IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
IRCC stands for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. You may know this organization as CIC or rather Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The government of Canada changed the name to IRCC in 2015. It is good to know that IRCC is responsible for the following activities.
- Setting policies and procedures for immigration to Canada
- Reviewing immigration applications and making decisions on them
- Issuing permanent resident visas and cards
- Setting policies and procedures for temporary residency (e.g. TRV, TRP, Study Permit, Work Permit)
- Reviewing temporary residency applications and making decisions on them
- Dealing with refugee applications inside and outside Canada
- Reviewing citizenship applications and granting citizenship
- Issuing passports and other travel documents (e.g. travel documents for refugees)
Organizations Close to IRCC
- CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) – This organization is the policing force for immigration. It also provides lawyers for IRCC when someone files a lawsuit (Judicial Review) against the Minister.
- IRB (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada) – This organization is an administrative tribunal (similar to a court). It makes decisions on matters such as inadmissibility to Canada or refugee applications in Canada.
- CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) – CSIS is the Canadian spying agency. They help with the security screening of immigration and visa applicants.
- Many other organizations such as RCMP (the federal police of Canada) or Global Affairs Canada (the department of foreign affairs)
The IRCC Website
The old IRCC website was www.cic.gc.ca. You may still have some pages of the IRCC on the old website. The new website is part of canada.ca. The following links lead you to the IRCC website.
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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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