Citizenship and Immigration Canada to Refund Advance-Paid Fees

Upon request, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will provide a full refund to those who have provided advance payment for Right of Landing fees with parent or grandparent sponsorship applications.

The Right of Landing fee is not required until a visa is actually issued. The concern however is that the individuals seeking to sponsor their family member may have misconstrued the information in the CIC sponsorship guide as implying that advance payment would lead to faster processing. The guide suggests that if the applicant provides the fee with the earlier documents, they save the step in the process later on where they must submit payments. This does not however mean a faster processing time for the application.

With the queue for applications at approximately 100 000, parent/grandparent sponsorships face a long wait. In recognition of any possible confusion, CIC has volunteered to refund any advance payments of Right of Landing fees upon request until the time of visa issuance, when the payment is required.