Lawyer says I should not apply for a Visitor Record, opinions?

[Nwallma]

Hello Everyone,

I have recently completed my spousal inland pr application along with owp+visitor record, and based on recommendation of people from here and friends who have gone through this process I decided to consult with a reputable lawyer to review my application together. After her review she told me I "should not" be submitting visitor record which would confuse cic employees ..

I am currently staying in Canada as a Student who is on a grace period as I am no longer pursuing my studies actively, so if my OWP gets refused I would be out of status and my application goes down the drain (from what I know), I was planning on submitting Sponsor+PR+OWP together then submit a visitor record application online right after, however even after telling all these details to my lawyer, she still insists I should not be submitting a visitor record application, what are your thoughts on this ? Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Eveslm]

Hello Everyone,

I have recently completed my spousal inland pr application along with owp+visitor record, and based on recommendation of people from here and friends who have gone through this process I decided to consult with a reputable lawyer to review my application together. After her review she told me I "should not" be submitting visitor record which would confuse cic employees ..

I am currently staying in Canada as a Student who is on a grace period as I am no longer pursuing my studies actively, so if my OWP gets refused I would be out of status and my application goes down the drain (from what I know), I was planning on submitting Sponsor+PR+OWP together then submit a visitor record application online right after, however even after telling all these details to my lawyer, she still insists I should not be submitting a visitor record application, what are your thoughts on this ? Thanks in advance for your input!

When will your current status expire?
Submitting an application to extend stay as visitor after you've submitted you PR+OWP applications will definitely not confuse IRCC officers, and you are not the first to do that.

If your current status is not expiring soon, you can wait until just before it does to send in the application online. if it will be valid for atleast 3-4 months then you might be safe and wont need to extend your stay as visitor. I do not know what being on grace period means, if you are not studying then your study permit might have been suspended.

With the current situation, it is possible that there might be a delay in processing your application, and you might not get an AOR more months (January applicants have been receiving them just recently, took 2 months). So you will have to wait for 2 months (more or less) to actually know if your application has been accepted as complete and that chances for it to be returned are close to none.

 

[Nwallma]

When will your current status expire?
Submitting an application to extend stay as visitor after you've submitted you PR+OWP applications will definitely not confuse IRCC officers, and you are not the first to do that.

If your current status is not expiring soon, you can wait until just before it does to send in the application online. if it will be valid for atleast 3-4 months then you might be safe and wont need to extend your stay as visitor. I do not know what being on grace period means, if you are not studying then your study permit might have been suspended.

With the current situation, it is possible that there might be a delay in processing your application, and you might not get an AOR more months (January applicants have been receiving them just recently, took 2 months). So you will have to wait for 2 months (more or less) to actually know if your application has been accepted as complete and that chances for it to be returned are close to none.

Thanks for the response!


I stopped my studies by mid January this year, called immigration on several occasion and was told I have 150 days (what I referred to it as grace period) to restore my status or apply for PR in my case which is giving me around 5 months , so roughly till May-June.

Do you mean after getting acknowledgement (AOR) from cic , there is little chance for my application to be returned?

I guess just to make sure I am safe, I should be submitting the visitor record application anyway..

Additionally I d like to ask, if do I need to include any other sponsor on my visitor record application other than my wife? As a student I do not have any income at the moment but some support from my parents, I am not sure if my wife's income would be sufficient to show as the sole/main sponsor although that s what we did for the PR application? Any information on that anyone could share? Thanks

 

[Eveslm]

Thanks for the response!


I stopped my studies by mid January this year, called immigration on several occasion and was told I have 150 days (what I referred to it as grace period) to restore my status or apply for PR in my case which is giving me around 5 months , so roughly till May-June.

Do you mean after getting acknowledgement (AOR) from cic , there is little chance for my application to be returned?

I guess just to make sure I am safe, I should be submitting the visitor record application anyway..

Additionally I d like to ask, if do I need to include any other sponsor on my visitor record application other than my wife? As a student I do not have any income at the moment but some support from my parents, I am not sure if my wife's income would be sufficient to show as the sole/main sponsor although that s what we did for the PR application? Any information on that anyone could share? Thanks

When I applied to extend my stay, I only submitted my husband's info. Pay slips, employer letter, pr card etc, and a letter from him. By then we had not yet sent the PR application, I asked for a 12 months extension, and explained that we are putting together a PR application and they gave me 12 months.

Since you have submitted the PR application, you can submit a copy of your payment receipt together with other supporting documents.

 

[Eveslm]

Thanks for the response!


I stopped my studies by mid January this year, called immigration on several occasion and was told I have 150 days (what I referred to it as grace period) to restore my status or apply for PR in my case which is giving me around 5 months , so roughly till May-June.

Do you mean after getting acknowledgement (AOR) from cic , there is little chance for my application to be returned?

I guess just to make sure I am safe, I should be submitting the visitor record application anyway..

Additionally I d like to ask, if do I need to include any other sponsor on my visitor record application other than my wife? As a student I do not have any income at the moment but some support from my parents, I am not sure if my wife's income would be sufficient to show as the sole/main sponsor although that s what we did for the PR application? Any information on that anyone could share? Thanks

Did you take authorised leave from studies? I am not well informed with study permit details, but I do know the permit expires from when you stop studying (they suspend it as you did not fulfii the conditions of your study permit); and if they said restore status and not extend status it might mean that you were out of status because you stopped studying and thus you need to restore it (not extend it). Try to find that out further because if you are actually out of status, then you do not qualify for OWP unless you applied for the OWP before your study permit was suspended.

 

[OverIt]

Hello Everyone,

I have recently completed my spousal inland pr application along with owp+visitor record, and based on recommendation of people from here and friends who have gone through this process I decided to consult with a reputable lawyer to review my application together. After her review she told me I "should not" be submitting visitor record which would confuse cic employees ..

I am currently staying in Canada as a Student who is on a grace period as I am no longer pursuing my studies actively, so if my OWP gets refused I would be out of status and my application goes down the drain (from what I know), I was planning on submitting Sponsor+PR+OWP together then submit a visitor record application online right after, however even after telling all these details to my lawyer, she still insists I should not be submitting a visitor record application, what are your thoughts on this ? Thanks in advance for your input!

I’m honestly confused here to be honest. If your study permit hasn’t expired then you HAVE status in the country. You run out of status whenever your study permit expires.

If your study permit has not expired, applying for a visitor record does not make much sense. Especially if you have already sent in a sponsorship and OWP application.

What is the expiry date WRITTEN on your study permit??

 

[OverIt]

Did you take authorised leave from studies? I am not well informed with study permit details, but I do know the permit expires from when you stop studying (they suspend it as you did not fulfii the conditions of your study permit); and if they said restore status and not extend status it might mean that you were out of status because you stopped studying and thus you need to restore it (not extend it). Try to find that out further because if you are actually out of status, then you do not qualify for OWP unless you applied for the OWP before your study permit was suspended.

Nope, not true actually. I was a student in Canada for about 6 years. For 9 months out of those 6 years, I took a break from school. I didn’t ask for permission from anyone. I simply took a break. When I was ready to go back to school, I went back.

The system is not strict about these things at all. You can take a break from school if you want. As long as you have status, you’re fine and can stay in the country. Study permits are also very easy to extend if you need more time to complete your studies. All you need is an acceptance letter from an accredited school and proof that you can take care of yourself financially.

 

[Eveslm]

Nope, not true actually. I was a student in Canada for about 6 years. For 9 months out of those 6 years, I took a break from school. I didn’t ask for permission from anyone. I simply took a break. When I was ready to go back to school, I went back.

The system is not strict about these things at all. You can take a break from school if you want. As long as you have status, you’re fine and can stay in the country. Study permits are also very easy to extend if you need more time to complete your studies. All you need is an acceptance letter from an accredited school and proof that you can take care of yourself financially.

you were lucky, but the rules are clear. If you stop studying your permit is cancelled. Taking a break is ok if its a short break. Longer breaks require authorization. And the 150 days she mentioned here are normally the maximum days one can take for authorised break and that is why I asked her if she took an authorised leave. If cic find out that she has stopped going to school and it is not just a short break, yes they can cancel her permit which will make her ineligible for the OWP. She might be lucky.

 

[OverIt]

you were lucky, but the rules are clear. If you stop studying your permit is cancelled. Taking a break is ok if its a short break. Longer breaks require authorization. And the 150 days she mentioned here are normally the maximum days one can take for authorised break and that is why I asked her if she took an authorised leave. If cic find out that she has stopped going to school and it is not just a short break, yes they can cancel her permit which will make her ineligible for the OWP. She might be lucky.

I just looked at my old study permit. I also looked at the terms and conditions under which I was authorized to stay in the country. Nowhere does it say that I need authorization to take a break, long or short.
Where exactly did you read these rules??

 

[Eveslm]

I just looked at my old study permit. I also looked at the terms and conditions under which I was authorized to stay in the country. Nowhere does it say that I need authorization to take a break, long or short.
Where exactly did you read these rules??

CIC website if you search under study permit conditions you will find them
One has 90 days since they stopped studying for their permit to become invalid regardless of the expiration date on the permit itself.
After the 90 days they become out of status and will have to apply to restore their status (as visitor for the OP's case)

 

[Eveslm]

CIC website

Meanwhile there have been others in the forum with the same issue as the OP; stopped studying and had to apply to extend their stay as visitors, you can search in the forum if you'd like to

 

[OverIt]

Meanwhile there have been others in the forum with the same issue as the OP; stopped studying and had to apply to extend their stay as visitors, you can search in the forum if you'd like to

I’m not sure I understand how exactly I was lucky though. Two years after I went back to school, I applied to extend my study permit as my old one was expiring. Why didn’t they tell me that my study permit had become invalid due to my 9 month break from school and that I was in the country illegally? Doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not like I was hiding and pretending to be going to school.

I even left the country in 2012 while I was still on that supposedly invalid study permit and was allowed back into the country. None of this makes sense to be honest. The only way this makes sense is if they changed the rules recently.

 

[Eveslm]

I’m not sure I understand how exactly I was lucky though. Two years after I went back to school, I applied to extend my study permit as my old one was expiring. Why didn’t they tell me that my study permit had become invalid due to my 9 month break from school and that I was in the country illegally? Doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not like I was hiding and pretending to be going to school.

I even left the country in 2012 while I was still on that supposedly invalid study permit and was allowed back into the country. None of this makes sense to be honest. The only way this makes sense is if they changed the rules recently.

Probably new rules? not so sure about 2012. But if that was the case, i guess they did not know you had stopped studying, though 9 months is a long time they should have known. Anyway may be the rules were different then.

I myself was a student at mcgill, but had to stop studying because we moved to edmonton.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I’m not sure I understand how exactly I was lucky though. Two years after I went back to school, I applied to extend my study permit as my old one was expiring. Why didn’t they tell me that my study permit had become invalid due to my 9 month break from school and that I was in the country illegally? Doesn’t make any sense to me. It’s not like I was hiding and pretending to be going to school.

I even left the country in 2012 while I was still on that supposedly invalid study permit and was allowed back into the country. None of this makes sense to be honest. The only way this makes sense is if they changed the rules recently.

The requirement to actively pursue studies came into effect in 2014. Schools are required to report students' statuses so that permits can be cancelled for those who stopped studying, though schools don't always.

 

[canuck78]

OP should just submit PR and OWP. If your study permit is about to expire and you have not received AOR from your OWP I would swtch your status to visitor. I agree with the lawyer.