Practice guide

The IRCC forms a Canadian practice fills most often

Numbers and official titles, grouped by the kind of file, with the traps that cost a resubmission.

Form numbers and titles as published by IRCC and checked on 25 September 2026. Always work from the current guide and checklist for the stream you are filing.

Every practice has its own mix, but the same handful of forms carries most of the work. Below are the ones that turn up again and again, written out with the official titles so you can match them against the guide without second guessing.

Two rules sit above the list. Work from the checklist for the exact stream, because the same client type can need different forms in different programs. And check the revision date on the day you submit, not on the day you started the file.

Permanent residence, the core set

FormOfficial title
IMM 0008Generic Application Form for Canada
IMM 0008 DEPAdditional Dependants / Declaration Form
IMM 5669Schedule A: Background / Declaration Form
IMM 5406Additional Family Information Form, Permanent Residence
IMM 5562Supplementary Information: Your Travels
IMM 5444Application for a Permanent Resident Card or Permanent Resident Travel Document

Temporary residence: visitors, students and workers

FormOfficial title
IMM 5257Application for visitor visa (temporary resident visa)
IMM 5257 SCH1Schedule 1: Application for Temporary Residence
IMM 1294Application for a Study Permit Made Outside of Canada
IMM 1295Application for a Work Permit Made Outside of Canada
IMM 5708Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or TRP Holder
IMM 5709Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Student
IMM 5710Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker
IMM 5645 and IMM 5707Family Information Form, Visitors, Students and Workers

Family sponsorship

FormOfficial title
IMM 1344Application to Sponsor, Sponsorship Agreement and Undertaking
IMM 5532Relationship Information And Sponsorship Evaluation Form
IMM 5533Document Checklist: Spousal Sponsorship (Including Dependent Children)
IMM 5409Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union, Temporary and Permanent Residence
IMM 5481Sponsorship Evaluation Form, Dependent Children
IMM 5768Financial Evaluation for Parents and Grandparents Sponsorship

Representation and supporting forms

FormOfficial title
IMM 5476Use of a Representative Form
IMM 5475Authority to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual
IMM 5283Supplementary Information: Humanitarian and Compassionate Considerations
IMM 1283Financial Evaluation Form

Where files go wrong

  • The revision date. A form that was current last month can be refused this month. This is the most common avoidable rejection in the whole process.
  • Validation and the barcode. Several IRCC PDFs only generate their barcode once the form validates, and a form saved without validating can arrive unreadable.
  • The same answer, typed five times. Addresses, travel history and family details repeat across forms in one package. Typed by hand, they drift, and inconsistency between forms invites questions.
  • The representative forms. IMM 5476 authorises you to act. IMM 5475 only authorises release of information. They are not interchangeable and mixing them up delays files.
  • Schedules. A schedule is part of the application, not an optional extra, and a missing schedule is treated as an incomplete package.

Filling them without typing them

This is exactly the work Meridian was built to remove. The case file holds the answers once, and more than 190 IRCC and IMM forms are filled from it, each answer on the line it belongs to. The software checks revision dates and flags a case still sitting on an old one.

For the parts of the process that live in a browser rather than a PDF, the AutoFile extension carries the same file into GCKey, the Authorized Paid Representatives Portal, the PR Portal and the citizenship application.

See how the form filler works

Questions people ask

How many IRCC forms are there?

IRCC publishes several hundred across citizenship, permanent residence, temporary residence and the pilots, and the list changes as programs open and close. A working practice touches a few dozen of them regularly.

Which form does almost every permanent residence file need?

IMM 0008, the Generic Application Form for Canada, together with Schedule A background and declaration on IMM 5669 and the travel history on IMM 5562. Most refusals for incompleteness trace back to gaps in those three.

What is the difference between IMM 5645 and IMM 5707?

IRCC lists both under the title Family Information Form for visitors, students and workers. Which one your client needs depends on the application guide for that stream, so follow the guide and the document checklist rather than habit.

Why do forms get rejected for the wrong revision?

Every IRCC form carries a revision date. When IRCC republishes a form, the old version can be refused as an incomplete application, even when the answers are right. Checking the revision on the day you submit is part of the job.

Can software fill these automatically?

Yes, and it is the single largest saving in this work. Meridian fills more than 190 IRCC and IMM forms from the case file and flags a case still sitting on an old revision, and a Chrome extension carries the same file into the IRCC portals.

Source: IRCC, Find application forms and instructions, canada.ca, read 25 September 2026. This page is general information for licensed practitioners and is not legal advice.

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