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Your IELTS expired during a long TR-to-PR wait: how to respond to a document request

Canada • Permanent Resident • immigration 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Documents Needed

  • Letter of Explanation (LOE)

    State that your language test was valid at the time of original submission (e.g., at AOR/account creation), even if it has since expired due to processing delays.

Step-by-Step

A member's TR-to-PR application, submitted years earlier, received a request for updated documents including a new IELTS/CELPIP result — but their original IELTS (taken in 2021) had since expired (language tests are valid for 2 years).

What the thread suggested:
  1. Submit your current (even if technically "expired" by today's date) IELTS results along with a Letter of Explanation stating it was valid when the application was originally submitted — the delay is on IRCC's side, not something you should be penalized for.

  2. Language test scores are generally understood to lock in at AOR (Acknowledgement of Receipt) — so even if 2 years have since passed while the file was sitting with IRCC, the original test should still be treated as valid for that application.

  3. A member described exactly this scenario resolving successfully: they wrote an LOE explaining the 2018 IELTS was submitted with a 2018 Express Entry application that IRCC didn't process until 2021, and it was accepted without requiring a new test.


Takeaway: if IRCC asks for a "new" language test purely because years have passed during their own processing delay, don't panic — resubmit what you have with a clear LOE explaining it was valid at submission, since precedent in this thread suggests this is commonly accepted.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Do: Write a Letter of Explanation stating your language test was valid at the time of original submission if IRCC's processing delay caused it to lapse since.
  • Tip: Language test validity is generally understood to lock in at the AOR date, not at the date IRCC later requests updated documents.

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