Judicial Review For Returned Immigration Applications: New Federal Court Decision

An increasingly common experience for visa applicants is to have an application returned to them by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada("IRCC") without being processed. This is often due to IRCC stating that the application is incomplete. Section 12 of Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations is the authority that allows the government to do so, stating that if the requirements of the Regulations are not met, then an officer shall return a visa application and all documents submitted in support of it.

This is frustrating for visa applicants, who face lengthy government processing delays, as they are often required to start the application process from the beginning without a clear explanation for what the issue is. For some, particularly permanent resident applications who may no longer qualify under Canada's current immigration programs, they may lose out on the opportunity to apply for immigration altogether, with limited opportunity to ask IRCC to reconsider the decision.

On December 18, 2025, the Federal Court of Canada delivered an important decision for applicants facing this scenario of a returned application. In Devgon v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), the Court confirmed that the return of an immigration application on the basis of incompleteness may be subject to judicial review. What this means is that, in the right circumstances, the Federal Court has jurisdiction to review whether a decision to return an application for being incomplete was reasonable and fair, in light of all the facts of the case. If not, the Court can overturn the decision and send it back to IRCC for reconsideration.

Why does this matter? Previously, the return of applications was often interpreted as outside the Court's reach. Now, the Court has clarified that, in the right circumstances, applicants may be able to argue that their application was indeed complete, and that the return was unreasonable.

Practically speaking, this clarifies that judicial review is not just for refusals after processing – it may also apply to completeness checks that stop an application before it starts. As always, each case is fact-dependent, but Devgon reinforces that returning an application can impact applicants' rights, and the Court's role in ensuring fairness and accountability in government decision-making is as important as ever.

If you are facing a situation where your application has been returned or refused and you would like to discuss what options you may have to apply for Judicial Review, or have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.