If you have a Canadian Visa or a permit that will be expiring soon, you may consider the possibility of extending your status in Canada.
Even if you have a visitor, study, or work permit there may be a chance to extend or to change your conditions to remain legally in Canada. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada website advises applicants to apply for their extensions at least 30 days prior to the expiry date of their visa; however, by law you have until the last day of the validity of your document to apply for the extension or change conditions.
I do not advise people to wait until the last minute to apply for the extension or change conditions, but if for some reason you did not apply for the extension of your visa at least 30 days prior to the expiry date, there is no need to worry as you may still be able to submit your application.
In fact, sometimes it is a good legal strategy to wait as long as possible to submit an application for an extension; this is because once you submit your application for an extension, you will be deemed to have legal status in Canada and will be allowed to keep visiting, studying or working as if your previous permit was still valid. Implied status means that until you receive an actual answer on your application, it is legal to remain in Canada and to act under the same conditions of the document you are extending.
This being said, if you are unsure of the outcome of your application and would like to use your current visa as long as possible, as well as benefiting from the implied status, then it would be a good idea to increase the timeframes to legally remain in Canada.
Please keep in mind that this article intends to explain what “implied status” is and the benefits that this status provides, however, you need to submit a complete, accurate application in order to obtain a positive result.
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