Instructions to IRCC offices in Canada on the elimination of the payment receipt form [IMM 5401]

As part of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)’s modernization of payment processing, the payment receipt form [IMM 5401] (previously called an HPM receipt) is being eliminated as an accepted fee payment option as of April 1, 2016.

As of January 29, 2016, clients and immigration representatives can no longer order new payment receipt forms [IMM 5401] via the Call Centre or online via the IRCC website. Previously ordered forms can continue to be used at financial institutions in Canada until March 31, 2016. Otherwise, clients must pay through IRCC’s online payment tool.

On April 1, 2016, financial institutions in Canada will stop accepting the payment receipt form [IMM 5401]. Forms date-stamped by a financial institution in Canada before April 1, 2016, can be submitted with an application after April 1, 2016, at any time.

Changes to the IRCC lines of business fee payment instructions

On April 1, 2016, any reference to the payment receipt form [IMM 5401] and to payment at a financial institution in Canada will be removed from

• the Pay your fees section of the IRCC website;
• application guides and kits and related program delivery instructions (PDIs); and
• IRCC forms on the intranet.

In addition, IRCC offices must remove any reference to the payment receipt form [IMM 5401] and to payment at a financial institution in Canada in GCMS letter templates and other forms of internal communication to clients.

The elimination of the fee payment form [IMM 5401] affects only fee payment instructions for immigration lines of business currently accepting this form of payment, as indicated in the Pay your fees section of the IRCC website.

During the transitional period (April 1 to April 30, 2016)

Although financial institutions in Canada must no longer accept payment receipt forms [IMM 5401] as of April 1, 2016, because of the large volume of financial institutions in Canada, some residual forms are expected to be stamped in error during April, especially from smaller institutions.

As a result, there will be a four-week transitional period. Payment receipt forms [IMM 5401] stamped by a financial institution in Canada prior to May 1, 2016, must therefore be accepted by IRCC offices.

Payment receipt forms [IMM 5401] stamped prior to May 1, 2016, and submitted to Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) by May 31, 2016, will result in the creation of an Integrated Payment Revenue Management System (IPRMS) receipt number, which will be available to GCMS users for payment processing as usual. There is no time limit on the use of these IPRMS receipts.

Payment receipt forms [IMM 5401] stamped prior to May 1, 2016, and submitted to PSPC after May 31, 2016, will not result in the creation of an IPRMS receipt number.

After the transitional period (as of May 1, 2016)

An application package including a payment receipt form [IMM 5401] stamped by a financial institution in Canada after April 30, 2016, must be returned to the applicant with a letter of explanation.

The letter also provides instructions to obtain a refund of the payment made at a financial institution in Canada after April 30, 2016. By then, any such cases should be exceptional.

Instructions in cases where IRCC’s online payment tool cannot be used

In these exceptional cases, a new Fee Payment Form – All Application Fees has been developed by the Finance Sector at National Headquarters (NHQ) to accommodate all application fees. The form will enable clients to pre-authorize a payment with the same accepted credit card or prepaid credit card as online.

There are only two scenarios where the Fee Payment Form – All Application Fees will be provided by the Call Centre agents to a client who cannot complete an online payment:

• a disability preventing them from doing so:
  • vision disabilities,
  • mobility or agility disabilities,
  • learning or cognitive disabilities; or
• temporary unavailability of IRCC’s online payment tool for more than two consecutive business days. Urgent situations will be taken into consideration.

Clients who invoke any other reasons (e.g., no Internet access, no printer, no credit card, no time, too complicated) will be guided by the Call Centre agents to seek independent assistance to complete an online payment.

When IRCC offices receive a completed Fee Payment Form – All Application Fees

When a client provides a completed Fee Payment Form – All Application Fees as proof of payment for an application received at an IRCC office, the financial services unit supporting the processing office will have to first manually input the pre-authorized credit card payment information in the government-wide credit card system to confirm the payment and then create an equivalent IPRMS payment receipt to be used in GCMS, keeping in mind that there should be a very low volume of these cases. IRCC offices that no longer have access to the credit card system can also capture the credit card information directly via IRCC’s online payment tool, which is also used by clients.