, RAD or previous PRRA decision is rejected by the Federal Court

Exemptions from the 12-month bar

Under subsection A112(2.1), the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration may exempt from the 12-month bar nationals or former habitual residents of a country where conditions have changed such that certain people could be subject to a risk within the meaning of sections A96 and A97.

Exemptions under subsection A112(2.1) are in place for nationals from the following countries: