Recognizing the contributions made by Temporary Residents to the country, Canada, today, confirmed the new measures that would allow Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) holders, whose Work Permits have either expired on or after September 20, 2021, or will expire by or before December 31, 2022, to receive an extension of their Open Work Permits in Canada.
A PGWP holder is normally issued a Work permit for a period not exceeding 3 years, with none to very limited opportunities for extending one’s status. However, due to the various negative impacts of COVID on Canadian Immigration, which includes but is not limited to:
* 7 million backlogged applications awaiting a decision,
* reduced projections for the 2022 Immigration Levels Plan, and
* extraordinarily high Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) cut-offs on Express Entry,
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) today came out with measures that would allow an extension of 18 months to certain PGWP holders in Canada.This extension would be different and independent of The Bridging Open Work permit (BOWP) that a Work permit holder avails off, if his/her submitted Express Entry Application is awaiting a decision. Different Individuals would get impacted differently, with these new measures, depending on their situations. Discussed below, are the various scenarios and required actions by the affected individuals:
| Scenario # | PGWP Expires | Passport details in IRCC records and its Validity | Address in IRCC Records | Note#1 | Note#2 | Note#3 |
| 1 | between October 2, 2022, and December 31, 2022 | Same Passport and Valid At least till April 2024 | Updated and Not Changed | Don’t respond to email received (by September), requesting you to confirm your mailing address | Await Updated Work Permit in mail by mid-October | NA. |
| 2 | between October 2, 2022, and December 31, 2022 | Same Passport and Valid At least till April 2024 | Different from Current Mailing Address | Await an email from IRCC with instructions on updating your Mailing Address | Update Mailing address within 2weeks | Await Updated Work Permit in mail by mid-November |
| 3 | between October 2, 2022, and December 31, 2022 | New Passport but Valid At least till April 2024 | Updated and Not Changed | Await an email from IRCC with instructions on updating your New Passport Details | Update Passport Details within 2weeks | Await Updated Work Permit in mail by mid-November |
| 4 | between October 2, 2022, and December 31, 2022 | Passport expiring before April 2024 | Updated and Not Changed | Apply Online for PGWP extension either before or after Passport Renewal | If applied before passport renewal – PGWP extension matched with Passport expiry | If applied after passport renewal – 18 months PGWP extension can be granted |
| 5 | between October 2, 2022, and December 31, 2022 | NA. | NA. | If no email is received from IRCC by September, you may or may not be eligible for this extension due to other reasons (such as Inadmissibility, Investigation on file etc.) | One may still apply online with proper justification, if reason for ineligibility is known | NA. |
| 6 | between September 20, 2021, and October 1, 2022 | NA. | NA. | One would need to Apply Online along with request for restoration of status | Restoration of Status allowed beyond 90 days, as a special measure under this one-time extension |
Additional Highlights:
- Work in the Interim: August 8, 2022, onwards PGWP holders with expired or expiring permits (between September 20, 2021, and December 31, 2022) will be allowed to work in the interim even without the formal Updated Work Permit extensions are received in mail. Such individuals will receive an email that they can use attached with their expired Work Permits to continue working legally.
- Individuals who are likely to benefit from these extensions must ensure to apply for the renewal of their passports if the passports are expiring sometime before April 2, 2024.
- TR to PR Applicants who are still awaiting a decision on their TR to PR applications may be able to further extend their Work Permits till December 31, 2024. A similar extension had been allowed last year to these applicants with the work permit scheduled to expire on December 31, 2022. With the new measures, most applicants would not have to do much to avail this Work permit extension other than responding to the email received from IRCC, following the instructions provided or applying to renew their expired or expiring passports. This measure to extend Work Permits till the end of 2024 might be indicative of the timelines that the current TR to PR applications are likely to follow.
For help with your Work Permit Extension Application contact #EngageImmigration today.
Call +1 (905) 418-2500 or email info@engageimmigration.ca.
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