Visa Extension / Restoration of status /Refusal Reasons/ Appeals

It is illegal to remain in Canada beyond the validity of your status in Canada.
It is illegal to work without a required work permit.
It is illegal to study without a required study permit.

Extensions and Status restoration

Foreign nationals lose their temporary resident (TR) status,

at the end of the period for which they were authorized to remain in Canada;
on a determination by an officer or the Immigration Division that they have failed to comply with any other requirement of the Act; or on cancellation of their temporary resident permit (TRP).

Note: Holders of the Parent and Grandparent Extended Stay Temporary Resident Visa (Super Visa) also lose their status if they stay beyond their authorized period

(A). Visa Extension

Visitors are a class of temporary resident who are legally authorized to enter Canada temporarily to holiday, visit family, conduct business, etc.

They are restricted in length of stay and are subject to various other conditions.

If your current Visa (Temporary Resident Status) still valid, you can apply for an extension of your stay. For any permit, you should always apply at least 30 days before your current status expires.

Your original temporary status as a visitor continues under the same conditions until your application is finalized and you have been notified of the decision.

The validity of your temporary resident status cannot exceed the validity of your passport. Therefore, you should ensure that your passport will be valid for at least the same amount of time as your requested extension.

(A). Restoration of stat

You may be able to restore your status as a visitor, student or worker within 90 days of losing it, if you lost it because:

you stayed in Canada longer than the period authorized for your stay (but not longer than 90 days).
you changed employers, location of employment, or type of work (occupation or level of responsibility) before getting a new work permit.
you changed the type of studies, educational institutions, location of studies, or times and periods of studies without applying to change these conditions on your study permit if they were specified on your study permit.

You may still be eligible for restoration if you continue to meet the initial requirements for your stay and have not failed to comply with other conditions imposed.

If you wish to obtain a new study or work permit and restore your temporary resident status, you must

submit your application within 90 days of losing your status
provide full details of all the facts and circumstances that resulted in you committing the offence
keep meeting the requirements for your stay
• meet all the conditions listed on your permit, and pay the restoration fee ($200)

Restoration applies to each family member who has lost their status. There is no guarantee that IRCC will accept your application.

An officer will evaluate your request for restoration of status and if approved will process your application for a study or work permit. You will then be advised of any further action to be taken.

(C). Refusal Reasons

Student Visas get refused often when individuals apply on their own. What options do I have after being refused?

Citizens from visa-required countries must ensure a strong application is prepared in order to convince the visa officer they are a good candidate for a Student Visa. Visa-required countries have been flagged by Canadian Immigration, and citizens from these countries must go through a much more rigorous screening process than citizens from visa-exempt counties. Every Student, Worker, or Visitor from a visa-required country requires a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) in their passport (travel authorization) before they can board a plane and travel to Canada. When a candidate applies for a Student Visa, they will be automatically issued a TRV visa as well.

The Student Visa application process is a lengthy one. The application requires detailed personal and family information. In addition, many documents must be provided to strengthen and support the application. Unlike US visas that have an interview, Canada’s screening process is only done by a paper application with no interview. It is extremely important to prepare a strong application as the visa officer will decide solely based on the information provided in the application; they will not request any additional information.

Many individuals do not understand the process and there is a high rate of refusal when an individual applies on their own. After receiving a refusal, the individual has been flagged and any subsequent application must be as strong as possible in order to have any chance of approval. Contact us for assistance in re-applying after addressing the concerns raised by the officer.

Common Reasons for Refusal:

Study Plan: Without a detailed and logical study plan, the officer will not be convinced the main purpose of coming to Canada is to study. There must be a logical progression of studying if a person already has previous post-graduate education or work experience. The choice of program in Canada must make sense for the student, or a proper explanation must be given how their diploma in Canada will help them when they return to their home country. This is the most common reason for refusal.

Proof of Finances: Tuition in Canada starts at $15,000 CAD per year. The Canadian government wants to ensure a student has the financial support to pay for their tuition and living expenses. In general, a bank statement with a minimum of $50,000 CAD equivalent needs to be provided as evidence. This depends on the individual situations of each student.

Lack of Travel History: If a person has not travelled anywhere outside of their home country before, they will be refused a visa if they apply on their own. Our firm can overcome this reason by making legal arguments and referencing a Federal Court Case in the application.

Strong Family Ties to Canada: surprisingly, having family members in Canada can be a reason for refusal, and individuals applying on their own can be refused. Our firm can overcome this reason by making legal arguments and referencing a Federal Court Case in the application.

Lack of evidentiary documents

Illegal Status in Country of Residence

Lack of Employment Prospects in Home Country: if student is older

Current Employment Situation: if student is older

Personal Assets

Documents that do not appear authentic

History of overstaying status on a previous visit to Canada

Other Reasons!!

Other Reasons for Refusal that apply to all visitors to Canada

Criminality (having previously been charged with a crime)

Misrepresentation (having misrepresented information to Canada immigration previously and received a ban)

Previous Deportation: for overstaying visit illegally

Medical Inadmissibility: have a contagious disease that is a threat to Canadians

Human Rights Violations: previously served in the military for a country that has been deemed to have participated in war crimes. Additional documents must be provided to overcome this inadmissibility.Credibility – concerns of authenticity of documents

(D). Appeals

There is no formal process or rights to appeal within IRCC. The only option would be to re-apply or judicial review. A judicial review can be filed if due process was not followed by IRCC; that is, the visa office did not assess the application properly despite being presented a detailed and thorough application which highlighted all the necessary facts. In order to be granted leave via judicial review, one must prove that IRCC did not perform their job properly. Judicial Review will not be successful if the original application did not present a strong case for approval. Contact us to find out how can we assist you in this.

Unfortunately, re-applying again on your own is futile. Individuals will only learn this fact once they have applied two, three, even four times on their own and are refused. The main issue here is that the foreign visa office will not respect another application submitted by an individual applying on their own.

In general, visa offices are very busy and have government employees reviewing applications. These government employees don’t want to waste their time reviewing a subsequent application by an individual, given a recent refusal. As soon as they see a previous refusal within the same year, they will just refuse it again, without even reviewing the application. While this seems unfair, this is what happens usually.

When a skilled and licenced immigration professional is involved, the visa officers pay more attention when assessing an application. The main reason being is that the visa officers respect that licenced and skilled immigration practitioners as some of them are extremely knowledgeable with the immigration laws and understand that proper due process and procedural fairness must be followed.

Otherwise, a licensed practitioner will challenge the visa officer’s decision via judicial review. If a visa officer is refusing an application, they must justify the refusal based on the facts presented in the application. If a strong case was presented by a licensed practitioner and the visa officer still refuses the application, this scenario would be worthy for judicial review. The truth is visa offices and IRCC do not like to waste time and resources with the Judicial Review process. If a strong application is presented by a licensed practitioner and no grounds to justify a refusal, they would rather approve the case than going for a Judicial Review.

In most cases, working with a knowledgeable immigration practitioner to prepare and re-submit a much stronger application presenting the case often leads to an approval. The visa officer can see that the application is being submitted though an Immigration Practitioner’s Representative Portal and also the consultant’s attached submission letter.

We typically drafts a lengthy submission letter presenting each client’s application, highlighting the important facts to address all reasons for refusal, where necessary, we will also include case law from Federal Court to address unfair reasons for refusal such as: Lack of Travel History, Strong Ties to Canada, Not Likely to Return Home.

Clients will have an opportunity to see the case we present for their application as we will always send a copy of the submission letter for review to a client before submitting their application.

Contact us if you need any help in addressing your refused application. We have partnered with trusted and experienced immigrations professionals who are specialised in improving chances your application.