Add an application to your online IRCC portal
Kawa, an Iraqi citizen, recently hired an immigration consultant to apply for a study permit. After applying, his consultant became seriously ill and went into a coma. Therefore, Kawa received a message from their office to continue his application without representation or hire a new consultant. Kawa decided on the former. Consequently, he created an online IRCC account. However, he doesn’t know how to add an application to his IRCC portal.
Table of contents
What is an online IRCC portal?
IRCC allows applicants to create an account and access a unique portal. If you are an authorized representative, you may also have access to a portal for representatives. Of course, these portals allow you to apply for specific applications, such as work permits, study permits, visitor records, and Express Entry. Moreover, you may link some of the previously-submitted paper-based applications to these portals. Some examples include Agri-Food Pilot and self-employed applications. However, since the COVID pandemic, IRCC has introduced other portals, such as the following:
- The Permanent Residence (PR) Portals for applicants and representatives
- The Visitor Visa and Refugee Claim Portal
The focus of this article is the unique portal that we use for many of the applications. Therefore, this article does not apply to the portals mentioned in the bullet points. To be clear, here are the correct links:
- Portal for the end-users (the applicants)
- Authorized Paid Representatives Portal
Why add an application to the online IRCC portal
By adding an application to the online IRCC portal, you could achieve one or more of the following:
- Cancelling a representative or taking over the representation
- Receiving emails from IRCC when they update the application or request documents
- Submitting supplementary documents upon activation by an immigration officer
- Checking out the status of the application
What do you need to add an application to the online IRCC portal?
Let’s say you already have created an IRCC account and have access to the portal. To add an application to the new portal, you need the following:
- The main form that you used for initially applying. Of course, depending on the application type, this form could be any of the following:
- Permanent residence – IMM 0008
- Work permit from outside Canada – IMM 1295
- Study permit from outside Canada – IMM 1294
- Work permit (extension) inside Canada – IMM 5710
- Study permit form inside Canada – IMM 5709
- Visitor Record – IMM 5708
- The AOR letter and, if applicable, any other correspondence you have received from IRCC (e.g., the IME letter or the BIL).
- The Use of a Representative form (IMM 5476), either for cancelling the representative or taking over the representation.
In most cases, you find the answers to all the questions in the main application form. However, it’s a good idea to have access to other forms and identity documents in case of error messages. Of course, you may also use these documents when you cannot access the main form. My experience says this is not the best approach, but dire times call for dire measures.
How to add an application to the IRCC portal
The following steps show you how to add an application to your IRCC portal. However, the exact steps could be different. Regardless, the next steps give you an idea of how to proceed.
- Log in to the account and click the “Add (link) add or link your application to your account” option.
- Select the application type.
- Select the application sub-category (if applicable).
- Under the “Application details” section, choose one of the options. My favourite option is Application Number and Unique Client Identifier (UCI). I rarely fail to add applications by selecting this option. You may locate the application number on the AOR letter. For UCI, you usually must refer to other documents. However, you may choose any option from the list if you do not have access to these numbers.
- Under the applicant’s personal information, choose an option and use the main application form to answer the questions.
- Depending on the application type, other questions appear. You can usually use the main form to answer these questions. The following images show the questions for a study permit application. When done, click the “Search for my application” button.
- If successful, you must upload the completed and duly signed Use of a Representative form (IMM 5476).
- After uploading the form and clicking the “submit” button, you’ll receive the following message.
You and the previous representative receive an email about adding the application to the new IRCC account. Remember that only one portal may have access to the application.
Troubleshooting
There is no easy way to troubleshoot potential problems. If you do not have the main form, try to locate it. However, if you cannot add an application to the IRCC portal despite using the main form, try different combinations for the “Application details” and “Applicant’s personal information” sections. If none of those efforts succeeds, contact IRCC via the web form and ask for assistance. They rarely help you, but it’s worth trying.
Let us help!
We will add your application to our IRCC portal if you hire me as your representative. Consequently, I’ll represent you to IRCC. Please consider booking a consultation session with me or filling out our assessment form. Alternatively, please fill out the following form to contact us.
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Al ParsaiAl Parsai, LLM, MA, RCIC-IRB
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Adjunct Professor – Queen’s University – Faculty of Law
Ashton College Instructor – Immigration Consulting
Author – 88 Tips on Immigration to Canada
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