HELP! Stressed about Restoration and Study Permit Application.

[idekwtph]

Hey everyone!
This may be a long post. I’d really appreciate if I can get some sort of clarity. I’ll try to pour out as much important information as I can initially. I wouldn’t mind sharing specifics if needed.

I recently submitted an application for study permit and restoration of my status. But I’m really stressed because a lot of stuff seems really confusing and complicated to me. I had been issued my first study permit extension on August 2020. But since then I never went to school. I had been going through anxiety issues and Covid had put me into a tough spot. I had gotten an acceptance letter in Jan 2021 but I still failed to attend school for personal reasons. I included a letter in my application that covered the timeline of my anxiety issues( this also includes the time before August 2020). I also included doctor remarks stating I had anxiety and a seperate doctor letter stating the same as well. I’m just mad tensed about the chances of approval here since I wasn’t pursuing studies for a considerably long time.

I’v been in Canada since 2017 but unfortunately I still haven’t finished my studies. I came for a Diploma (2 year plus co-op so roughly 3 years). I went through some ups and down and Covid surely played a part in that as well. The last time, I was enrolled was in September 2019 on whose basis I got the study permit extension. ( I had applied for my study permit 89 days after it expired ). My case appears to be really complicated to me and it keeps getting worse. I submitted my file on 21st March(9 days before my study permit expires) to the Ottawa office and they returned me an email saying I need to apply for a restoration first then for a temporary visa. So I included another letter apologizing about the wrong submission and delay. Now today I got my application returned from Alberta which I submitted roughly 40 days ago. I have no clue what to do. My study permit has expired and my application has been returned as well. I have been trying to reach IRCC but they havent been answering their calls at all. Plus my IRCC online account is locked and it wont let me make a new one. Can anyone suggest me what I need to do next?
thanks in advance

 

[scylla]

Hey everyone!
This may be a long post. I’d really appreciate if I can get some sort of clarity. I’ll try to pour out as much important information as I can initially. I wouldn’t mind sharing specifics if needed.

I recently submitted an application for study permit and restoration of my status. But I’m really stressed because a lot of stuff seems really confusing and complicated to me. I had been issued my first study permit extension on August 2020. But since then I never went to school. I had been going through anxiety issues and Covid had put me into a tough spot. I had gotten an acceptance letter in Jan 2021 but I still failed to attend school for personal reasons. I included a letter in my application that covered the timeline of my anxiety issues( this also includes the time before August 2020). I also included doctor remarks stating I had anxiety and a seperate doctor letter stating the same as well. I’m just mad tensed about the chances of approval here since I wasn’t pursuing studies for a considerably long time.

I’v been in Canada since 2017 but unfortunately I still haven’t finished my studies. I came for a Diploma (2 year plus co-op so roughly 3 years). I went through some ups and down and Covid surely played a part in that as well. The last time, I was enrolled was in September 2019 on whose basis I got the study permit extension. ( I had applied for my study permit 89 days after it expired ). My case appears to be really complicated to me and it keeps getting worse. I submitted my file on 21st March(9 days before my study permit expires) to the Ottawa office and they returned me an email saying I need to apply for a restoration first then for a temporary visa. So I included another letter apologizing about the wrong submission and delay. Now today I got my application returned from Alberta which I submitted roughly 40 days ago. I have no clue what to do. My study permit has expired and my application has been returned as well. I have been trying to reach IRCC but they havent been answering their calls at all. Plus my IRCC online account is locked and it wont let me make a new one. Can anyone suggest me what I need to do next?
thanks in advance

I'll be honest with my perspective on this situation.

I don't think there is any chance a restoration application is going to be approved. Given how long ago it's been since you attended school, your study permit would have been canceled by IRCC quite some time ago and this means you will have been out of status in Canada now for well over 90 days (likely somewhere close to a year, maybe more). While on paper, your study permit expired on March 21st. I think it probably hadn't been valid since late 2020 or early 2021 and was canceled by IRCC when you failed to attend school (schools are required to report students to IRCC if they fail to attend school). This is supported by the fact that IRCC told you that you need to apply for restoration. Your study permit had already been canceled by March 21st and was no longer valid by the time you applied for the most recent extension.

Once you are past the 90 days since you lost status, there's really very little you can do from inside of Canada. IRCC won't approve restoration beyond the 90 days.

You can certainly try applying for restoration. I think the chances of approval are extremely low unfortunately. It will only work out if you fell out of status within 90 days of submitting the restoration application.

Most likely your only option is to return to your home country and reapply for a new study permit from there.

 

[idekwtph]

I'll be honest with my perspective on this situation.

I don't think there is any chance a restoration application is going to be approved. Given how long ago it's been since you attended school, your study permit would have been canceled by IRCC quite some time ago and this means you will have been out of status in Canada now for well over 90 days (likely somewhere close to a year, maybe more). While on paper, your study permit expired on March 21st. I think it probably hadn't been valid since late 2020 or early 2021 and was canceled by IRCC when you failed to attend school (schools are required to report students to IRCC if they fail to attend school). This is supported by the fact that IRCC told you that you need to apply for restoration. Your study permit had already been canceled by March 21st and was no longer valid by the time you applied for the most recent extension.

Once you are past the 90 days since you lost status, there's really very little you can do from inside of Canada. IRCC won't approve restoration beyond the 90 days.

You can certainly try applying for restoration. I think the chances of approval are extremely low unfortunately. It will only work out if you fell out of status within 90 days of submitting the restoration application.

Most likely your only option is to return to your home country and reapply for a new study permit from there.

Wouldn’t they consider the mental health issues I had gone through especially during Covid. I had a long case of anxiety growing from days in college and I had explained everything from scratch . I had many visits to doctors and he wrote in his remarks that I had health related anxiety disorder. In addition I also provided them one from another doctor this year itself.

 

[scylla]

Wouldn’t they consider the mental health issues I had gone through especially during Covid. I had a long case of anxiety growing from days in college and I had explained everything from scratch . I had many visits to doctors and he wrote in his remarks that I had health related anxiety disorder. In addition I also provided them one from another doctor this year itself.

They will definitely sometimes consider this for a study permit extension or PGWP where someone wasn't in school full time for all semesters.

However in order for you to be able to remain in Canada, you need to get restoration approved. Restoration is different and there's pretty much no flexibility with these applications. There's a hard 90 rule for submitting the restoration application after you fall out of status. Once you are beyond the 90 days, it's too late to restore regardless of the circumstances. Then the only option is to leave Canada.

The issue / challenge with your situation is that it's difficult to guess when you actually fell out of status and therefore when the 90 days started (and if you still have a chance of getting restoration approved).

If you have the money, at this point I think it would be very wise to invest in immigration lawyer (not consultant) and get them to help you to submit the restoration application. You really need to do this asap since you don't know how long you have on the restoration clock. My feeling is that you are too late and that IRCC canceled your study permit sometime last year. But there's really no way to find this out and I'm just guessing.

 

[scylla]

Wouldn’t they consider the mental health issues I had gone through especially during Covid. I had a long case of anxiety growing from days in college and I had explained everything from scratch . I had many visits to doctors and he wrote in his remarks that I had health related anxiety disorder. In addition I also provided them one from another doctor this year itself.

I was just reading through your first post again. Can you post the full text of the first refusal letter you received telling you to apply for restoration (removing personal details like your name, of course) and also post the letter you received when the second application was returned? That might help us to help you.

 

[idekwtph]

I'll be honest with my perspective on this situation.

I don't think there is any chance a restoration application is going to be approved. Given how long ago it's been since you attended school, your study permit would have been canceled by IRCC quite some time ago and this means you will have been out of status in Canada now for well over 90 days (likely somewhere close to a year, maybe more). While on paper, your study permit expired on March 21st. I think it probably hadn't been valid since late 2020 or early 2021 and was canceled by IRCC when you failed to attend school (schools are required to report students to IRCC if they fail to attend school). This is supported by the fact that IRCC told you that you need to apply for restoration. Your study permit had already been canceled by March 21st and was no longer valid by the time you applied for the most recent extension.

Once you are past the 90 days since you lost status, there's really very little you can do from inside of Canada. IRCC won't approve restoration beyond the 90 days.

You can certainly try applying for restoration. I think the chances of approval are extremely low unfortunately. It will only work out if you fell out of status within 90 days of submitting the restoration application.

Most likely your only option is to return to your home country and reapply for a new study permit from there.

I forgot to mention that I

They will definitely sometimes consider this for a study permit extension or PGWP where someone wasn't in school full time for all semesters.

However in order for you to be able to remain in Canada, you need to get restoration approved. Restoration is different and there's pretty much no flexibility with these applications. There's a hard 90 rule for submitting the restoration application after you fall out of status. Once you are beyond the 90 days, it's too late to restore regardless of the circumstances. Then the only option is to leave Canada.

The issue / challenge with your situation is that it's difficult to guess when you actually fell out of status and therefore when the 90 days started (and if you still have a chance of getting restoration approved).

If you have the money, at this point I think it would be very wise to invest in immigration lawyer (not consultant) and get them to help you to submit the restoration application. You really need to do this asap since you don't know how long you have on the restoration clock. My feeling is that you are too late and that IRCC canceled your study permit sometime last year. But there's really no way to find this out and I'm just guessing.

I have had couple of consultants and many of them ended up misguiding me and that I lost so much time that way. I am really low on funds as well. When do you think I went out of status ? If I was issued a study permit on August 12th 2020. How long after would it expire? Maybe it happened for a reason that both my appliances were returned that way I can fix some things I need to but I was told by my consultant that due to Covid and my existing health issue they might consider my circumstances.

 

[scylla]

I forgot to mention that I

I have had couple of consultants and many of them ended up misguiding me and that I lost so much time that way. I am really low on funds as well. When do you think I went out of status ? If I was issued a study permit on August 12th 2020. How long after would it expire? Maybe it happened for a reason that both my appliances were returned that way I can fix some things I need to but I was told by my consultant that due to Covid and my existing health issue they might consider my circumstances.

I would never recommend working with consultants on any complex matters - only lawyers. Sorry for your experiences.

If your study permit was issued August 12th and then you never attended school, my best guess would be that the school would have reported you sometime in late 2020 and then IRCC would have moved to cancel your study permit in early 2021. But that's just my guess.

You can certainly try applying for restoration and asking they consider your case due to your particular circumstances. There's always some chance that could work. However if I'm being honest, I think it's super problematic that you haven't attended school in over 2.5 years and if you've also been out of status for a long time in Canada, that means there's a great deal more for you to overcome to have any chance of approval. You have a very challenging profile.

Good luck and hope you are feeling better.

 

[idekwtph]

This is what the email I received said after the first submission.

“The Temporary Resident Unit of the Case Processing Centre – Ottawa (CPC-O) only processes temporary resident visa applications from foreign nationals currently holding valid temporary resident status in Canada (i.e. work or study permit).

• · According to our records, your status in Canada expires on 2022/03/30.
• · You do not hold a valid work or study permit. Consequently, our office is unable to process your application for a temporary resident visa.

Second time I only got my application returned back my mail. Would u know if I have better odds trying under a refugee program or a humanitarian program? I have been here since quite some time now and going back to my country would be a waste of alot of money and time.

 

[scylla]

This is what the email I received said after the first submission.

“The Temporary Resident Unit of the Case Processing Centre – Ottawa (CPC-O) only processes temporary resident visa applications from foreign nationals currently holding valid temporary resident status in Canada (i.e. work or study permit).

• · According to our records, your status in Canada expires on 2022/03/30.
• · You do not hold a valid work or study permit. Consequently, our office is unable to process your application for a temporary resident visa.

Second time I only got my application returned back my mail. Would u know if I have better odds trying under a refugee program or a humanitarian program? I have been here since quite some time now and going back to my country would be a waste of alot of money and time.

No one can give you any odds.

The refugee program only makes sense if you are truly a refugee and can prove with hard evidence that you personally face persecution in your home country if you return and have no options for resettling elsewhere in your home country to avoid these issues. Is that the case in your situation and do you have evidence to prove it? Wasting time and money isn't grounds for a refugee case. Not wanting to go back is not grounds for a refugee case.

H&C is an option but an uncertain path. It takes a while to process and you won't qualify for a work permit or health care coverage until you have first stage approval which can take over a year. Whether IRCC will accept your case under H&C is really hard to guess. You may want to spend time reading through the H&C posts in the Refugee / Asylum section of the forum.

 

[idekwtph]

I was just reading through your first post again. Can you post the full text of the first refusal letter you received telling you to apply for restoration (removing personal details like your name, of course) and also post the letter you received when the second application was returned? That might help us to help you.

I just posted that up there. Sorry I forgot to thank you for your time. I appreciate that.

 

[REDBLACK99]

Hi, we never got to know the results of your case, what resolution did u get?

 

[lonesheep93]

are you in asimiler situation?