An international student mid-way through a second one-year program — with a valid study permit extension in hand and expensive flights already booked — discovered a month before travel that the study permit cannot be used to re-enter Canada, and asked whether a new visa could be arranged in time.
What members explained:
- The study permit and the TRV are different documents. The permit governs your status inside Canada; the TRV (visa counterfoil in your passport) is what airlines and border officers require for entry. If your original TRV has expired — even with a freshly extended study permit — you cannot board a return flight without a new one.
- One month is a gamble. Official processing estimates at the time said around 14 days for a TRV, but members stressed IRCC timelines are unpredictable, and the round-trip of sending your passport for stamping and getting it back adds more time. Several members declined to promise it could be done within a month.
- Check the official processing times before booking. The consistent advice: consult IRCC's published processing times for TRVs from inside Canada before committing to travel dates, not after.
The durable lesson for students extending permits from inside Canada:
when your study permit gets extended, your TRV does not automatically extend with it. If you plan any international travel, apply for the new TRV well ahead of buying tickets.