Temporary public policy to facilitate the sponsorship of Afghan refugees by groups of five and community sponsors

This page contains guidance on the processing of private sponsorship applications under the Temporary public policy to facilitate the sponsorship of Afghan refugees by groups of five and community sponsors.

Under this public policy, IRCC committed to accept applications into processing for up to 3,000 Afghan refugees through the Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program beginning on October 17, 2022.

The public policy expires on October 17, 2023, or once applications for 3,000 persons (principal applicants and their family members, whether accompanying or not, and de facto dependants) have been accepted into processing by IRCC, whichever comes first.

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Note: The intake cap has been reached and no new applications will be accepted under this public policy.

Key message: Under this temporary public policy, the requirement for groups of five (G5) and community sponsors (CS) to provide a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) document for refugee applicants is waived. Assessments and processing will otherwise follow existing procedures for processing PSR applications.

Priority processing

Applications received under this public policy are prioritized at intake and subsequent processing stages.

Receipt and intake of applications

Sponsors email applications to the Resettlement Processing Office – Ottawa (ROC-O) inbox at IRCC.INROCO-CORORI.IRCC@cic.gc.ca in accordance with existing submission instructions for the PSR program.

For more information, consult: Receipt and intake of application (PSR program).

The email subject lines for applications submitted under this public policy are different from those used for the PSR program.

The English email subject lines are

G5 Afghan PSR PP_[PA FAMILY NAME, First name]
CS Afghan PSR PP_[PA FAMILY NAME, First name]

The French email subject lines are

G5 RPSP PP Afghan_[NOM DE FAMILLE, Prénom du demandeur principal]
RC RPSP PP Afghan_[NOM DE FAMILLE, Prénom du demandeur principal]

Applications will be reviewed for completeness in accordance with the existing sponsorship assessment procedures for G5 and CS applications, with the following 2 exceptions:

Not required: an RSD document
Required: a certificate confirming completion of the mandatory training provided by the Refugee Sponsorship Training Program (RSTP)

This public policy came into force on October 17, 2022, at midnight, Eastern Time. Applications submitted before this date will not be accepted under this policy.

Multiple applications

When a refugee sponsorship application is received under this public policy for a principal applicant who already has a refugee sponsorship application in process, the following instructions apply.

Sponsor is the same

If the sponsor is exactly the same (that is, the same program and same group composition) in both the application already in progress and this new application, then the second application can be returned to the sponsor, in accordance with Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations subsection 10(5). As a result, the first application will be processed under the regular PSR program and not expedited under this public policy.

Sponsor is not the same

If the sponsor is not the same as the one in the application already in process (that is, the composition of the sponsoring group is not identical), or the application is submitted under a different resettlement program (Government-Assisted Refugee program, other type of sponsor group, or other public policy), the second application should be accepted for processing. It cannot be returned.

ROC-O will

create a new application in Global Case Management System (GCMS) and send an acknowledgement of receipt to the sponsor if the application is complete
add a note on the newly created file for the application under this public policy and also on the existing application to indicate a cross-reference

The International Network will

process both applications until a final decision has been reached on one of the applications (understanding that applications under this public policy are prioritized)
coordinate internally, as needed, when two applications are being processed at the same time

Expiry date or cap reached

After the expiry date of October 17, 2023 (11:59 pm, Pacific Time), or once applications for 3,000 individuals have been entered into processing, applications received under this public policy will be returned.

Application requirements

Mandatory training program

Sponsors must attend a mandatory training about this public policy that is provided by the RSTP. Only one person in each sponsoring group is required to take the training. Sponsors must include a copy of the training certificate in the application package they submit to ROC-O.

Certificate holders

For G5 applications, the certificate holder must be one of the group members who signed the sponsorship undertaking.
For CS applications, the certificate holder must be the signing authority of the sponsorship undertaking.

Note: If the certificate is in the name of a paid or unpaid representative, the application will be returned, indicating that a G5 member or the CS signing authority must complete the training.

When a training certificate is not included in the application, the list of attendees for the training (provided by the RSTP) is checked. If the sponsor has completed the training, ROC-O will follow existing pre-return procedures and provide an opportunity for the sponsor to submit the missing certificate. The application will not be counted (as a space under the cap) until ROC-O has

received the missing document(s)
finalized the completeness check
entered the application into processing

If the list of attendees for the training is checked and the sponsor has not completed the training, the complete application is returned.

If an RSD is included

This public policy waives the requirement to provide an RSD; however, if the application includes a valid RSD and is complete, it will be processed under this public policy.

File creation and tracking

Applications under this public policy will be centrally tracked and reported by the Operations Planning and Performance Branch. Only complete applications that have been entered into processing (with a file created and promoted) will be counted toward the cap of 3,000 persons.

To ensure this public policy is appropriately tracked, ROC-O will enter the “P32” special program code in GCMS.

After the expiry date of October 17, 2023 (11:59 pm, Pacific Time), or once the intake cap has been reached, whichever comes first, applications received under this public policy will be returned to sponsors with an explanation in the return correspondence.