IRCC Minister Extends Ministerial Instructions for All Foreign Nationals Applying for Temporary Residence
April 19, 2022 – The current Ministerial Instructions for all foreign national individuals who are applying for either a temporary resident visa, work permit, or study permit outside of Canada have been extended to submit their complete applications electronically until March 31, 2023.
Aligned with the Ministerial Instructions, these program delivery instructions are in effect starting April 1, 2022, until March 31, 2023. Based on the recent Ministerial Instructions, applicants who are foreign nationals that are residing outside of Canada at the time of their application must submit their applications online for either a temporary resident visa, work permit, or study permit. However, in the case that an applicant is unable to submit their application online due to a disability will still continue to be exempt from the requirement to submit their application electronically. Also, the following two groups of applicants for temporary residence who submitted their application outside Canada are exempted from the requirement to submit an application online:
- Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program applicants – applicants won’t be able to apply for either a work permit or temporary resident visa themselves but the government of their country of residence will submit their application paper to designated IRCC missions through the visa application centers.
- Applicants holding documents described under paragraph 52(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) – foreign nationals who are holding either identity or travel document which type is issued by a country to it non-national residents, refugees, or stateless person who are either unable to acquire a passport or travel documents from their country of citizenship are included in this group
