If your work permit or study permit just expired and you don't have a job offer or a school spot to anchor a renewal, IRCC's May 1 guidance update changes your options. You no longer have to leave Canada to reset to visitor status. As of May 1, 2026, a worker or student who loses status can apply to restore as a visitor — without flagpoling, without a port-of-entry visit, without leaving the country at all. Same 90-day clock, new exit door.
What changed
On May 1, 2026, IRCC published updated instructions to immigration officers on the canada.ca program delivery instructions. The key clarification, in plain English:
A foreign national who held worker or student status and applies for restoration may apply to restore as a visitor — not only as a worker or student.
This isn't a new program. Restoration of status has existed for years, governed by section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. What changed is how IRCC officers handle the case when the underlying work permit or study permit is gone — for example, the job ended, the employer's LMIA expired, or the student dropped out or graduated.
Before May 1, the operational guidance was ambiguous. Many out-of-status workers and students were told to leave Canada and re-enter as visitors, because the legal pathway to restore directly into a visitor category wasn't clearly described in the instructions. Practitioners and applicants were getting inconsistent decisions.
The May 1 update lays it out: if you can't restore as a worker (no qualifying job offer) or as a student (no longer planning to study), you can restore as a visitor, by submitting a visitor record application alongside your restoration application and paying the corresponding fees.
Who this affects
This is most useful if you're in one of these situations:
- Your work permit expired and you don't have a new job offer (or your employer's LMIA expired).
- Your study permit expired and you've graduated, dropped out, or paused your studies — and you're not ready to leave Canada immediately.
- Your closed work permit ended with the employment, and you need time to find a new job before applying for a new permit.
- Your PGWP expired and you don't have enough Canadian work experience yet to file an Express Entry application that would maintain your status.
Critically, you cannot work or study while on a visitor record. If you need to keep earning income, this isn't your path — you need a new work permit or LMIA-supported job offer to restore as a worker.
The rules that did not change
A lot of restoration of status remained exactly as it was. Don't confuse the May 1 update with a relaxation of the deadline or eligibility rules.
You still have 90 days. From the date your status expired, you have a 90-day window to apply for restoration. Day 91 and the option closes — your only path is to leave Canada and apply for re-entry from outside.
You must remain in Canada. Leaving Canada during a pending restoration application is treated as abandoning the application. Stay put until you get a decision.
Your status is not maintained while restoration is pending. Unlike a regular work-permit extension applied for before expiry — which keeps you in maintained status — restoration is filed after your status has already lapsed. You're out of status during processing. You cannot work or study, and your access to provincial healthcare may be affected.
You're ineligible if you worked or studied without authorization. If you kept working after your permit expired, that disqualifies you from restoration. The 90-day clock isn't a grace period to keep doing what you were doing — it's a window to apply for a fresh decision.
Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) holders cannot restore. If you held a TRP that expired, your only path is to apply for a new TRP, not restoration.
What you submit
Restoring as a visitor under the May 1 guidance means filing two things together:
- Application for restoration of status (no separate IRCC form — you submit this as part of your visitor record application and check the restoration box).
- Visitor record application (form IMM 5708) — this is the formal document that grants you visitor status if approved.
You'll pay both fees at the time of submission. You'll also need to satisfy an officer that you meet the standard visitor admissibility requirements: you have ties to your home country, you have funds to support yourself in Canada, and you'll leave by the end of your authorized stay.
The visitor record, if granted, typically lasts 6 months — long enough to job-hunt, take a language test, prepare an Express Entry profile, or simply get organized for your next move.
What it costs
Restoration as a visitor under the May 1 guidance carries two fees, paid together at submission:
- Restoration of status fee: $239.75 (single applicant)
- Visitor record fee: $239.75 (single applicant)
That's roughly $480 total for a single applicant restoring as a visitor — meaningfully more than the $190 it would cost to file just a regular visitor record from inside Canada if your status hadn't lapsed.
Family members in Canada with you can be added to the application; each adult is charged the same fees, with reduced fees for children. Always confirm current fees on the IRCC website before paying — fees were last updated in April 2026 and could change again.
Why this update matters
For most out-of-status workers and students, the practical effect of the May 1 guidance is you don't have to leave Canada and re-enter to fix your status when you've fallen out. That sounds small. It isn't. Leaving and re-entering Canada means:
- A flight or border crossing — often a major expense, especially for families.
- A risk of being refused entry by a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer if your circumstances look weak.
- A break in any pending applications — Express Entry profiles, sponsorship cases, PNP nominations — that may rely on you being in Canada.
- For some applicants, a visa requirement to re-enter that takes weeks or months to obtain.
If you can restore from inside Canada as a visitor, you keep your address, your bank account, your kids' school enrollment, your apartment lease, and any in-flight applications intact. That's the real value of this update.
What this is not
The May 1 update is not a path to permanent residence. It buys you legal status to remain in Canada for up to 6 months while you regroup. It doesn't add CRS points, doesn't extend your PGWP, and doesn't grant you a new work permit.
It's also not a workaround for the 90-day deadline. If you've been out of status for more than 90 days, you cannot use this pathway. Your only options are leaving Canada and applying for re-entry, or — if your case has compelling humanitarian considerations — applying for a Temporary Resident Permit, which is a fundamentally different (and much harder) application.
It's not a replacement for maintaining valid status. If you can extend your existing permit before it expires, do that — you'll keep working/studying under maintained status and avoid the gap. Restoration is the safety net, not the plan.
What to do this week if your status just expired
If you're inside the 90-day window today, move fast. Time is the most valuable variable in any restoration case.
- Confirm the date your status ended — usually the expiry date on your most recent work permit or study permit, or the date of any IRCC refusal that ended maintained status. Mark day 90 on your calendar; that's your last possible filing date.
- Decide which status to restore to. If you have a new job offer in hand, restore as a worker (it's cheaper and lets you work). If you have school enrollment, restore as a student. If neither, restore as a visitor under the new May 1 guidance.
- Stop working and stop studying immediately if you haven't already. Continued unauthorized work or study is the single most common reason restorations are refused.
- Gather documentation: passport, expired permit, proof of funds, any explanation for why your status lapsed, and ties to your country of origin. Visitor restorations need to show you'll leave by the end of authorized stay.
- File electronically through your IRCC online account. Paper applications are still accepted but processing is slower.
If your status expired because your employer's LMIA lapsed and you're already job-hunting, weigh restoring as a worker (with a new job offer) versus restoring as a visitor (without one). Restoring as a worker is cheaper and lets you keep earning, but a refused worker restoration is much harder to recover from than a refused visitor restoration. If your job search is realistic in 4–6 weeks, restore as a worker the day you have the offer in writing. If it's not — restore as a visitor on day 1, then apply for a new work permit once you have an offer. Don't wait until day 80 to decide.
How long does restoration take
IRCC has not published a target processing time for restoration applications specifically — they fall under the broader visitor record or work permit processing buckets, depending on which status you're restoring to. As of late April 2026, visitor record processing inside Canada was running at roughly 2–4 months, with significant variation by office.
You stay in Canada during processing. You cannot work or study. Plan your finances accordingly.
Related guides
- Canada Work Permit Guide
- Study Permit Guide
- PGWP Guide
- IRCC Processing Times 2026
- Bill C-12 Immigration Reform 2026
- Canada Immigration Jargon Buster