r/pgwp

As the title says, Applied on December 8th, 2025 and received a rejection notification on 15th May. The officer states the reason for the refusal as applied after 90 days of program completion, calculated from August 15 as my term completion date stated on my transcripts and Graduation Letter.

Here's the catch: My program actually ended on 8th of September after an academic appeal and submitting additional coursework because I had failed a course initially due to faulty school provided hardware. On September 8 my eligibility to graduate was determined as stated on my graduation letter which was issued on 9th September, which was the first written notification of my program completion, based on which date I calculated the 90 days.

I wrote a letter of explanation along with an email thread with my academic chair proving that I was pursuing coursework into September and applied for a reconsideration request through my local MP. I am also considering going the judicial review path but it is expensive, but according to the official IRCC Operational guidelines, I did apply on time to the best of my understanding and this refusal has gotten me extremely frustrated.

Any suggestions from anyone in a similar situation or sharing your experience would be appreciated. Peace.

I applied for work permit extension and it got rejected in 14 days even before I could apply my ITA. And now I have no work permit and I’m out of status.
My question is I’m planning to apply for the PR, and leave to my home country. I will only return after I receive PPR. (since BOWP and PR have the same timelines) I’ve decided not to apply BOWP.
Now I’m confused if i have to switch to a visitor record before applying my PR… as i heard that we can not apply PR out of status. OR do i just simply leave the country and THEN apply for PR? I just 10 have days left to apply PR and I have all the documents ready. Please help me thank you

Note- I received my ITA before my work permit expiry. Without my notice my lawyer went ahead and applied for a dummy extension INSTEAD of applying for PR that to ‘without’ my permission. The only explanation he gave was “your passport is in renewal so I went ahead with the extension ” (No i did not pay him, and we are planning to raise a complaint) BUT I did not scam the system.

hi ! I just applied to my PGWP and I was wondering how long it ususally took to receive the letter allowing to work full time please ? thank you have a great day !

So my brother had his PGWP approved, but right when they approved it, they also sent him a letter on his portal about getting a medical exam done. The IRCC portal status says "Action is required".

However, my brother is not planning to work in any field that requires a medical exam, such as healthcare and teaching.

So should we still get the medical exam done, or should we resolve this some other way and/or not do an exam if we don't have to?

Thank you for your advice!

Dear IRCC Officer,

I hope you are doing well.

I am writing to express my concern regarding the English language requirements imposed on international students in Canada, particularly the mandatory CELPIP and IELTS examinations for immigration-related applications.

Many international students have completed several years of education in Canada entirely in English. We attend Canadian colleges and universities, complete assignments, participate in presentations, write exams, and communicate daily in English both academically and professionally.

Despite successfully studying and working in an English-speaking environment, we are still required to repeatedly take expensive language tests. These exams can be extremely difficult, inconsistent, and financially stressful for students who are already trying to build their future in Canada.

This situation raises an important concern: if students have already proven their English ability through Canadian education and work experience, why are additional language tests still mandatory at this stage? Many students feel this process places unnecessary pressure on them and creates the impression that language testing has become more of a financial burden than a fair assessment of real-life communication skills.

I respectfully believe that language requirements could instead be assessed during Permanent Residence applications, or that graduates from Canadian institutions should receive greater recognition for their demonstrated English proficiency through education and employment in Canada.

International students contribute significantly to Canada’s economy, workforce, and communities. We hope our experiences and efforts can be considered more fairly within the immigration system.

Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns. I sincerely hope IRCC will continue reviewing policies to better support international students pursuing their future in Canada.

Sincerely,
International students

Ps: message from a Facebook group

Hi everyone! I’m in a big problem since my pgwp application got refused on May 17, 2026. I didn’t get a mail, I got to know when I checked the gckey.

My study permit was valid until March 30, 2025 which was before I finish my course. Then I applied for Study permit extension on March and was on ‘implied’ status.
So, I completed my study on 18th April 2025 and got Letter of Completion (LOC) on May 10.

I didn’t apply for pgwp since I had no valid study permit. I was just waiting for the study permit extension to be approved so that I could apply for pgwp. After long waiting I finally got it approved on August 29th, 2025. Without any further delay I applied for the PGWP with my valid study permit which was valid till September 30, 2025.

IRCC refused my application saying I didn’t apply in 90 days period and didn’t request or provide applicable fees for restoration which I was unaware of. I had raised a web form before my final decision was made explaining all my situations. However, they refused the application.

So, I want to ask if I have any chances to get my application approved. I feel completely devastated and lost at the moment. I came here with dreams, hope, and sacrifices.

If you have any experience or have knowledge about this please help me out.
Thank you so much.

Hey everyone,

My PGWP finally got approved after reconsideration, so I wanted to share my timeline and ask a quick question.

Timeline:

• PGWP applied: June 2025
• Refused: Feb 22, 2026
• Reconsideration submitted: March 2, 2026
• IRCC requested $100 open work permit holder fee: May 16, 2026
• PGWP approved: May 20, 2026 (2 days before my 90 days limit to apply for restoration)

The issue now is that my passport expires next year, so my work permit has only been issued until my passport validity date.

Has anyone else faced the same situation?

From what I understand, after renewing the passport we can apply for a PGWP extension for the remaining validity period. My main question is:

If I renew my passport and apply for the PGWP extension, would I still be able to travel outside Canada and re-enter while that extension application is in process?

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through this. Thanks!

Fearing that most of the people applies it on paper and I have done the online it may result in refusal but it got approved today. Thanks everyone who cleared my doubts. Don’t take lightly the ‘additional documents’ optional section while submitting the extension form.

I’ve noticed there are always posts in this sub about missing language tests even though some people submitted them. I’m still in my third year but can anyone give me advice on how to make sure I don’t make that mistake when I apply? I’ve also seen posts saying that IRCC missed the language test even when it was submitted. Should I write a letter of explanation in the future stating that I submitted it?

Quick update + PSA for those waiting on PGWP extensions due to passport expiry!

I applied for my PGWP extension on December 5, 2025.My original PGWP was only valid for 2 years which was till Dec 10,2025 due to my passport expiry date, so I applied to get the remaining time added.

Got an update today
it’s been approved, and the validity date is exactly what it should be. No surprises there.

Just wanted to share a heads-up for anyone who’s heard rumors: don’t expect any bonus time on your extension, in case someone out there is claiming otherwise. You’ll get what you’re entitled to, nothing more.

Hope this helps someone who’s been waiting!

Hello everyone, I would like to know if anyone here has ever received a PGWP refusal for applying after the 90-day deadline, with reference to regulation R222. If yes: were you eventually able to get your PGWP approved? what steps did you take? how long did the reconsideration process take? I’m asking because I am currently in this situation myself. I submitted my PGWP application around 100 days after the end of my studies, mainly because of financial difficulties at the end of my program. I needed to finish paying my tuition before I could obtain my transcripts and complete my application. I received my refusal on April 10. The same day, I sent a first reconsideration request letter, then a second one on April 11. After that, I did not receive any response for several weeks. In the meantime, I paid the restoration of status fees, even though my refusal letter mentioned that I could no longer apply for restoration. On May 6, I submitted a third reconsideration request with: all my supporting documents, proof of my situation, and the receipt for the restoration fee payment. Then, on May 11, I received a message from IRCC confirming that they had received my reconsideration request and payment, and that my file had been forwarded to an officer for review. Since then, I have still been waiting for a response. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through a similar situation, especially regarding: the chances of approval, the processing time, and what steps worked for you. Thank you very much everyone.

I recently submitted my application for PGWP by myself and submitted all the required docs including IELTS in the client info section.

I haven’t added a LOE along with my application since it’s pretty straightforward. I was wondering if adding one makes a difference?

I finished a co-op program where I took one course each with two of my co-op terms. For IELTS, I’ve got overall band of 7.5 with (6.5 in writing).

Anything to explain or be concerned about? Just wanted to make sure I’ve got everything right.

can i just write i was a student? What to fill?

Apologies if this post does not belong on this page.

I submitted my closed work permit application on October 12, 2025, an inland application. It is LMIA-based, under NOC 41200, and I have not received any update since then. The current IRCC processing time has already passed.

I called IRCC, and they added a note to my application. I also contacted my MP’s office, and they informed me that my criminality check has passed.

Is anyone else stuck in the closed work permit process or experiencing a similar delay? Please share your experience.

Thank you.

Hello, I'm currently waiting for my PGWP to be processed and have applied with all their required documents. Because of some nice high interest savings account deals, I'm considering moving a large portion of my savings to a different bank.

Would this have any effect on my PGWP consideration?