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PGWP refused part-time during last semester

dm1424

Newbie
Sep 14, 2022
4
1
Hey everyone! I finally heard back about my PGWP application which had been refused on grounds that I wasn't a full-time student. To elaborate, I attended a 4 year bachelor's program during which I was full-time for every semester except the second to last. During that semester, I was enrolled in the only two classes I had left but failing one caused me to return back to retake that one last course in another semester. I.E. part-time now for two "last" semesters. I did explain what had happened in a LOE during the initial submission.

My degree spanned over 6 years during which i was full-time for every semester up until the last two.

I did manage to submit a reconsideration along with supporting documentation from my university which explained everything in detail. Then I went through the MPs office who spoke on my behalf. I just heard back that the immigration office had chosen to stick with their decision and since I am also out of status because of the long processing times, I will have to reapply + restore my status. The MPs office also communicated to me that IRCC has advised me to reapply and restore which was pretty standard but it made me frustrated and concerned because there is no other information i can add to a reapplication which will make my case stronger so I will have to go through a lawyer who can represent the facts better.

Another bizarre thing which happened was receiving two different refusal letters one month apart. The first received in July lacked any information or instructions other than the reason of refusal and then a second refusal letter, one month apart that was more articulate and included instructions about restoration and the 90 day period except it also said to ignore the one from July and mentioned very directly that my status expired on the date the second refusal letter was received i.e. a date in august. The date was underlined and it was mentioned underneath that my status expired on that date. I now have 30 days left to reapply if i go by the first refusal letter. The MPs office also included the august date in their correspondence but I am going by the July date for caution.

Does anyone know if I can start working again after reapplying? Experience with Lawyers? its going to be 650 for just the fees. Does anyone have any experience with how much lawyers usually charge for representing you?
 

Naturgrl

VIP Member
Apr 5, 2020
43,839
9,234
Hey everyone! I finally heard back about my PGWP application which had been refused on grounds that I wasn't a full-time student. To elaborate, I attended a 4 year bachelor's program during which I was full-time for every semester except the second to last. During that semester, I was enrolled in the only two classes I had left but failing one caused me to return back to retake that one last course in another semester. I.E. part-time now for two "last" semesters. I did explain what had happened in a LOE during the initial submission.

My degree spanned over 6 years during which i was full-time for every semester up until the last two.

I did manage to submit a reconsideration along with supporting documentation from my university which explained everything in detail. Then I went through the MPs office who spoke on my behalf. I just heard back that the immigration office had chosen to stick with their decision and since I am also out of status because of the long processing times, I will have to reapply + restore my status. The MPs office also communicated to me that IRCC has advised me to reapply and restore which was pretty standard but it made me frustrated and concerned because there is no other information i can add to a reapplication which will make my case stronger so I will have to go through a lawyer who can represent the facts better.

Another bizarre thing which happened was receiving two different refusal letters one month apart. The first received in July lacked any information or instructions other than the reason of refusal and then a second refusal letter, one month apart that was more articulate and included instructions about restoration and the 90 day period except it also said to ignore the one from July and mentioned very directly that my status expired on the date the second refusal letter was received i.e. a date in august. The date was underlined and it was mentioned underneath that my status expired on that date. I now have 30 days left to reapply if i go by the first refusal letter. The MPs office also included the august date in their correspondence but I am going by the July date for caution.

Does anyone know if I can start working again after reapplying? Experience with Lawyers? its going to be 650 for just the fees. Does anyone have any experience with how much lawyers usually charge for representing you?
Your title says last semester but above you say that you were part time in the second last semester. Which one is correct? If part-time in the second last semester, then you were not eligible for a PGWP. MPs cannot influence the decision.

Once you received the refusal, you must have stopped working. You cannot work until your PGWP is approved (if it is), even if you restore status and reapply. If you are out of status, get that completed first. As for lawyers, the moderators of this forum are one of the best known. Est. $2-4K
 

dm1424

Newbie
Sep 14, 2022
4
1
My second to last semester was intended to be my last semester at first until I failed a class and it became my second last semester. It wasn't planned to be that way and was out of my control. Its been explained in my post. The title is for ease of communication and can't convey all the information. I didn't contact the MPs office to intervene in decision making, I did it to establish contact with IRCC which helped with having my reconsideration request evaluated. I am not looking for recommendations on lawyer and am not sure I understand what you mean when you say moderators on this forum are lawyers? I have not been working since the day of the final decision.
 

scylla

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Jun 8, 2010
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Toronto
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Hey everyone! I finally heard back about my PGWP application which had been refused on grounds that I wasn't a full-time student. To elaborate, I attended a 4 year bachelor's program during which I was full-time for every semester except the second to last. During that semester, I was enrolled in the only two classes I had left but failing one caused me to return back to retake that one last course in another semester. I.E. part-time now for two "last" semesters. I did explain what had happened in a LOE during the initial submission.

My degree spanned over 6 years during which i was full-time for every semester up until the last two.

I did manage to submit a reconsideration along with supporting documentation from my university which explained everything in detail. Then I went through the MPs office who spoke on my behalf. I just heard back that the immigration office had chosen to stick with their decision and since I am also out of status because of the long processing times, I will have to reapply + restore my status. The MPs office also communicated to me that IRCC has advised me to reapply and restore which was pretty standard but it made me frustrated and concerned because there is no other information i can add to a reapplication which will make my case stronger so I will have to go through a lawyer who can represent the facts better.

Another bizarre thing which happened was receiving two different refusal letters one month apart. The first received in July lacked any information or instructions other than the reason of refusal and then a second refusal letter, one month apart that was more articulate and included instructions about restoration and the 90 day period except it also said to ignore the one from July and mentioned very directly that my status expired on the date the second refusal letter was received i.e. a date in august. The date was underlined and it was mentioned underneath that my status expired on that date. I now have 30 days left to reapply if i go by the first refusal letter. The MPs office also included the august date in their correspondence but I am going by the July date for caution.

Does anyone know if I can start working again after reapplying? Experience with Lawyers? its going to be 650 for just the fees. Does anyone have any experience with how much lawyers usually charge for representing you?
My comments:
- You're posting in the wrong section of the forum. Strongly recommend you move over to the International Students section of the forum and/or the Foreign Workers section. You probably won't get the responses you're looking for here.
- Some people have been successful in getting a decision like this overturned with the help of a lawyer. It does come down to a lot of luck since you are essentially asking IRCC to make an exception and ignore the rules. Post to the right section of the forum and also look there for threads on a similar topic. Hopefully there's a lawyer recommendation there. I don't know what a lawyer will cost for a case like this however I think it makes sense for you to work with a lawyer in this situation.
- You unfortunately won't be able to work until your status is restored / IRCC overturns the decision and approves the PGWP.

Good luck and hope it works out.
 

dm1424

Newbie
Sep 14, 2022
4
1
Thank you Scylla, that was helpful!
Re: Lawyers. That's the plan. I have gotten in touch with a firm in my city but I haven't been quoted yet so I just wanted to compare price and be prepared. As you can tell, finances have been tight since I lost employment.
 
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