Maintained (previously known as implied) status is perhaps one of the most misunderstood concepts of Canada’s immigration system. Many mistakenly question its legality. Others fail to appreciate its unique requirements, and abruptly find themselves without status. Recent procedural changes and court decisions in Canada have only added to the confusion. Implied Status Regulations 183(5), 186(u), and 189 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR”) provide the legal basis for implied status. In brief, if a foreign worker, international student, or visitor files an application to extend his (or her) status in Canada, then he may remain in Canada on the terms of his original status until Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) makes a decision on his extension application. Accordingly, a foreign worker can continue to work, an international student can continue to study, and a visitor can continue to reside in Canada during IRCC’s processing of the extension application. Considering that as of writing visitor, worker, and student extension applications took IRCC 75, 60, and 42 days respectively to process, the extra time that implied status can allow an individual to carry on with his life in Canada can be significant. In order to take advantage of maintained … Read More