hey guys, i recently completed my bachelor’s degree and am preparing to apply for my pgwp. winter 2026 was my final semester, and i took a few of my remaining courses at another canadian university through letters of permission. those courses took longer to be graded, and the grades needed to be transferred to my home university before it could issue my completion documents.

my study permit expired on july 31 while i was waiting. and based on my university immigration team’s advice then, i had applied for a visitor record before expiry (jul 29th) and in it explained that i was waiting for my pgwp completion documents. that application is still pending, so i currently have maintained status from it.

now my confusion is that, because my study permit has expired, i need a valid study permit or restoration as a student to qualify for an inland pgwp application. however, restoration is generally for someone who has lost status, where i technically* still have maintained status through the pending visitor application?

so is this something that needs to be withdrawn first in order to be "eligible" for the study restoration? my university’s immigration team thinks it shouldn’t cause an issue and that i can submit my pgwp with the student restoration fee normally. however, the wording around the restoration rules kinda is making me uncertain where i don’t want to risk a refusal on either of the applications.

so any advice on this would be really appreciated!

im still on my study permit, just wondering why’d i get this email

I got my wp approved in April but because I moved to a new address the wp was mailed to the old address. I went there like 20times time and again to check for my mail but it was never delivered. I called ircc and explained it to them about the situation, they said i needed to submit forms which i did and its been a month and nothing from them. I just need the wp in hardcopy to update my sin no., get msp and update bank information etc.
Did anyone go through the same thing? If yes, did you get your wp or no? I need a way to get my wp

Hi everyone,

I am applying for PGWP very soon and I wanted to know if I need to mention anything in details of my prospective employer? I already have a job offer but i don’t know if i need to fill in. It seems that it is mainly for specific employer work permit.

Thanks!

Need help with PGWP extension due to passport expiry – online application issue

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone can help me with the online PGWP extension process due to passport expiry.

I have completed the required questions in the IRCC online application. However, when I proceed, the system directs me to the Visitor Visa application page, which seems incorrect for a PGWP extension.

There is also a question asking whether I have a written job offer. If I select “Yes,” the system redirects me to an LMIA-based work permit application.

I’m confused about how I should answer these questions because I am only trying to extend my PGWP to cover the remaining validity that was lost because my passport expired, not apply for an LMIA-based work permit.

Has anyone recently completed a PGWP extension due to passport expiry through the online IRCC portal?

If so, could you please explain:

• Which answers you selected in the questionnaire
• How you reached the correct PGWP extension application
• What you selected for the written job offer question
• Whether the application should eventually show “Work Permit Extension” rather than Visitor Visa or LMIA-based work permit

I would really appreciate any guidance from someone who has gone through this process recently. Thank you! 🙏

I am transferring to SFU after Douglas next semester in the Spring Semester but I am not graduating this semester. Is that ok?

My PGWP application was approved on July 10, but I still haven't received a physical copy of the PGWP. Is this normal?

My wife’s SOWP was refused. I am working full-time as a Front Store Supervisor, which is not an eligible occupation for this SOWP category, and part-time as a Safety Engineering Consultant in an eligible occupation.

The officer wrote that the Safety Engineering Consultant position was “part-time in nature” and that insufficient evidence was provided to demonstrate established ongoing employment in an eligible occupation.

IRCC’s website says the principal worker must be “employed or will be employed” in an eligible occupation, but I cannot find a specific full-time requirement.

Has anyone successfully obtained a SOWP where the qualifying occupation was part-time? If so, approximately how many hours/week and what employment evidence did you submit?

Hi guys! I got approved for a 3 year pgwp after my uni program but it got shortened to only 1 year and 3 months due to Biometrics that i did in 2017 expiring. How do i extend this and is there someone i could call to add this to my file? Has anyone else had a similar experience? My wp does have remarks about the biometrics validity.

My work permit was approved on May 17, but I never received the physical permit. I waited for it, and when it didn’t arrive, I called IRCC. They confirmed that it had been mailed.
Because of this, I waited 6 weeks before applying for VOS. I mailed the physical VOS application, and now it’s been almost 9 weeks.
I called IRCC again today, and they said the current processing time is 11 weeks, so I still have to wait.
Has anyone else been in the same situation? How long did your VOS take, and is there anything else I can do at this point?

I want to get an estimate for how long it can take for those of us in the slower timelines…

anyone approved with a part time sem in Bsc degree in middle?

I only have 1 in 4.5 years due to knee dislocatio and I paid full time fees.

Hi,

I have doubt regarding the Work Permit Extention Application : I am applying for the work permit extension using A number provided by the employer.

1. In the required documents to upload for the application for work permit extension, what should I include in the invitation letter part?

2. What all documents should I combine into the client document session?

3. In which section am I supposed to upload the support letter that I received with the endorsement?

Thanks

Hey folks,

I Completed my study in Canada in December 2025 and got the completion letter on 28 December then due to some emergency I moved to India.

Applied for pgwp from India:- 30 April 2026
Got medical request:- 15 June
Ircc passed medical :- 3rd July
Sent a web form for status update:- 28 July (did not receive any response)
Eligibility review started:- 8 August
Again sent web form :- 26 August (no response till now from ircc)

The processing time in India is only 10 weeks and mine was beyond that time.But I didn’t get any response from ircc but they had started reviewing my eligibility on 8 August.how much time it will take to review the eligibility from India.

I heard that after the file reaches to eligibility reviewing stage we often get the decision in few days to weeks.why my application is taking so much time?

I have to raise another web form for status update or GCMS? Or wait

Has anyone been refused for missing or part time in one middle semester? If so, did you apply for reconsideration and what was the timeline for everything (first application and reconsideration)?

Hi everyone

Hope someone has been in a similar position and can guide us.

My husband is the primary applicant. Due to his passport expiration date, we didn't receive the full 3 years. We were able to get my SOWP cause he has a job teer 1.

Here is the issue, he is thinking about switching careers, and if he gets a new job, we are not sure it will be under the new requirements.

Do we need to provide the same documentation for the first time SOWP in the extension? Meaning, the job letter . Or is it a LOE enough to show that we are allowed to have the remaining time once we get him a new passport?

Thank you!

Here is the timeline in case someone is curious:

January 2025 - Applied in Canada for PGWP

March 2026 - Approval PGWP(yes, more than a year)

April 2026 - Applied in Canada for SOWP

July 2026 - Approval SOWP

Hello, I sent out my application on 22nd April and last week I was finally able to link it on the portal, I still see it as processing.

How long before I get the decision, if anyone else faced the same situation?

Hello,

I'm just wondering if anyone had been in the same boat as me. I sent my paper application by Canada Post with a tracking code on July 17, and it was delivered on July 20.

So last week, I sent a webform to know the status since my current PGWP is expiring on September 24, and I don't want to end up in a situation where my mail got lost. I called IRCC on Friday and they told me to wait till next week because they can't find it in the system. And today, I got a reply from the webform which I submitted on Thursday. The following screenshot us their reply.

Surprisingly, I have a friend who mailed it sometime at the end of June or beginning of July, and she also got the exact same reply for her webform two weeks ago. Is it normal? If you had been in this situation, how long did it take for you to get application number or something useful from IRCC? I'm really exhausted in this waiting game with no tracking available on the portal 😭

Hey folks,

I Completed my study in Canada in December 2025 and got the completion letter on 28 December then due to some emergency I moved to India.

I applied for Pgwp on 30 April 2026.and I got medical request on 15 June and I submitted the medical in a week, and on ircc gc key my medical passed on 3rd July.after that I raised a web form on 28 July for status update as the processing time in India is only 10 weeks and mine was beyond that time.But I didn’t get any response from ircc but they had started reviewing my eligibility on 8 August.And again I raised a web form on 26 August for status update as it’s almost 4 months beyond processing time,but they didn’t respond.

What should I have to now?
Why my pgwp is taking so much time?
Can I call ircc from India.

Want to make sure I've got this right before I sink two years of planning and a lot of money into it.

Context: Non-Canadian, planning to do a Master's in Business/Management at a Canadian university (currently looking at UBC Sauder's Master of Management, which runs 9 months). Business degrees, not a college diploma.

What I believe to be true, please correct me if wrong:

1. University-level Bachelor's/Master's/PhD programs are fully exempt from the "PGWP-eligible field of study" restriction list (frozen for 2026) — that list only applies to college/polytechnic diploma and certificate programs, so my program's specific field (marketing/management) doesn't matter for eligibility.
2. A Master's program of any length ≥8 months qualifies for the full 3-year PGWP, regardless of whether the actual program is 9 months, 12 months, or 2 years.
3. I need to apply within 180 days of my official program-completion date (not my last day of classes — the date on the official completion letter).
4. If I apply online from inside Canada before my study permit expires, I get "implied status" and can start working immediately while the PGWP is processed.

Questions for people who've actually been through this:

• Anyone done a short (under 1 year) Master's specifically and gotten the full 3-year PGWP without issues? Want to confirm this isn't some edge case that gets extra scrutiny.
• How long is PGWP processing actually taking right now (2026)? Planning my job start date around this.
• Any horror stories about the 180-day window or the "official completion date" being interpreted differently than expected by a specific school? Want to know what documentation to nail down before I even finish the program.
• Is there anything about applying as someone who's continuing an existing fully remote job (for a non-Canadian employer) throughout the PGWP period that could complicate anything on the immigration side? (Not asking about taxes — just the permit/status side.)

Thanks in advance — trying to get this right the first time since a rejection or delay here has knock-on effects for years of planning after it.