Visitor Extension

[scurrilous]

Hi guys, my girlfriend is applying for a visitor extension via mail. She was granted a 1 month stay and is applying for an additional 3 months. Should she include a hand written letter with the documents stating why she would like the extension? Or should we only include the documents they ask for?

Also she arrived August 26th and is supposed to leave the country on September 26th. I know we were supposed to apply 30 days before the date she is supposed to leave, but we had meetings with a local MP the past week and he told us not to apply until we had discussed the case in person. Is applying so late going to be a problem? And because there's only 14 days before she is supposed to go home will she have implied status while we wait for the extension to be reviewed? (Application via mail is estimated at 62 days)

Thanks in advance!

 

[lellen]

Should she include a hand written letter with the documents stating why she would like the extension? Or should we only include the documents they ask for?

Yes, but why not just type the letter and print it?

Also she arrived August 26th and is supposed to leave the country on September 26th. I know we were supposed to apply 30 days before the date she is supposed to leave, but we had meetings with a local MP the past week and he told us not to apply until we had discussed the case in person. Is applying so late going to be a problem?

No, don't worry about that. You can apply up until one day before the status expires.

And because there's only 14 days before she is supposed to go home will she have implied status while we wait for the extension to be reviewed? (Application via mail is estimated at 62 days)

Yes, she will have implied status.

 

[scurrilous]

Sorry for the bump, but my girlfriend was originally supposed to leave tomorrow (September 26th) and we mailed in the extension application a week ago via express and I guess there was some sort of delay as it's still not going to be arriving until tomorrow. Is this going to be a problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[lellen]

I think CIC needs to receive the application at least one day BEFORE the applicant's status expires. I'm not sure what will happen, they might reject it and then you'll have to restore her status (you'll have 90 days), or they might look at the date the application was sent and have some mercy. But whatever happens, you'll be fine because if they don't take it all you need to do is apply for restoration of status, which is more expensive but you'll have 90 days to do it, she won't have to leave Canada right away (that's what I mean by "you'll be fine"). Perhaps someone with more experience can say whether they'll look at the date the application was sent or not. Either way, good luck!

 

[scurrilous]

Hmm okay.

According to the processing times web page, visitor extensions by mail are taking 62 days to be processed. Does that mean we would have to wait 62 days to find out if they're going to reject it? Or will we find out if they've rejected it tomorrow once it arrives at the CIC?

If it is rejected does that mean we have to pay the $200 for restoration and then another $100 to reapply for the visitor extension, or does applying for restoration get you some sort of visitor extension? She was only trying to get an extension until January 10th btw.

Thank you for all your help!

 

[lellen]

I am not sure how the fees would work, they would tell you on your rejection letter how much you would have to pay. I once had to restore my status and apply for a work permit, and they gave me a letter asking me to pay the total fees of $350 but they didn't break them down (it WAS, in fact, work permit+restoration). I am not sure if a visitor record would work like the work permit.

However there's still a chance they'll look at the date the application was mailed (or marked as sent by the post office). May I ask what the problem was?

The 62 days would only happen if they decide to process your application, in which case they would have accepted it as valid (so they wouldn't reject it because of the date). If you had the wrong forms or some documents missing, you would hear back soon after your application was received (either have your application returned or a request for extra documents), so if they decided your status had already expired by the time you sent your application, they would notice it around that time frame (when they're checking all documents are in order).

And no problem, I am only telling you stuff based on my experience and what I've learned from this forum. I'm sorry I'm not a complete expert on the subject. But we're only talking about the worst case scenario here, so maybe they'll accept the application since it was signed and sent before her status expired.

 

[scurrilous]

I'm not sure what caused the delay. I paid the most expensive shipping, and it was supposed to only be 2 days, but according to the tracking it looks like it sat around in multiple places :/

Do you think we will have to wait a while to find out what is going on, or do they usually decide to reject or process the application as soon as they receive them?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

They should go by the postmark, not the date that the app was received.