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Passport Return Process After Refugee Claim Withdrawal in Canada
Short answer: CBSA doesn’t just mail your passport to your home.
When you withdraw your refugee claim, your passport is normally handed back to you in person either:
1. What happens when you withdraw your refugee claim?
When you withdraw your in-Canada refugee claim, your conditional removal order becomes active, and you’re expected to leave Canada and confirm your departure with CBSA.
Without that CBSA “confirmed departure,” it can cause future problems (like needing an ARC—Authorization to Return to Canada—if you ever want to come back).
If your passport was taken (seized) earlier in the process, it is normally held either by:
IRCC’s official guidance says: if you are a refugee claimant who wants to leave Canada and your passport was seized, you must contact them to request it back.
CBSA, on their side, has a specific process and form (BSF699) for requesting the return of a seized travel document, sent to the same office whose address is on your seizure notice (BSF698).
2. Where do you actually get the passport back?
In real life, there are a few common scenarios: a) Inland, voluntary departure (most common for refugee withdrawal)
If you buy your own ticket and plan to leave voluntarily:
If someone is in CBSA detention and is being escorted out of Canada:
3. How do you trigger the return of the passport?
Based on official government instructions and practice:
4. Important notes (so you don’t get surprised later)
5. What you should do right now
If this is about your own real case (which it sounds like):
Depends on region
This whole process works differenlty depends on the region in Canada for example for Toronto, it works like this and for Montréal it works as below:
📍 Local Office in Montréal
🛠 How the process typically works in Montréal (for a refugee-case withdrawal & return of passport)
Here’s a rough outline of what you can expect:
✅ What to check / ask your lawyer
When you’re preparing for this in Montréal, make sure to clarify:
Short answer: CBSA doesn’t just mail your passport to your home.
When you withdraw your refugee claim, your passport is normally handed back to you in person either:
- At the local CBSA inland enforcement office that has your file, or
- At the airport/port of exit, as part of confirming your departure from Canada.
1. What happens when you withdraw your refugee claim?
When you withdraw your in-Canada refugee claim, your conditional removal order becomes active, and you’re expected to leave Canada and confirm your departure with CBSA.
Without that CBSA “confirmed departure,” it can cause future problems (like needing an ARC—Authorization to Return to Canada—if you ever want to come back).
If your passport was taken (seized) earlier in the process, it is normally held either by:
- IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), or
- CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency), depending on who processed you.
IRCC’s official guidance says: if you are a refugee claimant who wants to leave Canada and your passport was seized, you must contact them to request it back.
CBSA, on their side, has a specific process and form (BSF699) for requesting the return of a seized travel document, sent to the same office whose address is on your seizure notice (BSF698).
2. Where do you actually get the passport back?
In real life, there are a few common scenarios: a) Inland, voluntary departure (most common for refugee withdrawal)
If you buy your own ticket and plan to leave voluntarily:
- You / your lawyer contact the CBSA Removals / Inland Enforcement office (for example, in the GTA this might be the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre in Mississauga) and tell them you are withdrawing and planning to leave.
- CBSA schedules:
- A pre-removal / departure interview at their office, and
- Instructions on how to confirm departure.
- Your passport is usually:
- Given to you at the CBSA enforcement office shortly before your departure or
- Brought by CBSA to the airport (port of exit) and handed to you there, often right before check-in or at a CBSA secondary inspection area.
If someone is in CBSA detention and is being escorted out of Canada:
- CBSA typically keeps the passport in their custody and
- Hands it over either:
- To the person at the boarding gate, or
- Sometimes to the airline / authorities of the destination country, depending on arrangements.
3. How do you trigger the return of the passport?
Based on official government instructions and practice:
- If IRCC holds the passport
- Follow their instructions for “seized passport or travel document.” Refugee claimants who want to leave Canada are specifically told to contact IRCC to request the document back.
- If CBSA seized your passport (you got a “Notice of Seizure” / BSF698)
- Use Form BSF699 – Application for the Return of (a) Seized Travel and/or Identity Document(s) and mail it to the address printed on your seizure notice (that address is the CBSA office responsible for your file).
- Coordinate with your CBSA removal officer
- Once your refugee claim is withdrawn and the removal order is active, a CBSA removals officer will contact you to arrange departure and confirm how/where you will receive your passport (office pick-up vs. airport handover).
4. Important notes (so you don’t get surprised later)
- You cannot usually choose the exact place where CBSA gives you the passport. They decide the safest way to ensure you actually leave Canada.
- Do not leave Canada secretly using another document; that can create very serious future immigration problems.
- Keep copies (photos/scans) of:
- Seizure documents (BSF698),
- Any letters from CBSA/IRCC,
- Your departure order/removal order.
- Rules and procedures can change, and practice can vary by region and officer – what I’ve described is general practice, not a guarantee for your exact case.
5. What you should do right now
If this is about your own real case (which it sounds like):
- Ask your lawyer first.
They can directly email or call the specific CBSA office handling your file and clarify exactly:- Which office has your passport,
- Where and when it will be given back to you.
- Check your seizure paperwork.
- If you have a BSF698 (Notice of Seizure), the address on it is the office that controls your passport. That’s the office you’d use the BSF699 form with.
- If you don’t have a lawyer, strongly consider at least a short consultation with an immigration/refugee lawyer in your province before you send any withdrawal letter or buy a ticket. Once you withdraw, the removal order is active and decisions become harder to reverse.
Depends on region
This whole process works differenlty depends on the region in Canada for example for Toronto, it works like this and for Montréal it works as below:
📍 Local Office in Montréal
- CBSA has a regional office at 400 Place d’Youville, Montréal QC H2Y 2C2.
- This office is listed in the CBSA directory as “Inland Office (INLAND)” among its services.
- While this may be the main inland enforcement office in Montréal, your file might also be handled by another unit or location depending on your file (e.g., airport/port of exit)
🛠 How the process typically works in Montréal (for a refugee-case withdrawal & return of passport)
Here’s a rough outline of what you can expect:
- Withdrawal of your refugee claim
- You decide to withdraw your claim.
- Once you withdraw, a removal or departure order becomes enforceable.
- You’ll likely need to coordinate with CBSA for your departure.
- Contacting CBSA Inland Enforcement
- Because you’re in Montréal, your file would typically be handled by the inland enforcement office in the region (e.g., the Montréal office above or a removals unit for Québec).
- You or your lawyer should contact the CBSA inland enforcement/removals office assigned to your geographic region to inform them you intend to leave voluntarily and ask what the next steps are (including how/when your passport gets returned).
- Pre-departure / removal interview
- CBSA will schedule a “removal interview” or “departure interview” where they check you have no outstanding legal issues, confirm travel arrangements, ensure you know the date/time/port of exit.
- At or after this interview, CBSA will determine how you will receive your passport and how your departure will be confirmed.
- Return of passport & departure from Canada
- You’ll usually get your passport just before you leave — either given to you at the CBSA office in Montréal or brought to the airport (or border crossing) on the day you depart.
- You must confirm your departure with CBSA (i.e., they must record that you actually left Canada). If you do not, there may be future immigration consequences.
✅ What to check / ask your lawyer
When you’re preparing for this in Montréal, make sure to clarify:
- Which CBSA office is handling your file (inland/removals).
- Whether your passport is currently held by CBSA, and if yes, exactly where and how you will get it back.
- What the port of exit will be (e.g., Montréal–Trudeau Airport, or land border) and how the passport handover will happen at that port.
- What the departure confirmation procedure is for your case (you might need to show your boarding pass, get a stamp, etc.).
- Ensure there are no pending legal issues that would prevent voluntary departure (for example appeals not yet resolved).
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