How to Fill Out and Submit Form IMM 5476: Use of a Representative

Form IMM 5476, the Use of a Representative form, is what you file with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to appoint someone to act for you, to update that person’s contact details, or to cancel the arrangement. Once IRCC processes it, your representative receives every piece of correspondence about your file and communicates with IRCC in your place.¹ Download the current version from the IRCC website before you start; older versions are accepted only until March 12, 2026.

One boundary to clear up first. If all you want is for a family member to phone IRCC and ask about the status of your application, you do not need this form. That is Form IMM 5475, which grants access to information but no authority to act.² IMM 5476 is the form for anyone who will actually handle the application: submit documents, answer requests, and make decisions on your behalf.

Who You Can Name

Anyone can help you with your application for free. A friend, a relative, a settlement worker at a community organization — an unpaid representative can do everything a paid one does, as long as no money or other compensation changes hands. You still need to declare them on the IMM 5476.³

If you are paying someone, the rules tighten. Under section 91 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, only three categories of people can legally charge for immigration advice or representation:

Lawyers and paralegals who are members in good standing of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society
Notaries who are members in good standing of the Chambre des notaires du Québec
Immigration and citizenship consultants who are members in good standing of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC)

If you name a paid representative who does not belong to one of those bodies, IRCC will return your entire application.¹ Before you appoint a paid consultant, check the CICC Public Register and confirm that their status is Active and the Entitled to Practise column reads Yes.⁴ For a lawyer or paralegal, check the directory of the relevant provincial or territorial law society.

Pick the Right Checkbox First

The form opens with a set of checkboxes, and the one you select decides which sections you complete. Get this wrong and you may fill out the wrong parts of the form.¹

Appointing a representative: Sections A, B, and E
Updating a representative’s contact information: Sections A, B, and E
Cancelling a representative: Sections A, C, and E
Cancelling one representative and appointing another: Sections A, B, C, and E
Representative withdrawing themselves from the file: Sections A, D, and E

How to Complete Each Section

Section A: Your Information

Enter your full legal name (surname and given names), date of birth, and email. If you do not use email, provide a phone number instead. If you have already submitted an application, write the type and, if you know it, the application number. Enter your Unique Client Identifier (UCI) if you have one. The UCI is an eight- or ten-digit number formatted as 0000-0000 or 00-0000-0000, and it appears on letters, permits, and other documents IRCC has sent you.⁵ If you have never dealt with IRCC before, leave the UCI field blank.

Section B: The Representative You Are Appointing

Write your representative’s full name exactly as it appears on their regulatory body’s membership list. Check the box that says whether they are paid or unpaid. For a paid representative, enter their membership ID number from the CICC, a law society, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec. If you are appointing a student-at-law, include the supervising lawyer’s name, contact information, and membership ID as well.¹

Provide the representative’s mailing address, phone number, and email. The representative then signs and dates the declaration in Section B, accepting responsibility for conducting business on your behalf. Where a student-at-law is involved, the supervising lawyer signs and dates it too.

Section C: The Representative You Are Cancelling

Fill in the name and details of the person whose authority you want to revoke. IRCC only allows one representative on a file at a time, so if you are replacing one with another, submitting the new IMM 5476 cancels the previous representative automatically.⁶ You can also cancel without naming anyone new, for instance if you want to handle the file yourself from that point on.

Section D: Representative Withdrawal

Only the representative fills out this section, and only if they are the one stepping away. They sign the declaration here. If the representative cannot get the applicant’s signature in Section E, their own signature in Section D is enough for IRCC to process the withdrawal.¹

Section E: Your Signature

You sign and date the form here. Signing Section E authorizes IRCC to carry out the request for you and for any dependent children under 18.¹ A missing or undated signature is enough on its own to get the form rejected.

What Counts as a Valid Signature

The rules depend on how you submit the form. Through an IRCC portal or secure online account, electronic signatures are accepted: a typed name, a signature created with Adobe Fill & Sign or DocuSign, or a scanned image of a handwritten signature all work.¹

Outside a portal or secure account (a mailed paper application, or a scanned form sent by email), only a handwritten signature is accepted. Print the form, sign it in ink, and scan it if you need a digital copy. Either way, a thumbprint is acceptable when the person is illiterate or physically unable to write.

One Form Per Adult

A common mistake: a spouse or common-law partner has to submit their own separate IMM 5476, even when they are included in the same application as the principal applicant.¹ One form does not cover both partners.

Children under 18 are covered by the principal applicant’s signature in Section E; a parent or legal guardian completes and signs on the child’s behalf. Dependent children aged 18 or older need their own IMM 5476, signed by them.

How to Submit the Form

With a New Application

If you have not yet submitted your immigration or citizenship application, include the completed IMM 5476 in your application package. Online, upload it with your other supporting documents before you submit. On paper, print it and put it in the envelope to the processing centre or visa office.¹ Including it upfront avoids a follow-up request that could delay processing.

With an Existing Application

If your file is already open and you need to add, change, or cancel a representative, submit the updated IMM 5476 through the IRCC web form.⁶ The web form asks you to identify yourself (applicant, representative, or someone writing on the applicant’s behalf), then to provide the principal applicant’s details and at least one of the following: application number, UCI, or passport number.⁷ Keep each uploaded file under 2 MB, and if you are uploading more than one document at once, keep the combined total under 3.5 MB. In the explanation box, say that you are submitting an updated IMM 5476 and briefly note whether you are appointing, changing, or cancelling. Once you click submit, you cannot edit the request.

IRCC does not publish a specific processing time for representative updates on existing files, and its help centre notes that agents cannot speed processing unless you qualify for urgent processing.⁸ Expect anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on the queue.

What Changes Once IRCC Processes the Form

All future correspondence about your application goes to your representative instead of you. That includes approval letters, requests for further documents, and procedural fairness letters, which often carry tight response deadlines.¹ If your representative misses a deadline or fails to respond, the consequences fall on you whether or not you knew a letter had arrived. Stay in regular contact with your representative.

You can change or cancel your representative at any time by submitting a new IMM 5476. Appointing a new one automatically cancels the previous one, so no separate cancellation is needed. If you want to go back to handling your file yourself, complete Sections A and C to cancel the current representative without naming a replacement.⁶

1
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Use of a Representative Form (IMM 5476)
2
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Authority to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual (IMM 5475)
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Learn About Representatives
4
The College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants. Find an Immigration Consultant
5
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Where Can I Find My Client ID/UCI
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Add, Change or Cancel a Representative
7
Government of Canada. Add a Document to Your Application
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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. IRCC Web Form – Contact Us Online