Employer-specific work permit? Since 17 September 2026 IRCC applies four genuineness tests to every job offer, LMIA or not.
Check your offerVisitor record · Extension · Restoration
One date changes what you can do next.
Whether you extend or restore turns entirely on whether you file before your status expires. Enter your date and find out which side of that line you are on.
Status checker
Where does your current date put you?
Your entry stamp, visitor record, study permit or work permit carries an expiry date. That date — against today — decides whether you are extending, restoring, or out of options.
From your visitor record, permit, or the date the border officer wrote in your passport. With nothing written, it is six months from entry.
Workers and students may restore as visitors — confirmed in IRCC’s May 2026 guidance.
The fork
Before the date, and after it, are different files.
These are not two ways of doing the same thing. They cost different amounts, carry different rights while you wait, and leave different marks on your immigration record.
| Question | ExtendYou are still in status | RestoreYour status has already expired |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | Before your current status expires | 90 days from the day status was lost |
| Government fee | $100 — visitor record | $246.25 — total, as a visitor |
| Can you stay while waiting? | Yes — maintained status | You may remain, but with no status |
| Can you work or study? | No, unless separately authorized | No — stop immediately |
| Gap in your record? | None | Yes — it is not erased |
| Extend: Filing one day before expiry and one day after produces completely different outcomes. This is the side of the line you want to be on. | Restore: Restoration is discretionary. It restores status going forward; it does not undo the period you spent without it, and officers can see that gap in every later application. |
Restoring as a visitor costs $246.25 in total. IRCC’s fee list carries the note “visa fee not needed” against that line, so the $100 visitor fee is not added on top. Restoring as a student is $396.25 and as a worker $401.25, because those do add the permit fee. Confirm on the official fee list →
Updated May 2026
Three May 2026 changes before you file.
- May 2026 · 01
Restoring as a visitor
A worker or student who loses status may now restore as a visitor — explicitly stated in the May 2026 guidance. If the job or the study plan is gone, the status route is not.
- May 2026 · 02
Not at the border
Restoration cannot be applied for or granted at a port of entry. Leaving and re-entering to “reset” is not a route — it ends the option.
- May 2026 · 03
Incomplete is not filed
An application returned as incomplete does not create maintained status, and your 90 days run from the original expiry — not from the day it came back.
Maintained status
Filing on time lets you stay under the same conditions.
Filing on time buys you the right to stay. It buys nothing else.
Apply before your status expires and you hold maintained status — formerly called implied status. You may remain in Canada lawfully under your existing conditions while IRCC decides, even after the original date passes. What it does not do is upgrade you: a visitor stays a visitor, and if your permit allowed work or study, that continues only while you remain in Canada. Leave the country and maintained status ends at the border.
- What it allows
- Remaining in Canada lawfully while IRCC decides, even after the original date passes.
- Your existing conditions. If your permit allowed work or study, that continues — only while you remain in Canada.
- What it does not
- Upgrade you: a visitor stays a visitor.
- Travel. Leave the country and maintained status ends at the border.
Processing now runs into months rather than weeks, which is why filing in the last fortnight before expiry is a poor plan even though it is technically on time. Give yourself 60 days or more, and check the live processing time before you decide.
What to prepare
Build the file around the route you need.
Exact contents depend on your situation. This is the baseline we build from, and the restoration list is additional to the extension one — not instead of it.
- 01
Passport
Bio page plus every stamped and visa page — officers read the travel history, not just the photo page.
- 02
Proof of current status
Entry stamp, existing visitor record, or the eTA/visa you entered on.
- 03
Funds for the requested period
Statements covering the months you are asking for, not a single-day balance.
- 04
Purpose and end date
A short letter: why you are staying, how long, and what you return to.
- 05
Ties outside Canada
Employment, property, dependants, obligations — evidenced, not asserted.
- 06
Where you are staying
Address and host details, with the host's own status if they are supporting you.
+ Restoring — status already lost: add these on top
- 07
Everything from the extension list
Restoration is the extension application plus the restoration request — not a lighter file.
- 08
Why the status lapsed
Dates and facts in order. Officers weigh whether the lapse was within your control.
- 09
Proof you stopped
Evidence you ceased working or studying the day the permit expired. Continuing is the most common fatal problem.
- 10
Support for the explanation
Medical records, travel disruption, a returned application — whatever actually happened.
Related
If this is a different route.
- Before you arriveVisitor visa & eTA →
Which document you need, and how long a stay you are actually granted on entry.
- Parents & grandparentsSuper Visa →
Stays measured in years rather than months — often better than repeated extensions.
- RefusedRefusals & remedies →
A refused extension ends your status on the day of refusal. What follows depends on the date.
Next step
Not sure which side of the date you are on?
Send us your expiry date and what you hold. We will confirm whether you extend or restore, what the file needs, and how quickly it has to move. Brampton, London, or remotely across Canada.
Reviewed August 2026 — general information only, not legal advice, and no consultant–client relationship is created by reading this page. Restoration is discretionary and approval is never guaranteed. Fees and processing times change; confirm both on IRCC’s fee list and the processing-times tool before you file.
Questions, answered.
The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.
How do I extend a visitor stay in Canada?
Can I switch from visitor to worker or student inside Canada?
When should I apply to extend?
What is maintained status?
My status already expired. Can I fix it?
More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.
Status review
Do you need a visitor record to stay?
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.
- 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
- 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
- 03Fee-based; the fee and times come 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. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.