Receive a Post-graduate Work Permit (PGWP) Expired Passport?

[jmlshaban]

Hello,

I am looking into getting matriculated at a 2-year magesteriate program in a reputable designated learning institution. I wanted to know if I will have the right to receive a post-graduate work permit upon finishing the program even though my passport will be expired by then?

I will not be able to renew my passport when it expires as I have not attended the mandatory military service in my home country. Is it possible that I submit an addendum or a petition (after graduating) explaining my situation with proof, and still receive a 2-year PGWP?

Thank you

 

[scylla]

Hello,

I am looking into getting matriculated at a 2-year magesteriate program in a reputable designated learning institution. I wanted to know if I will have the right to receive a post-graduate work permit upon finishing the program even though my passport will be expired by then?

I will not be able to renew my passport when it expires as I have not attended the mandatory military service in my home country. Is it possible that I submit an addendum or a petition (after graduating) explaining my situation with proof, and still receive a 2-year PGWP?

Thank you

No - not possible. You need a valid passport to apply for a PGWP.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello,

I am looking into getting matriculated at a 2-year magesteriate program in a reputable designated learning institution. I wanted to know if I will have the right to receive a post-graduate work permit upon finishing the program even though my passport will be expired by then?

I will not be able to renew my passport when it expires as I have not attended the mandatory military service in my home country. Is it possible that I submit an addendum or a petition (after graduating) explaining my situation with proof, and still receive a 2-year PGWP?

Thank you

As said above, no.

Also note that your study permit will not be valid beyond passport expiry, so you won't even be able to finish your course to even qualify for a PGWP.

 

[jmlshaban]

@canuck_in_uk @scylla Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my post.

I had another more important matter that I would appreciate your insight on:

I am currently in Canada on a SW-1 visa (a student work visa) which I received through applying to study at a co-op program in Toronto. I was issued a work permit, a study permit, and a SIN at the airport when I arrived. I did not attend at my institution (after having paid my first semester fees) after learning that it is a non-designated learning institution that won't qualify me to earn a PGWP (regardless of having a valid passport or not).

I have held a minimum wage job for two months (as I held a valid SIN and work permit) and stopped working as soon I learned that I am not allowed to work as I have discontinued my studies.

I am currently considering applying for express entry right after I am done compiling the documents necessitated. I wanted to know if the fact that I have worked for two months (while not studying) will hinder my express entry potential by any manner of means? because if there is a chance that it might cause complexities down the road (if I get accepted for express entry), then I will have no other remedy but to pay my previous employer the two-months wages back to save the situation.

Please let me know.

Regards,

 

[bongoman]

@canuck_in_uk @scylla Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my post.

I had another more important matter that I would appreciate your insight on:

I am currently in Canada on a SW-1 visa (a student work visa) which I received through applying to study at a co-op program in Toronto. I was issued a work permit, a study permit, and a SIN at the airport when I arrived. I did not attend at my institution (after having paid my first semester fees) after learning that it is a non-designated learning institution that won't qualify me to earn a PGWP (regardless of having a valid passport or not).

I have held a minimum wage job for two months (as I held a valid SIN and work permit) and stopped working as soon I learned that I am not allowed to work as I have discontinued my studies.

I am currently considering applying for express entry right after I am done compiling the documents necessitated. I wanted to know if the fact that I have worked for two months (while not studying) will hinder my express entry potential by any manner of means? because if there is a chance that it might cause complexities down the road (if I get accepted for express entry), then I will have no other remedy but to pay my previous employer the two-months wages back to save the situation.

Please let me know.

Regards,

Giving money back doesn't fix anything, you were working illegally your work permit was for the purpose of doing coop not for general work also you are not in compliance with your permit and possibly your school has reported you. You should have studied while looking for a school to switch to.

There is a possibility they will not find out about your illegal work, if you are doing EE it might be best to go home and do it from there since you are not gaining anything in Canada but causing yourself problems.

 

[jmlshaban]

If I were to keep studying then I would have had to pay the remaining tuition fees. It did not seem very commonsensical to me to keep paying the tuition fees every semester in a program that I intend to withdraw from anyways. Not to mention I would have not had any motivation whatsoever to attend the classes every day while having the certain idea of eventually dropping out at some point in my mind.

I cannot go back "home" as I am not allowed entry to the country because of not responding to the military requisition I received; I am required to use quotation marks because home is not really home anymore. Hence my attempts to settle in Canada and become Canadian. It is also worth mentioning that I cannot join the military because doing so will put me in dangerous situations when I do my time in the army as I come from a family that holds grave political issues with the military regime.

--

The work permit I received does not mention anything about coop. It specifies that I am not allowed to work in businesses related to the sex trade, school teaching, or health service field occupations. It also did specify that I must be in attendance in college to be bale to work for my employer and since since my employer was the institution, I believed that this meant that I can only work for this one specific employer, or do the internship, if I attend the program.

The fact that the permit clearly restricted the certain jobs I mentioned above made me think that those are the only jobs that I cannot pursue, and that I am allowed to occupy other jobs regardless of attending or awaiting transfer to a different designated learning institution.

I do not understand how giving the money back does not fix anything? I do admit that I did work illegally without being aware due to the ambiguity of the permit - or let's say the permit is impeccably clear and I'll take the whole blame; I am a student that is new to the country, English is my fourth language thus I do not comprehend things very well, and I am not quite familiar with the jargon. Now I am offering to pay back my employer (who has not filed for taxes yet) the "illegal" 3000 CAD that I made. Shouldn't this neutralize the situation and prevent me from having any issues when I either apply for a new study permit when I get accepted at an adequate learning institution, or when I apply for EE?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If I were to keep studying then I would have had to pay the remaining tuition fees. It did not seem very commonsensical to me to keep paying the tuition fees every semester in a program that I intend to withdraw from anyways. Not to mention I would have not had any motivation whatsoever to attend the classes every day while having the certain idea of eventually dropping out at some point in my mind.

I cannot go back "home" as I am not allowed entry to the country because of not responding to the military requisition I received; I am required to use quotation marks because home is not really home anymore. Hence my attempts to settle in Canada and become Canadian. It is also worth mentioning that I cannot join the military because doing so will put me in dangerous situations when I do my time in the army as I come from a family that holds grave political issues with the military regime.

--

The work permit I received does not mention anything about coop. It specifies that I am not allowed to work in businesses related to the sex trade, school teaching, or health service field occupations. It also did specify that I must be in attendance in college to be bale to work for my employer and since since my employer was the institution, I believed that this meant that I can only work for this one specific employer, or do the internship, if I attend the program.

The fact that the permit clearly restricted the certain jobs I mentioned above made me think that those are the only jobs that I cannot pursue, and that I am allowed to occupy other jobs regardless of attending or awaiting transfer to a different designated learning institution.

I do not understand how giving the money back does not fix anything? I do admit that I did work illegally without being aware due to the ambiguity of the permit - or let's say the permit is impeccably clear and I'll take the whole blame; I am a student that is new to the country, English is my fourth language thus I do not comprehend things very well, and I am not quite familiar with the jargon. Now I am offering to pay back my employer (who has not filed for taxes yet) the "illegal" 3000 CAD that I made. Shouldn't this neutralize the situation and prevent me from having any issues when I either apply for a new study permit when I get accepted at an adequate learning institution, or when I apply for EE?

You should have changed your status to visitor instead of working illegally. There was nothing ambiguous about the work permit. The employer was limited to your institution, meaning it was a co-op work permit. If you were allowed to work for any employer, there would have been no employer listed on the permit.

Paying back the employer (who shouldn't even accept it because that would put them in a potentially liable situation) does not erase the fact that you worked illegally. You still need to declare the illegal work.

Unless you have degrees from home equivalent to Canadian degrees, several years of skilled work experience and high language scores, you likely don't qualify for PR. Recent draws are 460+.

There is also the issue of your expiring passport. You will not be granted another study permit, a PGWP or PR without a valid passport.

 

[bongoman]

If I were to keep studying then I would have had to pay the remaining tuition fees. It did not seem very commonsensical to me to keep paying the tuition fees every semester in a program that I intend to withdraw from anyways. Not to mention I would have not had any motivation whatsoever to attend the classes every day while having the certain idea of eventually dropping out at some point in my mind.

I cannot go back "home" as I am not allowed entry to the country because of not responding to the military requisition I received; I am required to use quotation marks because home is not really home anymore. Hence my attempts to settle in Canada and become Canadian. It is also worth mentioning that I cannot join the military because doing so will put me in dangerous situations when I do my time in the army as I come from a family that holds grave political issues with the military regime.

--

The work permit I received does not mention anything about coop. It specifies that I am not allowed to work in businesses related to the sex trade, school teaching, or health service field occupations. It also did specify that I must be in attendance in college to be bale to work for my employer and since since my employer was the institution, I believed that this meant that I can only work for this one specific employer, or do the internship, if I attend the program.

The fact that the permit clearly restricted the certain jobs I mentioned above made me think that those are the only jobs that I cannot pursue, and that I am allowed to occupy other jobs regardless of attending or awaiting transfer to a different designated learning institution.

I do not understand how giving the money back does not fix anything? I do admit that I did work illegally without being aware due to the ambiguity of the permit - or let's say the permit is impeccably clear and I'll take the whole blame; I am a student that is new to the country, English is my fourth language thus I do not comprehend things very well, and I am not quite familiar with the jargon. Now I am offering to pay back my employer (who has not filed for taxes yet) the "illegal" 3000 CAD that I made. Shouldn't this neutralize the situation and prevent me from having any issues when I either apply for a new study permit when I get accepted at an adequate learning institution, or when I apply for EE?

You should have studied until you got acceptence to a public college then switched, this would have taken one semester only probably. A lot of us are here studying things we already know just because we gotta do what we gotta do, its a process, keep your goal in mind.

You cant unbreak the law, if you were a bank robber returning the money would not make the crime go away, extreme example I know.

As someone said your employer cant legally take back any money anyway, it is illegal to have people work for free.

There are strict rules here which you should have followed if you wanted to remain long term.

Excuses about English are not going to help at this point.

With your passport issue there is no path for you in Canada, maybe if you can actually get asylum but thats probably a long shot.

 

[scylla]

@canuck_in_uk @scylla Thank you for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to read and answer my post.

I had another more important matter that I would appreciate your insight on:

I am currently in Canada on a SW-1 visa (a student work visa) which I received through applying to study at a co-op program in Toronto. I was issued a work permit, a study permit, and a SIN at the airport when I arrived. I did not attend at my institution (after having paid my first semester fees) after learning that it is a non-designated learning institution that won't qualify me to earn a PGWP (regardless of having a valid passport or not).

I have held a minimum wage job for two months (as I held a valid SIN and work permit) and stopped working as soon I learned that I am not allowed to work as I have discontinued my studies.

I am currently considering applying for express entry right after I am done compiling the documents necessitated. I wanted to know if the fact that I have worked for two months (while not studying) will hinder my express entry potential by any manner of means? because if there is a chance that it might cause complexities down the road (if I get accepted for express entry), then I will have no other remedy but to pay my previous employer the two-months wages back to save the situation.

Please let me know.

Regards,

You can apply under Express Entry. When you submit the application, make sure you are honest about the 2 months of illegal work.

If you don't plan on studying, apply to change your status to visitor as soon as possible.

How many points do you have under Express Entry?

 

[k.h.p.]

Singapore, Korea...

 

[bongoman]

a lot of things to deal with.

firstly, you broke the law as your work permit was issued only because our course of study requires it. since you did not attend the course you cannot work as your minimum wage job is clearly not part of the programme. i suspect it will be found out through SIN records or something like that. claiming ignorance or offering to pay money back to your employer is not a valid reason for this offence to be forgiven.

secondly as mentioned in other posts, you say you cannot renew your passport because you did not do required military service. i assume you actually fled the country and broke the law back home. again, this will mean that any application to stay on in canada through express entry or what not will be rejected for obvious reasons. even if cic does not find out now, if they find out later then they have a right to expel you and ban you for misrepresentation.

if what i say is correct, and that you entered canada illegally by fleeing compulsory military service and not declaring it, then im pretty sure if you tried to claim asylum, you will be rejected.

what country are you from? there are very few countries with compulsory military service nowadays. my first guess was that you are from eritrea

I dont think canada cares about his lack of military service in another country so there was nothing illegal there. Unless he has actually been convicted in his country which doesnt appear to be the case.

The issue is he didn't follow his permit and doesnt have a valid passport.

I highly suggest you get some legal help, there are places that offer free counseling for asylum seekers/refugees I believe you could probably drag this process out for a few years at least.
Also note claiming asylum & being denied will almost certainly mean you can never get another visa in Canada.

 

[k.h.p.]

dont talk nonsense. he already said that he did not do compulsory military service - thats why he could not renew his passport.

its very obvious that he broke the law by doing so.

and when you apply for a permit it does ask whether or not you have served.

Canada isn't in the business of enforcing compulsory service in other countries.

Not having a valid passport is the bigger issue here.

 

[bongoman]

dont talk nonsense. he already said that he did not do compulsory military service - thats why he could not renew his passport.

its very obvious that he broke the law by doing so.

and when you apply for a permit it does ask whether or not you have served.

They only care if you have been convicted not broken the law, the question is clear on the application forms.
They ask if you have served so as to know if you are a military person and might need a closer look not to enforce another countries laws.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

dont talk nonsense. he already said that he did not do compulsory military service - thats why he could not renew his passport.

its very obvious that he broke the law by doing so.

and when you apply for a permit it does ask whether or not you have served.

When it comes to criminal action, IRCC equates it with Canadian law. If he broke a law in his country by fleeing mandatory military service, it is a law that doesn't exist in Canada, so should not ne an issue for IRCC.

As said several times, the passport expiry and failure to comply with the conditions of the stay are the issues.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

ok is there any place where this point is stated?

cause i know of one person who fled Singapore to escape national service and tried to apply for permit/residency, albeit in another country (Australia). the government simply told him to serve before he could enter for he had broken the law.

It is stated several times. Many countries convict people under unjust laws. Canada does not punish people for this.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...admissible-canada-past-criminal-activity.html

was convicted of an offence outside of Canada that is considered a crime in Canada;