PGWP refusal and Restoration of Status
Hello there! I am gonna start from the beginning to give proper context, so please bear with me. I started my degree in September 2021 and I guess I must have underestimated the transition from a high-school and a University, because I started with 5 courses in the first semester which the max course load. I used to easily manage 8 classes in high-school, so I thought 5 courses shouldn't be too hard. I didn't take into consideration that I will have to look for apartments, jobs, etc. while working on those 5 courses, which was not an issue in high-school. Anyways, by the time I realized that it was too much, the deadline to drop courses was gone and I had to just complete those courses. As expected, those 5 courses didn't go very well but I thought that I was completely new to this stuff and the worst is over. One of those 5 courses was Programming 1. I didn't fail that course but I received a D grade in it. In the second semester, I was registered for 3 courses which included Programming 2. I didn't know that Programming 2 has a prerequisite that I need to have at least a letter grade of C in Programming 1 to be able to take it. I found that out the hard way when on Jan 14th, 2022, I received an email from the Records and Registration office stating that I do not meet the prerequisite of Programming 2, so I have been dropped from that course. That hit me like a lightning bolt and I was panicked. The only solution at that time I could see was the instruction given in the same email which said that I need to contact the prof to ask for a prerequisite waiver to be able to take that course. As an inexperienced new student, I really didn't know that there could be other ways out of that situation except this one thing mentioned in the email. Since the campus was closed due to covid time (also received an email about that), I had to contact the prof through email to ask for the waiver and the back-and-forth conversation took the timeline to Jan 18th, 2022, which was less than 24 hours from the registration deadline for Winter 2022 semester. All the courses I could have taken were already full and even waitlisted. As a result, I was left with 2 courses and part-time status. I was already getting notifications for those remaining courses about assignments and homework so I had to focus on that as well. When I had a meeting with an academic advisor, even he confirmed that it was not possible to register in other courses at that time. After another meeting with an immigration advisor at the university, I was assured that it was not such a big deal and can be just explained in a letter while applying for the PGWP. However, when I was about to apply for it, the same advisor said that now it is risky because the rules are really strict. I was struck by a lightning bolt again. I started gathering all the letters and documents that I could to provide as supporting documents. I finished my last semester in Dec 2025, got my final grades in Jan 2026, letter of completion and transcript in the end Feb 2026 and that's when I applied for the PGWP. My study permit was valid till the end of March 2026, so I had time. I got a letter from the same academic advisor that I talked to at the time of getting dropped from Programming 2 stating that the situation was out of student's control. A letter from the university's mental health consultant explaining how much stress I was in. A letter for a volunteer community that I am a part of for a while, as a proof of character. Even I wrote a letter myself explaining the situation. I also got it all checked from a visa consultant (who is also part of the same volunteer community) to make sure everything is alright and she approved after a few corrections. However, I received my refusal of the PGWP on May 13th, 2026. I've been told that I am still in the window to re-apply and I should do that along with restoration of status, now that the study permit is also expired. In the previous application, the academic advisor only mentioned the date when I was dropped out of Programming 2 (i.e. Jan 14th, 2022), and a few reason why it was out of my control which included:
- The Uni dropped it and not me.
- Final grades for Fall 2021 are not available till mid-Jan, so it couldn't have been planned by me.
- It would have been difficult or impossible to add a new course on that date because it was already several weeks into the start of the term. Even if it was possible, it wouldn't have been advised.
The letters were pretty good but from the refusal letter it feels like that the immigration officer didn't even bother reading them. He just saw I was part-time and just rejected the application.
After further investigation of my inbox from that time, I also found an email from May 2022 from the University Registrar, stating that due to ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the students may choose to exclude final grades from their GPA for any course work completed in Winter term 2022, and in Fall/Winter term 2021-22. I believe I can also use this email to prove that time was so exceptional that even the university had to use abnormal measures.
I am planning to ask the academic advisor to write another letter explaining all this including all the dates other than just the course drop date to fully confirm that it was due to administrative restrictions and not the student's fault. I have also been advised to use a lawyer this time to apply which makes sense since the case is a bit complex this time. Now, I have re-apply for the PGWP along with restoration of status. Can anyone point any tiniest flaw in the plan? Also, do I need to provide a proof of funds this time for restoration to show that I can handle myself for the next few months while the restoration application is processing since I am not allowed to work at the moment? I know these questions are better answered by a lawyer and I will ask them too but this is a long weekend and I can't contact any of them right now. My mind is racing and restless. So, any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance.