‼️Disclaimer‼️: This blog post is merely me sharing my experience of applying for the Post-Graduation Work permit, and should not be used as a substitute for legal advice.
Have you found yourself in a similar position I was once in, where you’ve still got at least one other year or semester of school ahead of you, but your study permit is expiring before that?
Not to worry! Once your degree or your studies are not complete, but you’re still in school, a possible option, is having the study permit extended.
(‼️Quick reminder: Each individual situation may vary, and this post is not an official immigration application guide - I'm only sharing my experience when I went through the process myself in the past.)
‼️ Before submitting any application, ALWAYS refer to the Government of Canada's immigration and citizenship website for the most accurate and up-to-date information here, visit this page here for their study permit extension information page, or contact your international centre for any questions you may have before, or during the application process.
Note that this post will be talking about my experience of extending my study permit from WITHIN Canada.
I found the process relatively simple, as far as immigration applications and processes go here in Canada.
I'd been advised that it's extremely important that one's study permit remains valid during your time in Canada, notably while you're still enrolled in school.
Why? According to the Government of Canada website, "If your study permit expires and you haven’t applied for an extension, you must leave Canada."
Your study permit, according to the Government of Canada website, is "a document we issue that allows foreign nationals to study at designated learning institutions (DLIs) in Canada. Most foreign nationals need a study permit to study in Canada."
I received my first study permit at the border when I first arrived in Canada (I'd only learned a few days earlier that this was completely different from my temporary resident visa found in my passport.)
If your study permit has already expired, the Government of Canada's website notes the following options:
To find out more about what to do if your permit expires, please click here for more information.
However, if you've applied for a new permit (eg. applied to extend your study permit) they note the following:
I submitted my study permit extension before my permit expired, however while awaiting the extension application to be processed, my present study permit at the time did eventually expire (this was also in the heights of the pandemic in 2020, so the processing times were heavily affected and delayed.)
As a result, while waiting for a decision to be made on my application, and my then study permit being expired while I waited, I was on Maintained Status.
According to the Government of Canada glossary, 'Maintained status' is defined as: "A legal extension of status that allows temporary residents to stay in Canada while we process their application. To be eligible, the temporary resident must apply to extend their status BEFORE it expires. This used to be known as “implied status.”
Check out this link for a more detailed and official breakdown of maintained/implied status from the Government of Canada's website, including information relating to travelling outside of Canada while on maintained status.
If you're looking for additional information on maintained/implied status, this immigration article here was also a good read.
‼️ Whenever in doubt, you should always reach out to your school's international student centre, as there are usually certified immigration officers and consultants who can best help you with your individual situations, or answer any questions related to immigration in Canada.
The IRCC (Government of Canada - Immigration and Citizenship) website advises applying at least thirty (30) days before the expiry date. Just always keep in mind the usual extensive wait and processing times on the IRCC website and the immigration processes in general.
Ideally, the sooner you complete your application package and submit it, (hopefully) the less time you have to wait for a decision to be made on your application, and you may be able to avoid having to sit through the nerve-wracking experience that is having maintained status.
In my experience, Covid-19 has also significantly impacted the immigration processing times.
I submitted my study permit extension application in Mid-February 2020, JUST before everything shut down due to the pandemic. So, I was on implied/maintained status for a couple months before I finally got an update on my application with its approval in August 2020.
Those couple of months were my very first time being on maintained status, so I was worried the entire time since immigration is always such a nervous time for me personally. (Turns out I was worried for no reason since I submitted my application way before the expiry date and the continued delays were completely out of my control, but I couldn't help the nerves.)
Applying for a Study Permit Extension
In order to apply for my study permit extension, I had to go through the Government of Canada's Immigration and Citizenship website.
From there, I went to the "My application" page, signed in with my credentials, plugged in all the security information and was taken to the homepage of all applications I'd ever submitted.
In order to begin the study permit extension application process, under "Start an application" I clicked, "Apply to come to Canada."
From there I was prompted to go through a questionnaire so that the system could guide me to the type of application I needed to fill out, in this case, the Study Permit extension.
In order to get to that application, I used the help of an online guide I found from Laurentin University here.
For some reason, the immigration documents only open with some type of adobe reader/PDF reader software. It's very particular.
In terms of the documents needed for my study permit extension, I was able to get them all myself through my educational institution (York University.)
‼️ Here's my reminder again that this post is solely based on my experience of applying for a study permit extension in 2020.
Always check the Government of Canada/IRCC website before you apply for anything, and even after you apply, check the website regularly, because you never know when something may change, or IRCC may request some additional information or introduce or halt any exceptions.
‼️ Note: Even if you received the same document checklist as I did, the requirements may have changed since 2020, so this is just a reminder to always refer to the most up to date information on the Immigration and Citizenship website.
Click/Tap on the arrows next to the items below for some mini expansions of the specifics I needed to ensure my documents contained from the document checklist I received.
For my early 2020 Study Permit Extension application, the documents that were required included:
The Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a student (IMM5709)
The required supporting documents included:
My valid passport information page
My letter of acceptance from my institution (i.e York University)
Proof of means of financial support
A recent digital photo
This is what my document checklist looked like for the study permit extension application:
I noticed that once I began the application process, there was an indicator on the main application homepage which showed that I had a total of 60 days to complete and submit it to be processed. If I surpassed that time, I would've had to begin an entirely new application.
After my application was submitted, again on the main application homepage, once I clicked on "check full application status" like the image below:
I would be taken to the main hub where I would see any messages IRCC would send me in relation to my application, such as requests for biometrics and the confirmation of application submission. This is also the same place I would check back to see when a final decision was made on my application, and the date when this descision was made.
I would also get email updates anytime IRCC posted a new message or update regarding my application, but there was the rare occurrence that an update or two ended up in my junk folder. Given that those updates tended to have time limits attached to them (eg. a deadline for me to provide biometrics), I made it a habit of checking my application at least once every one-two weeks so that I wouldn't miss out on any important updates.
The final cost of my study permit extension application was $235.00CAD+ Tax.
Broken down, this was $150.00CAD for the study permit extension application and another $85.00CAD for the biometrics fee.
After weeks of waiting and periodic checks of both my email and my immigration profile/account, I finally got the great news that my application was approved!
I did the usual, signed into my application, went to the "check full application status" page, and in my account was a letter waiting for me, confirming the application had been approved. My letter looked something like this:
Then, my new study permit was sent in the mail to the address I indicated on my application, and that was basically it with my experience of applying for a study permit extension.
My next step after this, was applying for a new Visitor (temporary resident) Visa.
Applying for a Visitor (temporary resident) Visa
I noticed early on, that my study permit and my temporary resident visa both had the same expiry date, so once my study permit had expired, I need to apply for a new temporary resident visa as well.
According to the immigration and citizenship website, "As soon as we approve your application to extend your work or study permit, you can apply for your visitor visa (even before you get your new work or study permit in the mail)."
This is from their article on visitor visas from within Canada, which can be found here.
Note that the requirements for foreign nationals to enter Canada vary by country and situation. To find out if you need a visa to travel to Canada, please check out this questionnaire from the Immigration and Citizenship website here.
In my experience, the application for a new temporary resident visa was a completely different application from the study permit extension application.
Click/Tap on the arrows next to the items below for some mini expansions of the specifics I needed to ensure my documents contained from the document checklist I received.
‼️ Note: Even if you received the same document checklist as I did, the requirements may have changed since 2020, so this is just a reminder to always refer to the most up to date information on the Immigration and Citizenship website.
Based on my experience with applying for a new visa once I received my permit extension back in 2020, the documents that they requested included:
An Application for a Visitor Visa (Temporary Resident Visa) (IMM5257).
The required supporting documents included:
Recent Education Transcript
Proof of next term’s enrolment
Work or Study Permit
My valid Passport information page
Proof of means of financial support
A recent digital photo
Similar to the Study Permit Extension application, I had to to fill out another questionnaire from the main page to be directed to the visa application.
If you want to check out the questionnaire guide I used to get to the temporary resident visa application and relative documents, I used the one from Laurentin University which can be found here.
This is what my document checklist looked like for my temporary resident visa application:
‼️ As I mentioned throughout this post, please ALWAYS consult the IRCC website for the most accurate and up-to-date information, whether it's processing times, possible delays, and more. You can get rough estimates on the processing times to determine how long to expect that you may be on implied status for example.
The final cost of my application was $185.00CAD+ Tax.
Broken down, this was $100.00CAD for the visitor/temporary visa application, and another $85.00CAD for the biometrics fee.
Once a decision was made on my temporary resident visa application, I got an email with a notice to check my account to see the decision that was made, (whether approved or denied).
To check this, I went to the "check full application status" I highlighted earlier in this post. The page displayed all the necessary information around my new document, and I got a message requesting my passport, which I had to send to the immigration passport office in Ottawa. It looked like this:
I sent my passport through Canada Post, where they provided me with tracking numbers so I could check when my passport was delivered to the office and when it was on its way back, since it can be a bit nerve-wracking sending this super important document through the mail.
At Canada post they explained I had to purchase two envelopes; a large one to send the passport and the passport collection letter to, and a smaller one for them to send my passport back to me once they'd placed my visa in the passport.
If you're ever in doubt, you can ask the staff at Canada Post which envelopes you need, as they also understand the passport sending process.
Biometrics
With some immigration applications in Canada, biometrics are requested.
For more information on biometrics, please check out the Government of Canada link here.
Final takeaways
When I received my study permit extension, I noticed that the permit was only extended to cover the anticipated remainder of my educational journey.
I had it extended in my third year (since my passport was expiring and I had to get a new one, and as a result, a new study permit). I applied for th extension in 2020, and given that I was graduating in 20201, the study permit extension I received was valid until mid-2021.
This date gave me enough time to still be in Canada to physically attend my convocation (even though it was unfortunately entirely online because of COVID) and apply for a work-permit.
I'm not 100% sure what they base the expiry date on for an extension, in terms of choosing which month in your anticipated graduating year that your permit will expire, but ensuring that all the documentation is valid for the duration of studies is incredibly important.
If you ever need to renew an expiring passport from within Canada, please visit your local High Commissioner's or General Consulate Offices, as they typically oversee the process for foreign nationals in Canada. For a list of the CARICOM government offices in Canada, please click here..
It can be a bit overwhelming to keep on top of all these expiration dates and processes. A couple tips I want to leave you with are:
→ First - not to stress, and second - make an alert on your phone or schedule an email or something to send yourself a notice of your upcoming expiry date AT LEAST six (6) months before your immigration documents expire as a mini reminder, and another one for three (3) MONTHS before the expiry date to begin gathering the required documents. (This is if your permit will expire before you complete your studies and will need an extension of course.)
→ Once you get the study permit document in the mail, and you've received your passport with the new valid visa, take pictures, of them, scan them or email them to yourself, as these are some pretty important documents and it's good to have more than one copy on hand, because you never know when you may need it.
Following graduation, I knew I wanted to remain in Canada, so the next step I took in my immigration journey was applying for a Post-graduation work permit.
I'll be sure to publish a blog post on my experience with applying for a Post-Graduation Work Permit, so please stay tuned!
Good luck with all your applications!
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