Temporary Residence · Status Solutions
Restoration of Status
If your visitor, worker or student status in Canada has expired, section 182 of the immigration regulations gives you a 90-day window to apply to restore it. The clock is strict, the eligibility rules are narrow, and what you do in those 90 days shapes everything that follows.
90
Days to apply after losing status
R182
The regulation behind restoration
Stop
No work or study until restoration is approved
5 mo
IRCC service standard for a decision
The rule
How restoration works
Temporary resident status ends when your authorized stay expires, when an officer finds non-compliance, or when an extension application is refused. Under section R182, you may apply to restore status, as a visitor, worker or student, within 90 days of losing it, if you remain in Canada and meet the requirements of your intended stay.
Restoration is not automatic and not universal. It is available only where status was lost for specific, limited reasons, overstaying an authorized period, or breaching conditions such as the type of work, employer, location, or course of study. Working or studying without authorization at all makes you ineligible, and holders of expired temporary resident permits cannot restore.
If you had a work permit or study permit, you can apply to restore status and the authorization together, but you cannot work or study while you wait. Outside the 90 days, options narrow sharply: see temporary resident permits.
The scenarios
Three ways people lose status, and what restoration looks like
The path back depends on what you held, why it ended, and what you did after it ended.
Most common
The missed extension
You applied late, or your extension was refused after your status expired. The 90 days run from when status actually ended, including any maintained status.
- Refused extension: 90 days from refusal
- Incomplete application: no maintained status
- Restoration + new permit filed together
The breached condition
Wrong employer, wrong location, studies at the wrong institution, breaches of officer-imposed conditions can still be restorable.
- Restorable: time, work or study conditions (R185)
- Not restorable: unauthorized work or study
- Each fact pattern needs legal analysis
The visitor who overstayed
Visitors who stayed past six months (or their stamp date) can apply to restore visitor status, and may apply for a work or study permit at the same time where eligible.
- Restoration fee plus any permit fees
- Must remain in Canada until decided
- Leaving Canada ends the application
Step by step
How a restoration application works
01
Confirm eligibility, fast
When exactly did status end? What caused it? Is the 90-day window still open?
02
Stop working or studying
Continuing without authorization destroys eligibility and creates a compliance record.
03
Prepare the explanation
A credible, documented account of how status was lost, and why the requirements are now met.
04
File within 90 days
Restoration plus the work or study permit application, with all fees, before the window closes.
05
Hold position until decided
Remain in Canada, respond to IRCC promptly, and plan the follow-on application.
The essentials
What a restoration file must show
Officers refuse restoration files that treat it as a formality. A file that holds up shows:
- The application was made within 90 days of losing status, with the date analysis done correctly
- Status was lost only for a restorable reason under R182
- You meet the requirements of the status you seek, visitor, worker or student
- You remained in Canada, stopped unauthorized activity, and paid every applicable fee
The stakes
Why the 90 days matter so much
Miss the window and there is no restoration, your realistic options become leaving Canada and applying from abroad, or in narrow cases a temporary resident permit. Overstays and non-compliance also surface in every future application, where they must be explained, not hidden.
Restoration done properly is also an opportunity: the explanation you file becomes part of your immigration record. A precise, documented, honest account protects future applications. A careless one haunts them.
Work with me
How I help
For workers & students
Permits that lapsed
- Same-day eligibility and deadline analysis
- Restoration filed with the right permit application
- The non-compliance explanation drafted carefully
- Employer and school coordination while you wait
For visitors & families
Overstays & status gaps
- Visitor restoration with a longer-term plan
- Pairing restoration with sponsorship or permits
- TRP strategy where the window has closed
- Future-application protection, the record matters
Good to know
Restoration questions, answered
When your status actually ends: the expiry of your authorized stay, the refusal of an extension filed on time (maintained status ends on refusal), or a finding of non-compliance. Pinning down the exact date is the first task, an application rejected as incomplete gives no maintained status at all.
No. Once status and work authorization are lost, you cannot work or study until restoration is approved and the new permit issues. Continuing to work without authorization makes you ineligible for restoration entirely.
Leaving Canada ends a pending restoration application, if an officer determines you have left, the application is refused and fees are not returned. Restoration also cannot be granted at the border. Whether leaving and re-entering is wiser depends on your file; get advice first.
A restoration fee applies, plus the full fee for any work or study permit you request alongside it. IRCC’s current amounts are on its official fee list, and its service standard for restoration decisions is five months.
Restoration is no longer available, but the situation is not necessarily hopeless: options can include leaving and applying from abroad or, in limited cases, a temporary resident permit. What matters now is not making the record worse.
Official Sources & Notes
Official sources: IRCC program delivery instructions – Restoration of temporary resident status · IRPR s. 182 (Justice Laws) · IRPR s. 183 (Justice Laws) · IRCC fee list
This information is current as of July 2026 and is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice. Immigration programs, fees and requirements change frequently, and eligibility always depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, please book a consultation.
The window is short. Use it well.
If your status has lapsed, or is about to, timing is everything. Book a consultation today and we’ll map the fastest compliant way back to status.