3. Fill out information about your relatives and any prior claims
Question and answer
How do I fill out my Basis of Claim form?The Basis of Claim (BOC) form also asks you to list your relatives. Relatives means:
- your or , including same-sex partners
- your children, including children born outside of marriage, adopted children, and any stepchildren
- your parents
- your siblings, including half-siblings
List all your relatives, even if they're not in Canada, not claiming protection, have died, you have not seen them in years, or you do not know where they are.
If you do not know details about a relative, such as date of birth or where they live, put “I do not know” for the details you're not sure about. Or you can put their approximate age in place of their date of birth.
Leaving out a relative or giving incorrect information can cause problems. For example, if you say that a relative was threatened but you did not list them in your BOC, your claim might be refused. Or, if your claim is accepted but you failed to list a spouse, child, or parent, you're normally not allowed to include them in your permanent residence application or sponsor them later.
Use this tipsheet to help you fill out this section of your BOC.
Previous claims
You must list any refugee claims you made in any other country. You're not eligible to make a refugee claim in Canada if you arrived after making a refugee claim in a country that shares information with Canada. This includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In that case, you will be eligible for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) instead.
You must also list any refugee claims made by the relatives listed in your BOC. If they claimed in Canada, try to get copies of all documents from their claim. At your refugee hearing, this information can be compared to the information in your claim. You might be asked to explain any differences.