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Refugees
Refugees and people needing protection are people in or outside Canada who fear returning to their home country. In keeping with its humanitarian tradition and international obligations, Canada provides protection to thousands of people every year.
Canada offers refugee protection to people in Canada who fear persecution or whose removal from Canada would subject them to a danger of torture, a risk to their life or a risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Groups and individuals can sponsor refugees from abroad who qualify to come to Canada.
Resettlement from Outside Canada
Resettlement is the term used by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to describe the legal process of bringing a refugee to Canada to live as a permanent resident.
CIC relies on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), other referral organizations and private sponsorship groups to identify and refer refugees for resettlement in Canada.
Private sponsoring groups are groups or corporations that have signed an agreement with Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. In this agreement, they promise to provide funds and carry out certain duties to sponsor refugees who come to Canada.
For additional information on refugee resettlement to Canada, including private sponsorships, please see the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website.
Information Specific to the London Visa Office
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) UK website states:
“Resettlement from the UK
There is no resettlement programme from the UK to other countries. If an individual is interested in making an application to be resettled to another country from the UK, he/she must contact the diplomatic mission of the country concerned directly. UNHCR London will not make a referral to the latter, on behalf of the individual.
It is also important to note that resettlement applies to persons who have been recognised [as] refugees (whether by a State, or by UNHCR in other countries) – individual’s [sic] whose asylum applications have been finally rejected are not eligible.”
For additional information, visit the UNHCR in the UK website.
The Canadian High Commission in London considers applications from refugees and other persons in need of protection only if they:
- have been referred by the UNHCR, or
- have obtained a private sponsorship that has been approved by a Canadian Immigration Centre in Canada.
The UNHCR has advised that it would be contrary to their policy to refer anyone in the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greenland, or Finland who can apply for the protection of the authorities of that country.
Friends or relatives in Canada can seek information on how to arrange a private sponsorship from their nearest Canada Immigration Centre.
Any application received which is not accompanied by either a referral or a sponsorship will be returned without being considered. Any application from a person in the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Greenland, or Finland, who has not sought the protection of the authorities in these countries, will likely be refused.
The approval of a private sponsorship in Canada is not a guarantee that the application for refugee protection will result in an interview, will be accepted, or that a visa will be issued.
