4. Review all documents before you sign your BOC

It's a good idea to get legal help to complete your Basis of Claim (BOC) form. If you do get legal help, fill out the information on page 9, even if they will not represent you at the hearing. If someone will represent you at your hearing for free, you must also complete the Notice of Representation Without a Fee form.

If you made your refugee claim at a Port of Entry, show your lawyer or licensed representative any forms and documents from the officer at the border and your eligibility interview. This includes the officer's notes. Your representative should help you ask for the notes if you do not have them. If you're also asked to fill out the online Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (IRCC) portal, work with your representative to complete the portal and have them review all information.

If you make a claim from inside Canada, you should work with your representative to answer questions in the online IRCC portal. Before you sign and submit anything, make sure all the information in the BOC and portal is accurate and consistent.

Make corrections and explain differences

It's important that you tell your representative if any information is incorrect or not true. Everything in your BOC must be correct and complete before you sign it.

And it's important to tell your representative if:

• you gave false information in your eligibility interview, immigration forms, or online portal submission
• there are differences in your identification documents or something in your immigration file

Your representative can help you explain these in your BOC. It's better to give an explanation and the correct information before your refugee hearing.

Your declaration

You must review your BOC and narrative to make sure that everything is correct. You must then sign the last page of your BOC to declare that the information in your BOC is complete, true, and correct. This is the same as swearing to tell the truth and giving a statement under oath. You're promising that all the information in your BOC is true and that no important information is missing.

If you do not understand English or French, an interpreter must read the full BOC and narrative to you. They must sign to confirm that they interpreted the entire BOC to you.