Hello! I'm a recent graduate (International Student) who recently applied for my PGWP online. However, I was a part-time student for one semester during Winter 2021, which was not my final semester. To put things in more perspective, my longest stretch of being a full-time student was 20 months, with 4 months being part-time and then another 16 months of being full-time. After applying for my PGWP online, I received a WP-EXT (IMM 1207) stating I can work for 120 days wherever and with no hour limit.
Now, I know I can't work on maintained status, but I did receive this WP-EXT at the end of the day. I've looked at overriding laws, and everything seems to indicate that I should be able to work, except the third bullet point in this section, which contains "...they were a full-time student enrolled at a DLI in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program of at least 8 months in duration that led to a degree...". The length of my degree was 4 years (I needed 5 years), and I was a full-time student except for one semester.
Does this disqualify me from being a full-time student?
Does this mean I can not work until I receive a decision on my PGWP (Even though I have a WP-EXT)?
I'm sorry if my questions have very straightforward answers that have negative implications for me. However, I'm just trying to figure out if there's any smidgen of hope. I've been really frustrated with how tight the laws are for international students and how there's little to no wiggle room for students who had to do distance learning during Covid. I think it should be considered that some countries saw the true nature of Covid at different times in history and had to make do accordingly. In my country, the pandemic was at its worst when Canada was getting better (or at least when they thought it was a good time to take away the ability to be part-time).
If anyone has been or is in a similar situation, please let me know what you did or are doing.
Now, I know I can't work on maintained status, but I did receive this WP-EXT at the end of the day. I've looked at overriding laws, and everything seems to indicate that I should be able to work, except the third bullet point in this section, which contains "...they were a full-time student enrolled at a DLI in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program of at least 8 months in duration that led to a degree...". The length of my degree was 4 years (I needed 5 years), and I was a full-time student except for one semester.
Does this disqualify me from being a full-time student?
Does this mean I can not work until I receive a decision on my PGWP (Even though I have a WP-EXT)?
I'm sorry if my questions have very straightforward answers that have negative implications for me. However, I'm just trying to figure out if there's any smidgen of hope. I've been really frustrated with how tight the laws are for international students and how there's little to no wiggle room for students who had to do distance learning during Covid. I think it should be considered that some countries saw the true nature of Covid at different times in history and had to make do accordingly. In my country, the pandemic was at its worst when Canada was getting better (or at least when they thought it was a good time to take away the ability to be part-time).
If anyone has been or is in a similar situation, please let me know what you did or are doing.