Sudan Identity and Travel Fees Remission

Summary#

The Government of Canada made the Certain Fees in Respect of the Issuance of Identity and Travel Documents (Sudan) Remission Order to officially forgive certain government fees tied to passports, travel documents, citizenship certificates and some immigration fees for people affected by the conflict in Sudan. The remission applies to applications and fees from April 24, 2023 through October 27, 2025, with some immigration-fee rules linked to arrivals between April 15, 2023 and July 15, 2023.

What it does#

• Grants fee remission (forgiveness) for specific fees listed in:
  • Passport and Other Travel Document Services Fees Regulations
  • Citizenship Regulations
  • Consular Services Fees Regulations
  • Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
• Defines “document” to include passports, certificates of citizenship, permanent resident travel documents and emergency travel documents.
• Sets who can get the remission and under what conditions:
  • For passport, citizenship and consular fees: the person must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, and must have applied for the document or service between April 24, 2023 and October 27, 2025, with a signed declaration saying the need came from the crisis in Sudan.
  • For certain immigration fees (sponsorship fee and right of permanent residence fee): the application must have been processed under one of these temporary policies:
    • Temporary public policy for family members who fled conflict in Sudan (signed April 30, 2023)
    • Temporary public policy for family members who fled conflict in Sudan – Extension (signed April 30, 2024)
    • Updated temporary public policy for family members who fled conflict in Sudan (signed January 14, 2025)
• Explains the government estimate of lost revenue from these remissions:
  • Total estimated foregone revenue: $221,590
  • From Canadians and permanent residents: $38,565
  • From foreign national family members (sponsorship and right of permanent residence fees): $183,025
• Notes that an Order in Council was needed because ministers did not have legal authority on their own to formally remit some of these fees.

Who's affected#

• People most directly helped:
  • Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada who applied for passports, emergency travel documents, replacement citizenship certificates or consular services because of the Sudan crisis between April 24, 2023 and October 27, 2025.
  • Foreign national family members of those Canadians or permanent residents who had sponsorship or right-of-permanent-residence fees that were not collected between May 1, 2023 and October 27, 2025, and who left Sudan on or after April 15, 2023 and arrived in Canada before July 15, 2023.
• If it is unclear whether an individual meets the specific conditions, the relevant department to contact is Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

Why it matters#

• It removes financial barriers for people directly affected by the conflict in Sudan who needed identity or travel documents to leave, travel, or reunite with family in Canada.
• It puts the government’s earlier practice of not collecting these fees on a formal legal footing. That matters for record-keeping and for clearing up whether the fees are officially forgiven.
• The cost to the government is relatively small in public accounts — an estimated $221,590 — but it can make a real difference to individuals who faced crisis-related disruption.