Use of representatives: Entering the required information into the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
Completed Authority to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual (IMM 5475) and Use of a Representative (IMM 5476) forms must be documented in GCMS. The Call Centre and sometimes other Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) offices need to be able to view this information in order to respond to enquiries from representatives and to take necessary actions.
In GCMS, the representative should be entered as a “party” and associated to the applicable case. When a representative is encountered, their address and other contact information should be verified and updated in GCMS as required.
Important: The representative may already have a Party ID in GCMS. To avoid creating duplicate Party IDs, when associating a representative to an application, a name query must be conducted under the Parties tab in GCMS. To verify that the Party ID belongs to the representative on the application, ensure that the Membership # under the Party ID in GCMS matches the one declared on the IMM5476. You may also compare the contact information (i.e. address, email, phone).
Details to be documented
All of the following information must be entered into GCMS:
- the type of authorization submitted by applicant (specify whether it is an Authority to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual or a Use of a Representative)
- the application to which this authorization is linked
- all contact details including the name of the designated individual or representative, address, telephone number, email address, identification number/ID and company name (if applicable)
- identify articling students (students at law) along with their supervising lawyer’s contact information and ID, and the firm’s contact details.
Change in status of a representative
When an individual is receiving some form of consideration, IRCC only works with members in good standing. There are a number of reasons the membership status of a College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) member or a lawyer, notary or other member in good standing of a law society may change during the application process: representatives can resign or change careers, or the designated regulatory body may have suspended or revoked membership. To protect IRCC clients and ensure program integrity, it is important to be aware of the current status of the designated representative on file. Verify the status of CICC members using the searchable list. Individual law societies also have searchable member lists.
Change to identity information
Officers should bear in mind that IRCC does not record the same identity information for representatives as it does for applicants, and that the process of updating representative information is slightly different.
Subsequent withdrawal of an authorization
The representative should be disassociated from the case in GCMS. Any applicable background information should be noted.
Note: If the authorization was not originally entered into GCMS please provide an explanation and add any other relevant information that you might have, such as the name of the representative or designated individual that the client thought they had identified, and the application to which the authorization was to be linked. This information could become important later in the processing.
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