Glossary · Any application already with IRCC: permanent residence, work, or study.
ADR
Additional documents on a file already in process
More information on a file already in process. Letter or portal field with a deadline.
On the official record
- A request for more information after IRCC has the file. It can arrive as a letter, an email, or a portal field with a "Required by" date.
- IRCC public pages say they will ask for more documents if needed. The Help Centre page on new documents says to follow the instructions in that request and to send the documents the way they ask.
- If the request is in your account, upload there. If you cannot, use the web form.
Common mix-ups
- Not a refusal.
- Not a procedural fairness letter.
- Not labour alternative dispute resolution.
Confirm on the official page
Start here: IRCC Help Centre: You asked me for a new document. How do I submit it?.
The catch
Read the whole letter or portal request. Send what it asks for, by the date it prints, the way it tells you to send it. Public IRCC pages do not print "Additional Document Request" as a defined acronym. They talk about asking for more documents.
What people mix up
On official Canada.ca pages, ADR also means Administrative Deferral of Removal, a CBSA pause on removals to a country. That is not a document request on your file. This page is the file request, not that.
Related
Source: IRCC Help Centre: You asked me for a new document. How do I submit it? · official page Apr 17, 2026 · checked Aug 21, 2026
Source: IRCC: Express Entry after you apply · official page Aug 4, 2026 · checked Aug 21, 2026
Source: IRCC web form · official page Jun 1, 2026 · checked Aug 21, 2026
Source: CBSA: Administrative Deferral of Removals (news release, Mar 2026) · official page date not printed on the fetched page · checked Aug 21, 2026 · Official Canada.ca expansion of ADR as a removals pause. Date was not printed on the fetched page.