How to Request for the Visa Officer's Notes | GCMS Notes

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses a computer systems that maintain all information relevant to your Canadian Visa Application.  It's called Global Case Management System (GCMS). 

It contains the notes and comments from all the visa officers that have reviewed your application.  It also includes information about the points computation, background checks and other relevant information about your application.

If you have a previous application which was refused and you are planning to file an application again, it is important to understand what went wrong with your application before you submit a new application.  Otherwise, you may not be able to address the problems concerning your application.

The refusal letter you received is a generic letter and does not contain the notes of the visa officer.  You can request these information under the Access to Information Act through your relative/friend who in Canada. 

Requesting the Visa Officer's Note can be done online and it will only cost CAD 5.  To request for the Vise Officer's Notes, CLICK HERE.
You will need to fill out the Consent for an Access to Information and Personal Information Request Form to authorize your friend/relative in Canada to request the information for you.

The Visa Officer's Notes is usually found in the last 3 pages of the file you will receive.  It usually takes about 4-12 weeks to receive the file.

Once you have the notes, the next step is to analyze the notes and from therm formulate your approach for your next application. 

PIACORP Canada provides assistance for the request of the GCMS Notes.