Citizenship: Transferring applications to another decision-maker

This section is about transferring 5(1) grant, renunciation, and resumption applications from one decision maker to another.

Circumstances when a file may be transferred

The citizenship officer or citizenship judge who is seized with an application, reviews all the information and evidence in respect of that application, and conducts a hearing with the applicant, must, absent exceptional circumstances, make the decision in respect of that application. As a result, the expectation is that any transfers of an application from one officer to another officer or from one judge to another judge occur prior to the file review or hearing, and thereafter only in exceptional circumstances.

Situations where a transfer of a file occurs after file review or post-hearing may include

• prolonged absence from work;
• serious illness;
• death; or
• leaving the department or vacating a position delegated to render decisions on a case.

The citizenship officer or citizenship judge who has been transferred the file must review all the information and evidence in respect of that application and determine afresh whether a hearing with the applicant is required or whether a decision can be made based on the evidence already on file.

Procedure to transfer a file

To transfer a file to another decision maker, the local manager must formally transfer the file by completing a Transfer of Jurisdiction form [CIT 0078]. The form must be completed for each application transferred, even where applications are in the same file or in the same family group. The form must be attached to the physical file and a copy must also be attached or scanned into GCMS.

A case note or application note must also be entered in GCMS.