One date, two completely different situations
Nothing in this branch rewards waiting. The difference between an administrative formality and a ninety day emergency is whether you file before your status expires, and nothing arrives to remind you.
| You apply before expiry | You apply after expiry | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is called | An extension, giving you a visitor record | Restoration of status |
| Deadline | Before your status expires, and ideally thirty days before | Ninety days from losing status for almost everyone, and the application must be received inside that window. A foreign worker holding a letter of support from a participating province or territory is exempt from the ninety days |
| Do you keep status while waiting | Yes. Maintained status continues your status under the same conditions until the decision | No. You may stay while it is decided and you have no status in the meantime |
| Can you work or study while waiting | Only under the conditions you already held. A worker who applies for a visitor record must stop working | No, not until the restoration and any permit are approved |
| Fee | $100 | $246.25 as a visitor, $396.25 with a study permit, $401.25 with a work permit |
| If it is refused | You may stay only until your status expires, which on maintained status means departure is due on the refusal | You must leave Canada |
A visitor record is not a visa and gives no right to re-enter Canada. If your visa has expired and you intend to leave and return, you need a new visa. Filing an extension after your status has expired is not open to you, the fee is not refunded, and the restoration fee is then payable as well.
Two traps inside maintained status. An application rejected as incomplete is treated as never submitted, so there was never any maintained status to rely on. And a temporary resident permit holder does not get maintained status at all, which means applying well before expiry is the only safe course.
Restoration, and what it does not give you
- Ninety days, received rather than sent. The application must reach the department within ninety days of losing status, and an online submission has to be in before midnight in coordinated universal time on the ninetieth day.
- One published class is exempt from the ninety days. A foreign worker who holds a letter of support from a participating province or territory does not have to apply within ninety days of losing status, and may apply even if they lost it more than ninety days ago. That worker is also exempt from having to meet the requirements of the stay listed on the expired permit and the conditions on the expired work permit before its expiry. Everybody else is on the ninety days.
- You must meet the requirements of the stay again. Restoration is not a grace period. The Regulations require that you meet the initial requirements for your stay, that you have not failed to comply with any other condition, and that you are not subject to a declaration by the Minister.
- Give the full circumstances. The department asks for full details of all the facts and circumstances of the breach, together with why you want to stay and how you will support yourself.
- Each person applies. Restoration is per person, so every family member who lost status needs their own.
- You cannot work or study while it is pending. The visitor guidance is flat on this, and the worker guidance says that normally you are not allowed to work until your status has been restored and your new work permit issued. Either way, do not work. Where you are eligible to apply for a work or study permit from inside Canada you can file both together, with the permit only processed after the restoration decision.
- A student in breach of the study conditions cannot restore. The Regulations exclude a student who has not complied with the condition to enrol and actively pursue studies, which is a narrow but important carve out.
- After ninety days there is normally no restoration. Being out of status, or having worked or studied without authorisation, is an offence under the Act, with the possibility of an admissibility hearing and removal. Past the window the usual position is that you leave and apply from outside. Check the exemption above before you accept that, because a foreign worker with a letter of support from a participating province or territory can still restore after ninety days, and leaving Canada would give up a live application.
Changing what you are here for
| What you want | Position |
|---|---|
| A work permit, as a visitor | Generally not available from inside Canada. The public policy that allowed it ended on 28 August 2024 with immediate effect, and applying at the border was closed on 23 December 2024 with narrow exemptions. Normally you apply from outside Canada |
| A study permit, as a visitor | Most people cannot, and must apply from outside. There is a defined list of exceptions, including holding a valid study or work permit, having a spouse, partner or parent who holds one, being a minor child at school, being an exchange or visiting student, having completed a short course required for admission, holding a permit valid six months or more, being sponsored with a permanent residence application already filed, and several others |
| A course of six months or less | No study permit is needed at all |
| To become a visitor, from a work or study permit | Available, through a visitor record. Remember that the work rights end with the permit |
| A new visa while you are in Canada | Available to workers and students only. You must be in Canada, hold a valid work or study permit, intend to leave and return, and hold a visa that is expired, expiring or single entry. Apply well before you travel and do not leave until it is issued, because extending a permit does not issue a visa. We could not source a specific recommended lead time, so work from the current processing time rather than a figure |
These rules moved twice in the space of four months across 2024, so anything written before 2025 is likely to describe a route that has closed.
Which route are you on
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
Your situation
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An indication only, not an eligibility decision and not legal advice. For almost everyone the ninety day restoration window is the deadline and the application must be received inside it, so an unfavourable answer here is time sensitive rather than informational. There is one published exemption, for a foreign worker who holds a letter of support from a participating province or territory, who does not have to apply within ninety days of losing status. Restoration is not available to a temporary resident permit holder, nor to a student who has not complied with the condition to enrol and actively pursue studies. Verified 19 August 2026 against canada.ca and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.