2. File your evidence and legal argument

After you file your Notice, you have 30 days to give the respondent a copy of your Notice and your Application Record. This is called “serving the respondent”. Serving the respondent lets them know about the case so they can respond. There are rules that you must follow when you're serving documents.

Filing the Application Record is called “perfecting the application”. Your Application Record contains your supporting documents and legal arguments.

You must file your Application Record within 30 days from the later of:

• the date you filed the Notice of Application if you received the written reasons, or
• the date you received the written reasons if you filed your Notice of Application without written reasons.

Your Application Record must include:

• the Notice of Decision and written reasons,
• your affidavit, including all the documents that were part of your original file that you're relying on to show that a mistake was made. New evidence usually won't be considered, and
• a memorandum of law, which includes legal arguments that describe the issues, legal errors, and the evidence that supports your application.

You must give the respondent one copy of your Application Record and then file it with the court. If you're filing it in person, you must provide 3 copies.

Time limits

You can ask the Federal Court for more time to file your Application Record. To decide if you should have more time, the Court will look at:

• the strength of your case,
• the length of the delay,
• the reason for the delay, and
• whether an extension of time would be fair.

Your lawyer can contact the respondent to ask if they agree with your request for an extension of time.

Get a response

The respondent must respond to your Application Record. They do this by filing a Respondent's Memorandum of Argument that describes the Department of Justice's position on your legal arguments.

Once they receive your Application Record, the Department of Justice has 30 days to give you and the Court their Memorandum of Argument.

Review these documents carefully. You have 10 days to reply.