Indian students among those hit as Canada clamps down on dummy visa extensions

To prevent misuse of visa extensions, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has changed rules around ‘maintained status’ for temporary residents. The update targets the growing trend of “dummy extension” applications submitted to prolong legal stay in Canada without genuine eligibility, according to a report by Lubna Kably in the Times of India.

Under the new guidelines, if a temporary resident submits a second application for an extension while already on maintained status, and the first application is later rejected, the second application will not preserve their legal stay. It will be returned and denied. Earlier, such second applications could help maintain legal status, though without allowing work or study rights.

“Under the revised guidelines, if a temporary resident with ‘maintained status’ submits a second application to extend their stay and their initial application is rejected, the second application will not preserve their legal status in Canada. Instead, it will be denied and returned,” said Kubeir Kamal, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant to TOI. “This represents a change from prior rules, where a second application could still uphold legal residency, despite a first refusal, though it did not permit work or study rights.”


As per Lubna’s report, maintained status, earlier known as implied status, allows a foreign national to stay in Canada legally under the same conditions of their expired permit, provided they applied for an extension before the original permit expired. The revised policy responds to concerns about applicants submitting ineligible extensions only to extend their stay temporarily through maintained status.

Kamal noted that many temporary residents, including students and workers, used this route to buy time after submitting an initial extension that had little chance of approval. The new rules close this loophole.

Manish Kapoor, another regulated immigration consultant, explained the rule’s impact to TOI, “With nearly half a million work permits expiring in 2025 and with the stringent policies and rules changing every other day, it has become extremely difficult for the temporary residents to maintain their legal status in Canada. This new rule has added fuel to the fire, as it indirectly discourages submitting multiple applications for extension.”

Kapoor pointed out that the policy shift is part of the government’s effort to reduce the number of temporary residents in Canada to five per cent of the total population by 2027. At present, temporary residents make up 7.3 per cent of the country's 41.5 million people.

The new guidelines are expected to affect Indian nationals and international students the most, as they form a large share of Canada’s temporary resident population.

(With inputs from TOI)