Section 140.3 — Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations: Referral requirement

If the foreign national making an application for a permanent resident visa under this Division is not being sponsored, a foreign national making an application for a permanent resident visa under this Division shall submit their application with one of the following referrals, if the referral has not yet been submitted to the immigration office by its issuer: a referral from a referral organization; a referral resulting from an arrangement between the Minister and the government of a foreign state or any institution of such a government relating to resettlement; or a referral resulting from an agreement relating to resettlement entered into by the Government of Canada and an international organization or the government of a foreign state. A foreign national may submit the application without a referral if they reside in a geographic area as determined by the Minister in accordance with subsection (3). The Minister may determine on the basis of the following factors that a geographic area is an area in which circumstances justify the submission of permanent resident visa applications without a referral: advice from referral organizations with which the Minister has entered into a memorandum of understanding under section 143 that they are unable to make the number of referrals specified in their memorandum of understanding for the area; the inability of referral organizations to refer persons in the area; the resettlement needs in the area, after consultation with referral organizations that have substantial knowledge of the area; and the relative importance of resettlement needs in the area, within the context of resettlement needs globally. If the foreign national who is being referred under any of paragraphs (1)(a) to (c) or if the foreign national resides in a geographic area as determined by the Minister in accordance with subsection (3), the foreign national shall submit their application to the immigration office outside Canada that serves the foreign national’s place of residence.