Hold a work permit? Since 4 September 2026 you can take a course of six months or less without a study permit.
What it means →
Restoration of status — document checklist
Prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. · government fee $246.25 visitor · $396.25 student · $401.25 worker
Restoration of status — document checklist
Every document an officer will look for, grouped in the order they are read. The ones marked refusal risk are where these applications actually fail — a complete file is not the same as a persuasive one.
7 documents 7 where refusals happen Government fee $246.25 visitor · $396.25 student · $401.25 worker
Identity
Who is this person, and is the story consistent?Where files fail here: Names, dates or passport details that disagree across documents.
The right application form for your status
Visitor, student and worker each use a different form, and on the visitor form the restoration option has to be selected in section 3. Filing it as a plain extension does not restore anything.
Eligibility
Do they meet this program's bar, on paper?Where files fail here: A requirement evidenced by assertion instead of a document.
Count the ninety days
IRCC must receive the application no more than 90 days after your status expired — for online filings, before midnight UTC on day 90. Day 91 is not a late filing, it is no filing: the only route left is to leave Canada and apply again from outside.
Evidence you still meet the original requirements for your stay
Restoration is a fresh assessment, not a rubber stamp on the earlier approval. Funds, purpose and ties are all examined again.
Students: proof you were actively pursuing studies
A statutory bar, not a discretionary factor — an officer shall not restore a student who was not complying with the study conditions. There is nothing to argue.
Intent
Does the purpose hold together, and will they comply?Where files fail here: A plan that doesn't match the applicant's history or finances.
A written explanation of how status was lost
Officers are assessing whether the lapse was inadvertent and whether every other condition was kept. A narrative that admits unauthorised work defeats itself; one that omits a breach the officer will find is worse.
Admissibility
Is there anything that disqualifies them?Where files fail here: An old charge left undisclosed because it “didn’t count”.
Understand that you cannot work or study while this is pending
This is the sharpest difference from maintained status and the one that costs people their jobs. Maintained status lets you keep working under the old conditions. Restoration does not: you have no status and no authorisation until it is granted. Working anyway ends the application and creates a second breach.
Proof every other condition was met before expiry
Restoration is barred where any other condition was broken. Working after a permit expired, or studying somewhere that is not a designated institution, ends it.
General information, not legal advice. This checklist is prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. and was checked against the Government of Canada’s published requirements on the date shown. Requirements change and vary by case, and IRCC generates a personalised document list for many applications — where that list or canada.ca differs from this document, they govern.
Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees. Police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC makes all final decisions.
CHK Immigration Services Inc. is an immigration consultancy with offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Our consultants are regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Nothing in this document creates a client–consultant relationship.
Current version: https://chkimmigration.ca/checklists/restoration
Checked against the official IRCC page for this application in September 2026. Where that page disagrees with anything here, it wins. General information, not legal advice. Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees — police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC also generates a personalised checklist for many applications, and that list governs. IRCC makes all final decisions.
Having the documents is not the same as having a persuasive file.
Every item above can be present and correct and the application can still be refused — on intent, on a date that does not reconcile, or on a lead time that ran out. A licensed consultant reads it the way an officer will.
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Find out where you actually stand.
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
- Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant — never a bot, never a salesperson
- A written shortlist of the programs you realistically qualify for
- Consultations are fee-based; you get the fee and available times by reply
CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.