As of April 12, 2021, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is no longer offering automatic extensions for immigration candidates with incomplete applications. 

While extensions will still be provided for candidates who cannot complete their applications due to COVID-related reasons, the IRCC will be contacting applicants to request supporting documents and ensure the validity of the extension. 

This announcement primarily affects candidates who are applying for citizenship, permanent residency, or temporary residency. Over the coming months, the IRCC will work towards ensuring their clients are able to provide all necessary documents in an effort to decrease their current workload and speed up processing times. 

How It Works 

The IRCC will send an email or letter informing you of which documents you need to provide, which they advise you begin to collect as soon as possible.

According to their press release, “As it can take time to get this information, it’s important to start collecting the documents now, so you will be able to submit them on time when we ask for them.”

Requirements that are obtained via appointment, such as biometrics, should be booked as early as possible in order to lessen the wait time. 

Once you have been informed, you will be given ample time to gather the necessary requirements. The IRCC will send you another request in a few weeks or months, and upon receiving it, you have a total of 30 days to submit all the supporting documents. Once you have made your submission, an immigration officer will make a decision regarding your application. 

If you are unable to provide the documents, the IRCC reassures that officers will be as flexible as possible and will review your reasons for being unable to do so.

You must be able to provide valid proof that a COVID-19 disruption is the cause of your delayed submission. 

Among the following acceptable reasons are:

• the temporary closure of a Visa Application Centre or Application Support Centre in your region, which prevents you from providing your biometrics; or
• a regional or city-wide lockdown that prevents you from getting supporting documents such as police certificates, or undergoing a medical examination.

If the immigration officer in charge of your application finds your reason valid, you will be given an extension of 30 days. If they determine that your reason is unacceptable, a decision will be made on your application based on the information they have already received from you. This may result in your application being refused.

The IRCC will inform you of the decision, it is not necessary to contact them.

For more information on Canadian immigration, or If you’d like to learn more about the different pathways to immigration and permanent residency to Canada, we’d like to invite you to register to one of our private online discussions. Register to an orientation for free here.

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