Learning moments – Implied status – when is it lost?
March 11, 2020
Brought to you week by week by Chantal Desloges and her fabulous team. Visit them here.
Hello, fellow practitioners! Today’s questions deal with implied status and when it is considered to be lost.
Reader’s Question:
Answer:
As a consequence, your client definitely needs to either leave Canada or apply for a restoration of status if it falls within the 90 day time limitation period.
IRCC updated its Program Delivery Instructions regarding “Temporary resident: Implied status (extending a stay)” on June 13, 2016. These new instructions cover circumstances where an applicant submitted a second application to extend status as a temporary resident prior to the expiry of the original permit. The instructions provide clarification regarding that:
Extensions
- If the extension is approved, the date of issue shown on the document represents the date a decision was made. Observations in the remarks box of the document indicate that the applicant maintained their status, as per subsection R183(6).
- If the extension is refused, the applicant is considered in status until the day the decision is made on their application.
- If the extension is rejected (incomplete), the applicant is considered in status until the temporary resident document expires.
Note: If a second application for extension is submitted after the first application and the decision rendered on the first application was
- approved, then the new status applies.
- refused, and the original permit was still valid when the second application was received, then the applicant maintains their implied status until a decision is rendered on the second application, and the applicant is out of status as of the date of refusal on the second application.
- refused, and the original permit was expired when the second application was sent, then the applicant does not have implied status and is considered out of status. (As the applicant’s original permit was expired, they must apply for restoration. The second application was missing restoration fees and would be returned to the applicant for being incomplete)
- rejected for incompleteness, then the application is returned to the applicant. The application is considered to have never been received, no implied status is granted, and the applicant will be considered in status until the original temporary resident document expires.
Since the question of implied status comes up often, we would like to reiterate that only applicants who are inside of Canada and applying for an extension/renewal of status may benefit from implied status.
R183(5) is the provision which creates “implied status”, and it reads as follows:
Extension of period authorized for stay
(5) Subject to subsection (5.1), if a temporary resident has applied for an extension of the period authorized for their stay and a decision is not made on the application by the end of the period authorized for their stay, the period is extended until
(a) the day on which a decision is made, if the application is refused; or
(b) the end of the new period authorized for their stay, if the application is allowed.
One should also keep in mind that leaving Canada while awaiting a response on an extension of status application voids the applicant’s implied status. If an individual is waiting for an extension of status, then leaves and re-enters Canada, implied status to work or study is lost, and the person reverts to visitor status with no permission to work or study until the renewed permit is issued.
For further information about implied status, please refer to