lionplane said:
Hello everyone,
I have a problem and need a help with it. I graduated from University of Alberta last month and I was hired by a company now. My driving license is expiring on October 31st, but I need at least 40 days to get my post graduation work permit. The work permit is still on processing at CIC. Anybody knows if I can extend my driving license? And how to extend it. Gonna need it to work.
I will really appreciate your help.
A worried international student.
Well, if I'd been in your shoes I'd have done it before my study permit expired, since you can renew it up to 12 months in advance of expiration. From a quick review of the Service Alberta website, it doesn't even indicate you have to show a status document to renew it. I suspect they will want to see one, in which case you may have to take your current licence plus a copy of your application - particularly the receipt - and take that in and see if that will allow them to renew it for you.
See: http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/1742.cfm#Renew
It would seem you have a couple of possible outcomes:
(1) they renew your licence without asking you for anything other than the fee and your old licence.
(2) they renew your licence but you have to convince them that you have a pending PGWP application. In that case, I'd have everything necessary to show that the application was submitted, you have a job offer AND information on the PGWP program.
(3) despite it all they refuse to renew your licence - at that point, you should politely insist on speaking with a supervisory person and ensure that they concur this is a reasonable refusal. If despite that, you should ask for information on the appeals process, assuming they have one.
If you still can't get a renewal, you'll need to figure out how to get around without one until you get your paperwork. But I think that's a
very unlikely scenario.
Hopefully someone else has gone through with this.
I know here in BC when I renewed my licence I did show them a document indicating my current status in Canada - my work permit. It expired LONG before the licence expired, which confirmed to me that a licence is not a status document. Hence, there's no reason for them to refuse it to you. You reside in Alberta, you're clearly planning on continuing to reside in Alberta and refusing you a licence is merely an inconvenience for you.
Good luck - let us know how it goes!
