How-to
How to write an IRCC letter of explanation with AI without sharing client details
Give the AI the facts of the case with the identifiers replaced: stand-ins for names, the UCI, passport and application numbers, addresses and dates of birth. Ask it to draft the letter, then put the real details back on your own computer and check every statement against the file. Accuracy is the practitioner's responsibility: under Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, misrepresenting or withholding material facts can make an applicant inadmissible for five years.
Last reviewed · 2 sources
Steps
01
Gather the facts
Collect the dates and documents the letter must explain.
02
Prepare a stand-in copy
Replace names, UCI, passport and application numbers, addresses and dates of birth.
03
Draft with AI
Ask for a factual, concise letter that explains the specific gap.
04
Restore and verify
Put the real details back locally, then check every statement against the file.
Why AI is used for these letters
Letters of explanation answer a specific gap: a travel history, a refusal, a status problem, a missing document. IRCC's own guides ask for them in particular situations; the visitor visa guide, for example, asks applicants with an extended Venezuelan passport to include one. They are mostly structure and clear prose around facts the practitioner already has, which is the part AI drafts well.
What to replace, what to keep
| Detail | In the AI copy | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Applicant, sponsor and family names | Stand-in | Direct identifiers |
| UCI, application and passport numbers | Stand-in | Identifying numbers |
| Date of birth | Stand-in; state the age if it matters | Quasi-identifier; age is often the fact that matters |
| Addresses, employers, schools | Stand-in | Narrow the person down |
| Dates of travel, refusal and status | Keep if the explanation depends on them | They are the substance of the letter |
| Country of citizenship, program | Keep | The AI needs them to draft correctly |
Accuracy is not delegable
Section 40 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act makes a foreign national inadmissible for "directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act", for five years. An AI can phrase a timeline confidently and wrongly. Read the restored letter against the documents line by line before it goes into an application.
Where PiBye fits
How PiBye handles this
PiBye detects UCIs, IRCC file numbers, passport numbers, names, addresses and dates of birth in English and French documents on your Mac, lets you review each replacement, and restores the real details into the AI's draft letter locally. PiBye does not submit anything to IRCC; the letter and its accuracy remain yours.
1.0.1 · macOS 14.8.5 or later · Apple Silicon · 1.1 GB
Frequently asked questions
Can the AI decide what the letter should say?
No. It can organize and phrase facts you give it. Which facts are material, and whether they are complete and true, is the practitioner's call under the Act.
Should the AI see the refusal letter?
A copy with the identifiers replaced, yes, if the letter responds to it. The refusal reasons are the facts the letter must address.
Sources
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, section 40 (misrepresentation), Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada, current to 2026-09-03. Checked 25 September 2026.
- Guide 5256: applying for a visitor visa (temporary resident visa), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Checked 25 September 2026.