Haiti travel and identity fee remission

Summary#

The government made the Certain Fees in Respect of the Issuance of Identity and Travel Documents (Haiti) Remission Order: SI/2025-120 on December 17, 2025. It lets eligible people avoid paying, or get reimbursed for, certain passport, citizenship and visa fees tied to urgent departures from Haiti during the 2024 crisis.

What it does#

• Remits (waives or reimburses) fees tied to:
  • passports and emergency travel documents,
  • certificates of citizenship,
  • consular services for travel documents,
  • certain temporary resident visa and biometrics fees.
• Sets two main eligibility paths:
  • For Canadian citizens and permanent residents: the person must have been in Haiti and forced to travel urgently because of worsening security, and must have applied for a document between March 1, 2024 and September 1, 2024.
  • For foreign nationals who are family members of Canadians or permanent residents: the application must have been submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the person must have left Haiti on or after March 1, 2024 and arrived in Canada on or before April 26, 2024.
• Covers fees that were not collected at the time and fees already paid that will be reimbursed if eligible.
• The total cost to government from these remissions is up to $40,605.

Who's affected#

• People most likely to notice this are:
  • Canadian citizens and permanent residents who were in Haiti and had to leave urgently during the crisis and who applied for identity or travel documents between March 1, 2024 and September 1, 2024.
  • Foreign national family members of those Canadians or permanent residents who left Haiti between March 1, 2024 and April 26, 2024 and applied to IRCC for temporary-resident documents.
• Reported fee volumes and amounts (already used to estimate cost):
  • Proof of citizenship: $75 × 272 = $20,400
  • Temporary passport: $110 × 58 = $6,380
  • Consular services fee: $25 × 13 = $325
  • Temporary resident visa: $100 × 135 = $13,500
  • Combined total: $40,605

Why it matters#

• It removes or refunds fees that could have made it harder for people to leave Haiti quickly or to reunite with family in Canada.
• People who already paid eligible fees can get reimbursed; those who didn’t have to pay at the time are covered going forward.
• The government absorbs a small fiscal cost (up to $40,605) and will report these remissions in the annual fee reports from Global Affairs Canada and IRCC.
• An order was required because the ministers did not have legal authority to waive those fees retroactively under normal rules.