A Canada visitor record is the document you apply for when you want to stay in Canada longer than the period stamped or otherwise granted when you entered. It is not a visa and will not let you re-enter the country if you leave. It is an internal status document, issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or by a border services officer, that confirms you have legal permission to remain past your original authorized stay.1Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What’s the Difference Between a Visitor Visa and a Visitor Record? To get one, you file form IMM 5708 online, pay a $100 processing fee, and submit at least 30 days before your current status expires.
Who Needs a Visitor Record
You apply for a visitor record if you are already in Canada and one of the following is true:2Government of Canada. Visitor Record: Who Can Apply
- You entered as a tourist or for personal reasons and want more time in Canada.
- You are doing work that does not require a work permit, such as certain business-visitor or foreign-government activities, but your authorized stay is running out.
- You are studying a course of six months or less, which does not require a study permit, but your stay needs to cover the full program.
- Your work or study permit is expiring and you want to remain in Canada as a visitor rather than leave.
How you originally entered the country — with a visitor visa, an electronic travel authorization, or a visa-exempt passport — does not change your eligibility. The visitor record governs your status inside Canada, not your entry.
Apply at Least 30 Days Before Your Status Expires
The single deadline that matters is this one: submit your application at least 30 days before your current authorized stay ends.3Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. How Can I Extend My Stay as a Visitor? Filing on time triggers maintained status, a regulation-based protection that automatically extends your existing authorization until IRCC approves or refuses your application.4Government of Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations – 183 You keep the same conditions you had before, and you remain legally in Canada even if your original departure date passes while the decision is pending.
Maintained status only exists if you applied while still in status. File one day late and the protection does not apply. You are out of status from the day your authorization lapsed, and your options narrow to restoration, covered below.
If you already know at the border that you want to stay longer than six months, you can raise it with the border services officer on arrival and potentially receive a visitor record on the spot.1Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What’s the Difference Between a Visitor Visa and a Visitor Record?
What You File
The application form is IMM 5708, “Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or Temporary Resident Permit Holder,” downloaded as a fillable PDF from the IRCC website.5Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay or Remain in Canada as a Visitor or Temporary Resident Permit Holder Each person requesting an extension fills out their own form. You will need your Unique Client Identifier (UCI) from prior IRCC documents, your passport details exactly as printed (including any misspellings), and your current Canadian address.6Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What Is a UCI?
The part of the application that quietly decides most cases is financial documentation. Bank statements, letters of invitation, travel itineraries, and return flight bookings all work together to show two things: that you can support yourself without working illegally, and that your visit has a real end date. A thin file invites doubt about whether you actually intend to leave.
Answer every question truthfully. Providing false or misleading information counts as misrepresentation under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and the consequence is inadmissibility to Canada for five years from the date a removal order is enforced.7Department of Justice Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – 40
Biometrics
Most applicants also need to give fingerprints and a photo. Citizens of visa-exempt countries, children under 14, and adults over 79 are exempt.8Canada.ca. Biometrics The fee is $85 per person, capped at $170 for a family applying together.9Government of Canada. Biometrics – Online Payment Biometrics stay valid for ten years, so if you gave them recently for another Canadian application, you likely don’t have to repeat them.
Medical Exam
If extending your stay will push your total time in Canada past six months, you may need a medical exam. It applies if you lived in or traveled to a designated country for six consecutive months or more in the year before you arrived, or if you plan to work in a public-health-sensitive role such as health care or childcare.10Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Medical Exams for Visitors, Students and Workers
Submitting and Paying
Applications go through the IRCC secure online portal. You create an account, work through a screening questionnaire that confirms the application type, then upload your signed IMM 5708, passport, and supporting documents.11Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Visitor Record: How to Apply
The processing fee to extend your stay as a visitor is $100.12Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees With biometrics, the typical individual total comes to $185. IRCC accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB, and UnionPay credit cards, their prepaid versions, Visa Debit, Debit MasterCard, and INTERAC Online.13Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. What If I Don’t Have a Visa, Mastercard or American Express? After payment, keep your confirmation of receipt. IRCC delivers all messages, including the final decision, through your online account rather than by mail.
What the Visitor Record Does and Doesn’t Let You Do
An approved visitor record shows the date by which you must leave Canada. Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, you are required to depart by that date.14Department of Justice Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – 29 The document may also carry specific conditions. An officer can impose, vary, or cancel conditions on your stay, including limits on work or study.15Government of Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations – 185 Read the document carefully when it arrives; not noticing a condition is not a defense.
A visitor record does not authorize you to work or to enroll in academic programs longer than six months. Study without a study permit is only allowed for courses of six months or less that finish within your authorized stay, and only a narrow list of activities qualifies as work without a work permit. If you need more, apply for the appropriate permit separately.
Failing to comply with the conditions can cost you your status. A foreign national loses temporary resident status at the end of the authorized period or when an officer determines they have failed to comply with the Act.16Department of Justice Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – 47 A removal order on your record seriously damages any future application to enter or immigrate to Canada.
Leaving Canada on a Visitor Record
The visitor record is not a travel document. If you leave Canada, you will need a valid visitor visa or eTA (depending on your nationality) to come back in. There is one carve-out: if you travel only to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, and return before your visitor record expires, you can re-enter Canada without a new temporary resident visa.17Government of Canada. Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations – 190 A trip anywhere else means you need proper re-entry documents in hand before you go.
If Your Status Has Already Expired
Missing the 30-day window is not automatically the end. You can apply to restore your temporary resident status, but only within 90 days of losing it, and only if you complied with all the conditions on your previous authorization.18Canada.ca. Restore Your Status
Restoration is more expensive than a regular extension. The fee to restore visitor status is $246.25, plus biometrics if applicable.12Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Citizenship and Immigration Application Fees Maintained status does not apply during restoration, so you are technically out of status until IRCC decides. Past 90 days, restoration is no longer available, and the only option is to leave Canada and reapply from outside the country.