Hi,
I'm an international student from India studying in Canada since Jan, 2019
I went to US on March 11, 2020 to visit my family for a weekend. But that weekend all hell broke lose and the shutdowns happened. I was stuck in US.
I graduated April 27, 2020. Wanted to apply for PGWP from outside Canada but none of the visa centers were open for Biometrics at that time so we decided to wait till I come back to Canada.
I came back to Toronto on Sep 2, 2020. Today I found out that my student permit becomes invalid after 90 days of graduation regardless of what date you have on your study permit or visitor record. My SP says it expired on April 30, 2021. But 90 days after my graduation is July 27, 2020.
I thought I thought I could be here till April 2021. Which is why I came back to Canada from the US on Sep 2, 2020. The immigration people looked at my documents and let me in no problems.
I was feeling safe thinking I was still in my 180 days from graduation to apply for PGWP period but then the 90 day rule kicked me. I have now 1 month to apply for my restoration status and PGWP application.
After some research, I see that I should apply to restore my status as a student/worker and apply for the PGWP at the same time. I say worker because that's the only option in the IMM5710e form. I'm going to chose that and explain in my explanation letter that I'm only applying for the PGWP. I will pay the fee of $340 and $350 for PGWP and Restoration of status respectively and wait. All the while I can't work.
Based on a forum here I feel safe picking the "Restore my status as a worker" in Question 3 of the form and explaining it later. I've also picked "Other" in what type of permit I'm going for and in other I wrote "Restore status and Post Graduation Work Permit"
I have 90 days from when my status expired to submit this. That would be October 27, 2020.
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One thing that's worrying me is the most is the fact that I entered Canada on a technically invalid permit. But I'm here now. Could that be a problem? Could that come up in the whole process and mess things up? How do I mention I came back after my permit was invalid?
Is there anything else I should know? Something I should I do differently before I apply?
Should I leave the country and apply from the US? Would that be better/safer?
This all literally just happened. I have been looking up stuff and am trying to resolve it. I will contact my school's immigration service and call CIC to get more info when they open up.
Thank you so much for reading all this! Any help or suggestion or idea you can give is really appreciated!
I'm an international student from India studying in Canada since Jan, 2019
I went to US on March 11, 2020 to visit my family for a weekend. But that weekend all hell broke lose and the shutdowns happened. I was stuck in US.
I graduated April 27, 2020. Wanted to apply for PGWP from outside Canada but none of the visa centers were open for Biometrics at that time so we decided to wait till I come back to Canada.
I came back to Toronto on Sep 2, 2020. Today I found out that my student permit becomes invalid after 90 days of graduation regardless of what date you have on your study permit or visitor record. My SP says it expired on April 30, 2021. But 90 days after my graduation is July 27, 2020.
I thought I thought I could be here till April 2021. Which is why I came back to Canada from the US on Sep 2, 2020. The immigration people looked at my documents and let me in no problems.
I was feeling safe thinking I was still in my 180 days from graduation to apply for PGWP period but then the 90 day rule kicked me. I have now 1 month to apply for my restoration status and PGWP application.
After some research, I see that I should apply to restore my status as a student/worker and apply for the PGWP at the same time. I say worker because that's the only option in the IMM5710e form. I'm going to chose that and explain in my explanation letter that I'm only applying for the PGWP. I will pay the fee of $340 and $350 for PGWP and Restoration of status respectively and wait. All the while I can't work.
Based on a forum here I feel safe picking the "Restore my status as a worker" in Question 3 of the form and explaining it later. I've also picked "Other" in what type of permit I'm going for and in other I wrote "Restore status and Post Graduation Work Permit"
I have 90 days from when my status expired to submit this. That would be October 27, 2020.
=================
=================
One thing that's worrying me is the most is the fact that I entered Canada on a technically invalid permit. But I'm here now. Could that be a problem? Could that come up in the whole process and mess things up? How do I mention I came back after my permit was invalid?
Is there anything else I should know? Something I should I do differently before I apply?
Should I leave the country and apply from the US? Would that be better/safer?
This all literally just happened. I have been looking up stuff and am trying to resolve it. I will contact my school's immigration service and call CIC to get more info when they open up.
Thank you so much for reading all this! Any help or suggestion or idea you can give is really appreciated!
