Restoration of Status in Canada

Temporary resident status is what allows you to be in Canada as a worker, a student, or a visitor. You must stop working on the expiry date printed on your work permit. For most people, that same date is also when their status ends.

A few work permits list a "Must leave Canada by" date. If your permit shows one, your status ends on that date instead. Your status can also end if it expires before you ask to extend or change it.

After your temporary resident status expires, you are no longer eligible for an extension, so an extension application will not fix things. Restoration is a request to be given back the status you held before. If you want to stay, you must ask to get your status back within 90 days of losing it. If you miss that window, you have to leave Canada.

If you want to remain and start working again, you need to apply to restore your status and obtain a new work permit. Working without a required work permit is against the law, and attending school without the required study permit is also not allowed.

Yes, the government treats it that way. If your status ran out, you broke a rule of your permit, or you worked or studied without the permit you needed, you have broken the law under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. An admissibility hearing could be next, it looks at whether you are allowed to remain, and it can end with you being removed from the country.

The department, IRCC, must receive your application no more than 90 days after your status expired. What matters is the day IRCC receives your application, not the day you send it.

Paper applications get stamped the day they reach the case processing centre. When an application shows up after the 90 days are up, the department counts back seven days and treats that as the date it was received.

If the 90 days have gone by and you never applied, the official page tells you what to do instead. Certain people do not have to worry about the 90-day limit, and that page covers who they are too.

Most people must apply online to restore their status and get a work permit. Paper is allowed only when a disability or an issue with the online application prevents you from applying that way.

1. Talk to your employer first, because your employer has to finish all the required steps before you send your application.
2. Read the instruction guide before you complete your application, even if you apply online.
3. Get a working credit or debit card ready, since the fees are paid online when you apply.
4. Cover the work permit processing fee separately, since the online form will not prompt you for it. Attach your receipt under "Client information" in your document checklist to prevent delays in processing.
5. Include the biometrics fee with your application, if biometrics are required.

The receipt shows the name of the cardholder, but that name does not have to be the same one on your application. Using a prepaid credit card? Hold on to it for 18 months or more after paying, since that makes refunds simpler.

Your biometrics are your fingerprints plus a digital photo. You might need to provide them for this permit, and the fee pays for collecting them.

You give biometrics only once every 10 years. No visa or permit can run past 10 years from the last time you gave them, so you may give new ones with this application if you wish, even though your old ones are still valid. To see when yours run out, use the biometric status check tool.

If biometrics are needed, wait for your biometric instruction letter, you must use the letter created for this application. After that, set up a time to give them at one of the official biometric collection locations.

Family members in Canada with you who lost their status too must each submit their own application. Each one also pays their own restoration fee.

Someone who held a work permit follows the worker steps. Someone who was here as a visitor or a student follows the steps for their own case.

Usually, you need to restore your original permit and status before applying for a different permit, but there are exceptions for eligible applicants.

The official page lists two exceptions:

• If you were studying here, you may get your student status back and, at the same time, request a post-graduation work permit, as long as you are eligible.
• If your work permit ran out, you can ask for a study permit together with your restoration, as long as you qualify for one.

For a visitor restoration, the application will ask for a full explanation of how the offence happened. Here, the offence means losing your status or breaking a rule of your stay.

Your status as a temporary resident cannot outlast your passport. Because of this, make sure your passport stays valid for at least the whole length of the stay you are requesting.

Always ask for any change before your current status runs out. For any permit, the official guide recommends getting your application in 30 days or more before the day your status expires.