I missed the deadline to challenge a decision can I still do something?
Short answer
In Canada, s. 72(2)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act provides that a judge of the Federal Court may, for special reasons, allow an extended time for filing and serving an application for leave and for judicial review.
In detail
The 15-day or 60-day limit is therefore not absolute: the Act itself contemplates that a judge may extend it. It does, however, require “special reasons”, which have to be set out for the Court.
A request for an extension is assessed case by case, on the facts presented. It is not a formality: the person has to explain why the deadline was missed and what they did during that period.
What is constant is that the explanation must be documented: what was received, when, and what was done next.
What to document
A dated timeline of everything that happened since the decision: date of receipt, attempts to make contact, hospital stays or other obstacles, steps taken, emails sent and received. Taken together, those dates are what makes up the explanation for the delay.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
Related questions
- My refugee claim was refused how long do I have to appeal?
- What is the difference between the notice of appeal and the appellant's record at the RAD?
- Can the Refugee Appeal Division give me more time?
- What happens on the day of my IRB hearing?
- What documents do I need to bring to my refugee hearing?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.