If your organization’s document requirements are not met, take steps to obtain required documents or to offer an alternative process to an applicant who is not able to meet the document requirements due to circumstances beyond their control.
- Note unmet document requirements, such as missing documents or documents of unacceptable format, quality, or mode of document delivery.
- Update the status of the application and inform the applicant of unmet document requirements.
- Provide the applicant with informal advice on how to meet document requirements, when possible.
- Assess the applicant’s situation and offer an alternative process if the individual meets your organization’s criteria for applicants unable to meet document requirements (if applicable). This may include:
- assisting the applicant in obtaining missing documents by contacting relevant organizations, in accordance with the legal framework in:
- Canada (e.g., Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act – FIPPA); and
- the issuing country;
- continuing to process the application, conditional on the applicant’s meeting document requirements at a later time in the process;
- conducting prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR), based on:
- non-formal learning; and
- informal learning;
- providing a special type of assessment, such as a description of claimed international credentials and their comparable levels of education in Canada, for refugees, displaced persons, and persons in a refugee-like situation, based on alternative documents such as:
- partial or unverified documents;
- sworn declarations;
- official lists of graduates;
- European Qualifications Passport for Refugees (EQPR) and/or UNESCO Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants (UQP).