Expired Canada Study Permit: How Pakistani Students Restore Student Status (2026)

What does losing student status in Canada actually mean?

Status is your legal permission to be in Canada as a student. It is not the same thing as holding a plastic card or a PDF. Your study permit is the document that records the permission, and the permit comes with conditions: you must be enrolled at a designated learning institution, you must keep making progress, and you may only stay until the expiry date. Break one of those and the permission can end, even if nobody has told you yet.

Most students lose status in one of two ways. The permit simply runs out and no extension was filed. Or a condition was breached, for example by stopping studies or moving to a different school without telling IRCC. Either way the practical result is the same. The IRCC page on expired study permits puts it plainly: if you lose your status, you cannot study in Canada until it has been restored.

Status and the permit date are different clocks

Many Pakistani students assume that the end of the programme and the end of the permit are the same day. They rarely are. The same IRCC page explains that a permit usually expires at the length of your study programme plus 90 days. If your programme was shortened, if you finished early, or if a delay pushed the end date out, the permit date and the real programme dates drift apart, and that gap is where status quietly disappears.

Maintained status is the safe alternative

If you apply to extend before your permit expires, you are generally allowed to stay and keep studying on the same conditions while IRCC decides. That is called maintained status, and it is far easier than restoration. Our guide on extending a Canada study permit from inside Canada covers the on-time route. This article is for the situation where that moment has already passed.

Who can restore status, and who cannot?

Restoration is a limited remedy. It exists for people who slipped, not for people who stayed away from the rules for months. The IRCC Guide 5552 sets out the requirements for a student who wants to restore status and obtain a new study permit. You must apply within 90 days of losing status, explain all the facts and circumstances that stopped you complying with your permit conditions, keep meeting the requirements of your stay, and meet the remaining conditions on your permit.

The checklist in plain English

• Status was lost recently, and the 90 days have not run out.
• An honest explanation of why it happened, with documents where they exist.
• No work or study that your permit did not allow.
• You still have a valid passport and an offer or enrolment at a designated learning institution.
• You can show enough money for tuition, living costs and travel home.

Who is excluded?

IRCC Guide 5552 states that temporary resident permit holders are not eligible to restore their status. If you came to Canada on a temporary resident permit, restoration is not available to you and you need a different plan. Separately: Under section 182(2) of the regulations, an officer shall not restore the status of a student who is not complying with the study conditions set out in section 220.1(1). In everyday terms: if you were not enrolled or not actively studying, an officer has no power to restore your student status, however sympathetic the story.

What counts as meeting the conditions?

The honest answer is that it depends on your file. A student who finished a programme a few weeks early and did nothing else wrong is in a far stronger position than a student who stopped attending classes and worked full time. An officer reads the whole picture: your transcript, your enrolment letter, your explanation and your bank records. If you are unsure whether your history causes a problem, speak to a regulated adviser before you file, because a refusal costs fees you do not get back.

How does the 90 day window work?

IRCC Guide 5552 says you may be able to restore your status within 90 days of losing it, and section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations uses the same 90 day period. The clock starts when you lose status, which for an expired permit is the day the permit ends. It does not start when you notice, and it does not pause while you collect documents.

Counting the days

Count calendar days, not working days. Weekends and public holidays in Canada or Pakistan do not stop the clock. The page that explains restoration for workers adds a useful detail on timing: an online application has to be submitted before midnight Coordinated Universal Time on the last day, and a paper application that arrives late is treated as received seven days before it arrived. That page is written for workers, so check the student instructions on the day you apply, but the safe habit is the same for everyone. Aim to file with a full week to spare.

What if you are already outside the window?

If more than 90 days have passed, restoration is no longer an option and the worker restoration page states that you must leave Canada and apply again from outside. The student route follows the same logic. We cover that path in the section on restoring versus reapplying below.

How much does restoration cost in 2026?

As of 22 October 2026, the IRCC fee list shows CAD 246.25 to restore your status as a student and CAD 150.00 for the new study permit, which comes to CAD 396.25 in total. The fee is paid in Canadian dollars with the application, and every family member who also needs restoration pays their own fee.

As of 22 October 2026, the same IRCC fee list charges CAD 85.00 for biometrics per person and caps the fee at CAD 170.00 for a family of two or more applying together. Not every applicant needs to give biometrics again, so read your personalised checklist after you start the online form. Our article on biometrics for a Canada study permit from Pakistan explains how the appointment works.

Compare that with an on-time extension, which needs only the study permit fee of CAD 150. The late penalty in practice is the restoration fee, roughly CAD 246.25, plus the weeks you cannot study.

A fee warning for old information

The older IRCC Help Centre answer on extending your stay as a student still says there is a CAD 200 fee to restore your status, which does not match the current fee list, so trust the fee list and not the old answer. IRCC raised its restoration fees on 1 December 2025, according to the IRCC fee changes page, and the previous figure for student restoration plus a new permit was CAD 389.75. When two numbers disagree, use the dated official fee list and write down the date you checked.

Which documents go into the application?

The document list in Guide 5552 is the master list, and your online account will generate a personalised checklist. For a student restoring status the core set looks like this.

• A letter of acceptance or proof of enrolment from a designated learning institution, showing tuition, start and finish dates and the registration deadline.
• A provincial or territorial attestation letter, or a Quebec acceptance certificate if you study in Quebec.
• Proof of financial support in Canadian funds covering tuition, living costs for you and any accompanying family, and transport to and from Canada.
• Transcripts from your last two academic periods, or a letter from the registrar confirming your academic standing.
• Copies of the passport pages that show your latest Canadian entry stamp, if you have one.
• Form IMM 5709 and any other forms that apply to your situation, such as the custodian form for a minor.

The explanation matters more than the form

The guide tells you to explain all the facts and circumstances that stopped you complying. This is the part officers read first. A weak explanation is vague ("I was busy") or blames somebody else without proof. A strong one is short, dated and backed by paper: an email from your college registrar about a changed end date, a medical note, a payment receipt for a late fee, a transcript showing continuous enrolment. Write in plain English, keep to the facts, and attach each document you mention.

Financial proof for Pakistani applicants

IRCC does not publish a single dollar figure on its study permit page. It says you need enough money for your stay and that the amount depends on how long you will stay and where you will live. Show a clean, explainable trail: salary slips or business records in Pakistan, bank statements that match, and a clear sponsor relationship. Our bank statement guide for Canada shows how to present the numbers. Do not move money around just before you file. Sudden deposits invite questions you cannot answer on paper.

How do you apply, step by step?

The IRCC page on expired permits tells you to use the document checklist and the guide for extending your stay as a student, to choose "Restore my status" in section 3 of the application, to add a note explaining why you need to extend your stay, and to include the restoration fee. Here is how that works in order.

1. Check the date. Work out the exact day your status ended and the last day of your 90 days. Write both on paper.
2. Collect the documents. Gather the list above before you open the form. A half-finished online application wastes days.
3. Stop studying. You cannot study until status is restored. Tell your institution's international office the same week, because they can advise on deferral or a leave of absence.
4. Start the application. Choose the study permit extension stream, tick restoration of status as a student, and answer every question exactly as it appears on your documents.
5. Write the explanation. Keep it to one page. State what happened, when, and what you did to fix it.
6. Pay the fees. Pay the restoration and permit fees together, plus biometrics if the system asks.
7. Submit with margin. Save the confirmation. Print or save every page of the application.
8. Watch your account. Respond to any request for more information inside the deadline it gives.

One warning about incomplete applications

The guide notes that if IRCC rejects an application as incomplete, it is treated as if it had never been submitted. That matters for restoration because it means you could burn days of your 90 while believing you had applied. Check every mandatory field and upload slot before you press submit.

What can you do while you wait?

You can generally stay in Canada while the application is decided, but your options are narrower than a student with maintained status. The IRCC page on expired study permits says you cannot study in Canada until your status as a student has been restored. The same page lists some practical side effects: you cannot renew provincial documents such as a driver's licence or health card, and you cannot get a social insurance number card while you wait.

Studying

Do not attend classes as a registered student until you have the new permit. If your college allows it, ask for a leave or deferral. If your term has already started, ask about course withdrawal dates so you do not lose the whole semester's fees.

Working

The student pages we read do not give a clear sentence on work during restoration. The worker restoration page says that people normally cannot work until their status is restored and a new work permit is issued. Treat that as the safe assumption for students too: do not work off campus or on campus until you hold the new permit, and confirm with IRCC or a regulated adviser if you need an exception. Illegal work is one of the quickest ways to turn a restorable file into a refused one. Our guide to part-time work rules for students in Canada explains what is allowed when your status is in good order.

Travelling

Leaving Canada while your restoration is pending is risky. Guide 5552 says that if you leave and come back while a decision is pending you may be admitted only as a visitor and cannot study until you receive your new permit. If you must travel for a family emergency, get advice before you book a flight.

Should you restore, or leave and reapply from Pakistan?

Restoration is usually faster in human terms because you stay near your school, your lease and your friends. It is not always the right choice. Some files are stronger when presented fresh with a clean explanation and a new letter of acceptance. Use the table below as a starting point, then judge your own history.

Questions to ask yourself

Was the lapse a few days or a few months? Can I prove why it happened? Have I worked or studied in ways my permit did not allow? Is my school willing to hold my seat? Honest answers decide the route. If three of them point the wrong way, a conversation with a regulated adviser is cheaper than a refusal. Our guide to changing schools in Canada is also worth reading if a transfer was part of the story.

How do Pakistani students usually lose status?

The same few patterns repeat. Knowing them is the cheapest prevention.

• Programme ended earlier than planned. A credit transfer, a summer course or a shortened diploma moves the finish date, but the permit date stays where it was.
• Programme ended later than planned. A failed course or a medical leave pushes graduation past the permit expiry and nobody files an extension.
• School changed without paperwork. A student moves to a new college and assumes the old permit travels with them. The new school must be a designated learning institution, and the permit conditions follow the school.
• Agent or friend gave the wrong advice. We hear "you can file after it expires, it is the same" more often than we should. It is not the same.
• Passport expiry. A passport that ends soon complicates every application. Renew early in Pakistan.
• Stopped attending. Poor attendance reported by a college can breach study conditions, and that is the case officers treat most strictly.

What does a realistic timeline look like?

The example below is invented to show the mechanics. It is not a prediction, and processing times change, so check the live IRCC tool for current estimates.

Amna, a master's student from Lahore, holds a study permit that expires on 31 August 2026. Her college tells her in July that her final course is moved to the autumn term, so her programme will now end in December. She assumes the college will sort out the permit. It does not. On 1 September she has lost status. Her 90 day window runs to 29 November 2026.

• 1 to 7 September: Amna notices the gap when her bank asks for a valid permit. She stops attending classes and asks her registrar for a letter confirming the changed end date.
• 8 to 20 September: She collects the letter, her transcripts, a new enrolment letter, her attestation letter and her bank statements. She writes a one page explanation with dates.
• 21 September: She files online, selects restoration, and pays CAD 396.25. She finishes with more than two months to spare.
• Waiting period: She does not attend classes or work, keeps the receipt and checks her account weekly.
• Decision: If approved, IRCC issues a new study permit with a new expiry date and she returns to class.

The lesson is not the specific dates. It is that Amna filed with margin, kept her explanation honest and kept her hands clean while she waited.

What if the application is refused or the 90 days have passed?

Restoration is discretionary in the sense that the officer must be satisfied of your facts, and the IRCC expired permit page reminds applicants that approval is not certain. If your restoration is refused, the guide indicates that the processing centre may send a refusal letter and that you would need to pay fees again to reapply. Read the reasons carefully. A refusal for missing documents differs from a refusal for breached conditions.

Options after a refusal

1. Leave Canada by the date in the letter, or sooner. Overstaying makes every later application harder.
2. Collect the missing evidence and apply for a new study permit from Pakistan.
3. Ask for your file notes if you need to understand the officer's concern. Our guide on GCMS notes and ATIP requests explains how.

When the 90 days have passed

Do not file a restoration application on the 120th day and hope. It is not a valid route and the fee is lost. The cleaner path is to leave, rebuild the file with a current acceptance letter and a candid explanation of the gap, and apply from outside Canada.

How do a spouse and children restore status?

The IRCC page on expired permits notes that your spouse, common-law partner or dependent children who came with you may also need to restore their status, and that each of them must apply separately. Each family member pays their own restoration fee. Children who attend school in Canada need study permits, and minors aged 17 or under need a custodian in Canada. A spouse who held an open work permit tied to your student status may find that permit stops being useful if yours lapses, so file everyone's applications together and keep the explanations consistent.

What are the key takeaways?

Frequently asked questions