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Work Permit extension refused!!!

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Nanos

Member
Dec 7, 2020
18
0
Hi guys,

Pls I need advice and suggestions regarding my PG work permit extension that was refused. My permit will expire on Thursday and I had applied to extend it in September but it got refused yesterday.
The letter states that I need to have LMIA from my prospective employer which confuses me because I thought a PGWP is LMIA exempt (I did choose an option that states I have an employer while filling out the online form though. Is that my mistake?!). It says I have to leave Canada and it didn’t give an option of applying for restoration.

Do clear me please; can I quickly submit another application and uncheck the employer-specific option? If so, will I be on implied status after this Thursday?
Do I need to apply for restoration anyway after this Thursday when my pgwp expires?

**I have an express entry profile and I’m positive of getting ITA once I add my evaluation which is underway.
 
Your PG work permit is valid for a finite period of time, after that there is no way to renew it. You then need to apply for a normal work permit, but those are only issued if you have an LMIA.
 
Islander216 said:
Your PG work permit is valid for a finite period of time, after that there is no way to renew it. You then need to apply for a normal work permit, but those are only issued if you have an LMIA.
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Thank you for responding.

Interesting! I thought I can apply for some sort of bridging work permit. Is there anything I can do in the meantime? I work but I don’t think my employer can issue an LMIA.

I’m in the express entry pool for PR already. I’m hoping to earn enough points for ITA once my evaluation is done.
 
You can apply to bridge your work permit if you've already submitted a complete application for permanent residency (APR).
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You're not eligible for that unfortunately because you haven't received an ITA yet, so you can't plan for something like that yet in the time remaining until your work permit expires.

I'm not sure what you can do before Thursday.
 
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Islander216 said:
You can apply to bridge your work permit if you've already submitted a complete application for permanent residency (APR).
'
You're not eligible for that unfortunately because you haven't received an ITA yet, so you can plan for something like that yet in the time remaining until your work permit expires.

I'm not sure what you can do before Thursday.
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Thank you. I do appreciate your input. Can I then apply for restoration of status meanwhile? I’m sure of completing my evaluation soon & applying for PR within January at most. Your thoughts please...
 
Nanos said:
Thank you. I do appreciate your input. Can I then apply for restoration of status meanwhile? I’m sure of completing my evaluation soon & applying for PR within January at most. Your thoughts please...
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As said above, your work permit extension was correctly refused. You needed an approved LMIA from your employer in order to extend your work permit.

I would recommend that you apply to change your status to visitor before your PGWP expires. The application needs to reach IRCC before Thursday. If you do that, then you will be able to remain in Canada as a visitor. Although you will of course have to stop working as soon as your PGWP expires.
 
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And just to add to the above, you won't qualify for a bridging open work permit unless you have a valid work permit at the time you apply for the BOWP.

So if you want to apply for a BOWP after you receive ITA and submit your full Express Entry application, then you will still need to find an employer who is willing to give you a job and get an approved LMIA so that you can secure a valid work permit again.
 
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This might sound crazy, but is there any way you can leave by Thursday? Then just submit your PR application when you gather all your documents, apply for a visitor visa, come back and wait until your PR application is hopefully approved.
 
Nanos said:
thank you Islander216. I’d really appreciate as much inputs as possible
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You can‘t restore your status to another work permit without an approved LMIA and closed work permit. You change to visitor and you must stop working.
 
Naturgrl said:
You can‘t restore your status to another work permit without an approved LMIA and closed work permit. You change to visitor and you must stop working.
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I reckon this is the next possible option. Can I remain in Canada while I process the visitor visa? I know this can also be denied as well but if there are points you think I can include in my application to improve my chances of getting a visitor visa I’d love to know it. Thank you
 
Nanos said:
Thank you. I do appreciate your input. Can I then apply for restoration of status meanwhile? I’m sure of completing my evaluation soon & applying for PR within January at most. Your thoughts please...
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I will say that you should seek opinion of a professional immigration lawyer or registered immigration consultant ASAP. The issue needs an urgent attention and restoration or your other options may be complicated to say the least.
 
One immigration lawyer was telling me that you can apply for paper based PR which takes much longer, but as soon as you apply- you can apply for bringing work permit( because you already applied for PR. It will take about 6 month until they will start to check your application, so your work permit might be already approved. Try to talk to immigration lawyer by yourself, it might be costly, but I believe it's the only way to keep working here, in this situation.
 
Your permit hasn't expired yet? Why would a restoration be needed? The advice about switching to visitor is the sensible thing, you can stay but cant legally work while it's being processed.
 
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