You have 90 days if you lost your status in Canada. The clock starts the day your status expired, not the day you noticed. An application submitted on day 91 is refused automatically. If you are close to that mark, call us before reading further.
If your visitor status, study permit or work permit expired and you did not apply to extend it before it ran out, you no longer have temporary resident status in Canada. Restoration is the formal process that follows specific requirements.
Restoration is not the same as maintained status. Maintained status applies when you apply to extend before your permit expires, and it usually lets you keep working or studying on the same conditions while you wait. Restoration applies after you have already fallen out of status, and it does not.
Who needs to restore their status
- Visitors, students and workers whose permit or authorized stay has expired without an extension being filed in time
- People whose extension application was returned as incomplete rather than refused — see the warning below, because this catches people out
- Anyone told by IRCC or CBSA that they are out of status and still inside Canada
Am I eligible to apply
You can apply if all of the following are true:
- You are physically in Canada. Restoration cannot be applied for or granted at a port of entry. You cannot travel to the border and apply there.
- You are within 90 days of the date your status was lost.
- You meet the requirements of the class you are restoring to — visitor, student, or worker.
- You have not worked or studied without authorization since your permit expired. Doing so makes you ineligible.
- You are not a Temporary Resident Permit holder. TRP holders cannot use restoration and must apply for a new TRP instead.
A change worth knowing about. As of 1 May 2026, IRCC’s instructions confirm that out-of-status workers and students may restore their status as visitors without leaving Canada, even if they no longer hold a job offer or a place at a school. Previously many people assumed they had to restore into the exact category they held. If your job ended or your studies stopped, restoring as a visitor may keep you in Canada legally while you sort out next steps.
The incomplete-application trap. If IRCC returned your extension application as incomplete rather than refusing it on the merits, you do not get maintained status, and your 90-day restoration window runs from the end of your original authorized stay — not from the date the package came back. People routinely lose weeks assuming the clock restarted.
How to apply
- Identify the exact date your status ended and count 90 days forward. Write that date down. It governs everything else.
- Stop working and stop studying immediately. Not when the application is filed — the day the permit expired. Unauthorized work or study during this period will sink the application.
- Decide what you are restoring to: visitor, student, or worker.
- Complete the appropriate application forms. Locate them directly from the IRCC website. Do not use third party webpages.
- Indicate on the form that you require restoration. There is a specific field for this; missing it is a common error.
- Pay both fees — the restoration fee and the fee for the permit or record you are applying for. Restoration alone does not give you a permit.
- Submit online, from inside Canada.
- Do not leave Canada while the application is pending. Departing generally ends the process, and you should not assume you can re-enter.
- Keep proof of submission and the date.
Processing takes several months. You remain in Canada without status, and without work or study authorization, until a decision is made.
What if the 90 days have already passed
Restoration is gone, but you may still have options:
- Temporary Resident Permit — discretionary, for people who are inadmissible but have compelling reasons to stay
- Inland spousal sponsorship — under a public policy, spouses and partners of Canadians and permanent residents can sometimes apply for permanent residence from within Canada despite being out of status
- Humanitarian and compassionate application — see our how-to on H&C considerations
- A refugee claim, if you fear returning to your country and there are reasons to seek protection in Canada. Please note that as of June 2026, applicants who have been in Canada longer than 1 year cannot file refugee protection. The law is currently being challenged in court.
Leaving Canada voluntarily before CBSA takes enforcement steps is generally better than being removed. A removal order carries consequences that a voluntary departure does not.
Can I do it myself
Yes. Filing a restoration application is an administrative process, and if your situation is straightforward — your permit expired, you have not worked since, you are still inside the 90 days, and you meet the requirements of the class you are restoring to — you can complete and submit it yourself.
What you cannot do yourself is undo a mistake. Restoration has no judicial review process (unless the revieiwing officer makes a clear error in fact or law). If it is refused, you are out of status with a refusal on your record and no second window.
How can lawyers help
- Working out the actual date your status ended, which is genuinely unclear when an application was returned incomplete, or where maintained status may or may not have applied, or if your studies ended way before the validity of your study permit
- Assessing whether restoring as a visitor is the better strategic choice than restoring as a worker or student
- Dealing with a period of unauthorized work already behind you, and what can honestly be said about it
- Advising when the 90 days have passed and the remaining options are discretionary
- Preparing the application where an officer will need persuading that you are a genuine temporary resident who will leave
(The above should not be treated as legal advice)
Still unsure? We can help you make sense of your situation and suggest what you might need to do next.