Can I lose my refugee status because I gave untrue information?

If the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) accepts your refugee claim, you become a protected person and can apply for permanent residence.

You remain a protected person even after becoming a permanent resident. This means that you can have two kinds of status at once.

You can lose both your protected person status and your permanent resident status if the government believes that you gave false information in your refugee claim, or left out important information. This is called vacation.

Vacation case

If the government believes that you got refugee protection through misrepresentation, they can start a process to cancel your protected person status.

Misrepresentation means giving untrue or incorrect information or leaving out important information.

Losing your protection this way is called vacation.

If your protected person status gets vacated:

• You lose your protected person status.
• You also lose your permanent resident status, if you had it.
• You will be ordered to leave Canada.
• You are banned from Canada for 5 years from the date you leave Canada.
• You cannot make a new refugee claim in Canada.

This can happen even if you have been in Canada for many years.

Your protection can be vacated whether you got it from the IRB, through overseas refugee resettlement, or after making a successful Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA). But the vacation process can be different if you got protection from a PRRA.

Other ways you can lose your status

You can also lose both your protected person status and your permanent resident status if:

• Your actions show that you might not need Canada's protection anymore. This is called cessation.
• The Minister appeals the decision that gave you protected person status, and the Refugee Appeal Division sets the decision aside. Read Step 5 of The Minister is involved in my refugee claim. What do I do?

Canada can also deport a protected person if that person becomes a danger to the public or to Canada's security because of serious crimes done in Canada or outside Canada.

Get legal help

Vacation cases are very serious. You can lose your status and be removed from Canada. It's very important to get legal help right away if Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) starts a vacation case against you.