Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic and travel bans in place, foreign nationals may find they have issues surrounding their status and its continuance.
Study permit renewal
Students may find it difficult to renew their study permit if they have changed their study program, or school, or if they haven’t been able to study as a full-time student do to whatever reason. Visa extensions must fit in with the student’s plan and career aspirations, but it might be hard to even get an extension due to the above.
Work permit renewal
With all the travel bans, and work restrictions in place for all Canadians, foreign nationals wanting to renew their work permit are going to have a hard time. Work permits are hard enough to get renewed without all the extra events going on. Labour Market Impact Assessments needs to be provided each time, even though employers and the workers themselves believe the assessment should only be done at the start of employment. It is going to be difficult for these assessments to be done, especially when a lot of jobs have been shut down.
Visitor visa renewal
In the current climate, the short time provided to visitor visa holders to complete the extension process may cause problems. The visitor must provide evidence of why they want to extend their stay, and it may be difficult to obtain the needed documents. The Canadian government are also hesistant to allow people to live in the country on temporary visas, so extensions are only given at a maximum of six months.
