Last reviewed: April 14, 2026 — by Natalie Ningjing Zhang, Principal Lawyer, BridgePoint Law Professional Corporation. General information only, not legal advice for any particular case.
Quick answer
If the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) of the Immigration and Refugee Board rejected your refugee claim, you usually have a right to appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division (RAD). The RAD is an appeal on the record — there is no oral hearing in most cases — and its job is to decide whether the RPD made errors of fact, law, or mixed fact-and-law on the evidence that was before it. In limited circumstances the RAD will accept new evidence and, exceptionally, hold an oral hearing. The deadline to perfect the appeal is tight: 15 days to file the Notice of Appeal and 30 days from the day you receive the RPD’s written reasons to file the full appellant’s record. Not every failed claimant can appeal — some are statute-barred — so the first question at any consultation is whether the RAD door is open at all.
Who can appeal to the RAD
Most failed refugee claimants have an appeal as of right, but there are several statutory exceptions under section 110(2) of IRPA. You generally cannot appeal to the RAD if: your claim came in through a Designated Country of Origin route before that scheme was struck down (legacy cases only); you were designated an “irregular arrival”; your claim was found to have no credible basis or to be manifestly unfounded; you came through the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement land-border exception; your claim was withdrawn or abandoned; or the Minister intervened and the RPD ruled you excluded under Article 1E or 1F of the Refugee Convention and the exclusion is the basis of your appeal. If you are barred from the RAD, your only challenge is a Federal Court judicial review, which has different rules, a different deadline, and a different remedy.
The 15-day / 30-day deadlines
Under the Refugee Appeal Division Rules, the appellant must file a Notice of Appeal within 15 days of receiving the RPD’s written reasons, and the full appellant’s record — memorandum, affidavit, new evidence if any, and any request for an oral hearing — within 30 days of the same trigger date. The clock starts on the date of deemed receipt of the reasons, which can be earlier than when you actually read them. Late filings are only accepted where the RAD grants an extension, which requires a reasonable explanation, a continuing intention, no prejudice, and an arguable case. Do not let the 15-day clock run out while you shop for counsel.
What the RAD actually decides
The RAD is not a second first-instance hearing. Its role, defined by the Federal Court of Appeal in Huruglica, is to perform its own independent assessment of the record and decide whether the RPD’s decision is correct. If the RAD finds the RPD was wrong, it can: substitute its own determination and recognize the appellant as a Convention refugee or person in need of protection; send the matter back to the RPD for redetermination (less common); or, in very limited cases, dismiss the appeal but suggest humanitarian options. Credibility is the most frequent battleground. The RAD gives deference to the RPD on credibility findings that turn on the RPD’s ability to observe the witness, but it does not defer on credibility findings that could be drawn equally well from the transcript and documents. That distinction is where most successful RAD appeals live.
New evidence on appeal
Under section 110(4) of IRPA, new evidence is admissible on appeal only if it arose after the rejection of the claim, was not reasonably available at the time of the RPD hearing, or the appellant could not reasonably have been expected to present it at that time. The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Singh added that the proposed new evidence must also be credible, relevant, and new in substance — not a repackaging of old material. Getting new evidence admitted is one of the most difficult technical battles in RAD practice and the single biggest reason claimants retain counsel for the appeal even if they represented themselves at the RPD.
Oral hearings at the RAD
Oral hearings at the RAD are the exception, not the rule. Under section 110(6) of IRPA, the RAD can hold an oral hearing only if the new evidence (i) raises a serious issue with respect to credibility, (ii) is central to the decision, and (iii) if accepted, would justify allowing or rejecting the claim. All three conditions must be met. If you are asking for an oral hearing, the request goes in the appellant’s record and has to be explicitly justified — the RAD will not infer the request from the fact that new evidence has been filed.
Country-condition evidence and Cartographic evidence
RAD appeals rise and fall on the country conditions in the record. Updated National Documentation Packages, new reports from UN agencies and credible NGOs, and targeted academic sources can shift the objective assessment of risk dramatically between the RPD hearing and the appeal. A strong appellant’s record almost always includes a focused country-conditions submission that directly engages the RPD’s factual findings, not a generic overview. Where identity-based persecution is alleged (sexual orientation and gender identity, religious minorities, gender, political opinion), the record should also address how country conditions specifically affect that group, not the country in general.
If the RAD dismisses the appeal
A dismissal at the RAD can still be judicially reviewed at the Federal Court. The 15-day/60-day filing deadlines under IRPA section 72(2)(b) run from notice of the RAD decision. A Federal Court JR of a RAD decision is reviewed on a reasonableness standard under Vavilov, with careful attention to whether the RAD properly engaged with the appellant’s arguments, addressed the key pieces of evidence, and applied Huruglica correctly. In parallel, a failed RAD appellant becomes eligible for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) one year after the RAD decision, and in some cases an H&C application may be the more realistic long-term path.
What to bring to your first consultation
For a RAD consult we need the RPD’s written reasons, the Basis of Claim form and any amendments, a copy of the RPD hearing recording or transcript (which we can order), the rejection letter and the date it was received, the initial disclosure package that went into the RPD hearing, and any evidence or country-conditions material you believe was missed. Bring everything you have, including documents in your first language — we can work with the original and arrange translation of key portions if needed.
Why BridgePoint Law
BridgePoint Law acts for refugee claimants across Canada in RAD appeals, Federal Court judicial reviews of RAD decisions, PRRA applications, and inland H&C applications. Principal lawyer Natalie Ningjing Zhang is a member of the Law Society of Ontario, the Canadian Bar Association, the OBA Citizenship and Immigration Section (East), and the Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association, and works in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. We file appeals across all RPD regional hearing locations.
Next steps
If you have an RPD rejection in hand, calendar the 15-day deadline today and book a consultation. We will tell you whether the appeal is arguable, whether new evidence is likely to be admitted, and whether an oral hearing request is realistic.
Call: +1 (613) 777-0992 | Email: info@bridgepointlaw.ca | Immigration Litigation practice | Federal Court judicial review guide
Frequently asked questions
Who can appeal to the Refugee Appeal Division?
Most failed refugee claimants whose claim was decided on the merits by the RPD. Section 110(2) of IRPA lists the exceptions, including no-credible-basis findings, manifestly unfounded claims, irregular-arrival designations, and Safe Third Country cases.
How long do I have to file?
Fifteen days to file the Notice of Appeal and 30 days to file the full appellant’s record, both running from the day you receive the RPD’s written reasons.
Will the RAD hold a hearing?
Usually no. The RAD decides most appeals on the written record. An oral hearing is only held where new evidence raises a serious credibility issue that is central to the decision and that, if accepted, would justify allowing or rejecting the claim.
Can I submit new evidence on appeal?
Only if it arose after the RPD’s rejection, was not reasonably available at the time of the hearing, or could not reasonably have been presented earlier — and, per the Federal Court of Appeal in Singh, only if it is credible, relevant, and new in substance.
What standard of review does the RAD apply to the RPD?
Per Huruglica, the RAD performs its own independent assessment of the record and asks whether the RPD was correct, with limited deference only on credibility findings that depend on actually observing the witness.
What if the RAD also dismisses my appeal?
You can ask the Federal Court for judicial review of the RAD decision within 15 days (inside Canada) of being notified. In parallel, a PRRA becomes available one year after the RAD decision, and an H&C application may also be an option.