What documents do I need to bring to my refugee hearing?
Short answer
In Canada, a refugee claimant should have with them at the hearing all the forms and evidence sent to the Refugee Protection Division; the member reviews the documents entered into evidence, assigns each a number, and may look at originals brought to the hearing.
In detail
The Immigration and Refugee Board's materials stress one practical point: the documents sent to the Division should also be in hand on the day of the hearing, gathered in one place, so that they can be consulted.
The documents mentioned include those that establish citizenship, as well as those relating to immigration status in another country if the person has lived there.
Documents must also be sent to the Division in accordance with its rules before the hearing. How and by when they must be sent is set out in the applicable Rules and on the IRB's website: it is better to check those for your own file than to rely on a general rule.
What to document
A numbered inventory of every document: what it is, its date, where it came from, what language it is in, whether there is a translation, and whether you hold the original or a copy. Keep proof of the date you sent everything to the Division as well. An organized, dated file is what makes documents findable on the day.
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
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada — Claiming refugee protection: attending your hearing
- Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada — Less complex refugee claims (short-hearing process, file-review process)
Related questions
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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.