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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are highly involved in Canada’s immigration system. Both these organizations have the authority to make you attend an interview.
Interviews with CBSA and IRCC can be simple, but they can also involve legal issues and require you to prepare in advance. It depends on the kind of interview.
CBSA interviews
The CBSA is responsible for border enforcement, immigration enforcement, customs, and more.
There are two main reasons why the CBSA would interview you:
- you are arriving to Canada at a port-of-entry (i.e. an airport, a harbour, or a land crossing), or
- you were a permanent resident or temporary resident and have lost your resident status (or are at risk of losing your status).
Port-of-entry interviews
Interviews at ports-of-entry are routine. They are done in two parts.
First, a CBSA officer will check your passport and travel documents to ensure you are legally allowed to enter Canada. They will also ask you questions about your criminal, medical, and travel history. Note that it is a serious crime to lie to a CBSA border officer.
Next, they will check your luggage to ensure you are not carrying anything that is not allowed in Canada (ex. firearms, explosives, items from endangered animals).
If a CBSA officer finds that you are inadmissible, you will be turned away or—in rare cases—arrested.
Other CBSA interviews
The CBSA can ask you to attend an in-person interview if you have lost your permanent or temporary resident status. In some cases, the CBSA will have interviews with people who have received a removal order.
The CBSA will likely ask you to bring a variety of personal and legal documents to your interview.
It is a serious crime to avoid an interview with the CBSA.
IRCC interviews
IRCC oversees many matters related to immigration in Canada. There are lots of reasons why you may need to attend an interview with IRCC. The most common reasons are that IRCC wants to review your visa application or discuss a spousal sponsorship application.