The nominee, or their designated representative, may request an extension to a nomination certificate, with valid justification, from their designated IPDO. If their designated IPDO is unavailable, the nominee may contact OIM via e-mail (pnp@gov.nl.ca) or phone (709-729-6607). The OIM staff member responsible for the email account or phone number will assign an IPDO to this request.

Note: At the time of nomination, the IPDO will have communicated the urgency of applying for permanent residency as soon as possible to the nominee. This urgency is included in the application package e-mail sent at the time of nomination. The nominee will have received this information directly, not by way of their chosen representative.

Note: Under the Express Entry Skilled Worker stream, granting an extension to a nomination will create a new nomination under the IRCC Partner Portal. This requirement means that the same applicant will count for two nominations under OIM federal allocation, as per federal requirements. If in receipt of an extension, the applicant must either re-submit their permanent residency application to IRCC or create a new Express Entry profile in the IRCC Portal. IRCC will consider it as a new nomination (rather than extension of an existing nomination). For example, if OIM nominates 10 people under Express Entry and then extends all 10 Nominations, 20 nomination allocations would be used. For this reason, every nomination extension under Express Entry Skilled Worker category must be reviewed and approved by the Manager of Immigration Programs, and noted by the Director and the Statistical Officer.

PROCEDURES:

1. Extensions to the nomination certificate may be issued by the IPDO, with the approval of the Manager of Immigration Programs, for any of the following reasons:

• • The nominee’s permanent residency application was returned by IRCC through no fault of the nominee;
  • IRCC has requested an extension to the nomination certificate as a pre-requisite to approving a work permit application; and/or,
  • Any other extenuating circumstance(s) that may impact the applicant’s ability to apply for permanent residence within the stipulated timeframe.

2. The IPDO will deny a request for a nomination extension, with the approval of the Manager of Immigration Programs, for any the following reasons:

• • The nominee neglected to apply for permanent residency on time;
  • The nominee was advised by a third-party not to apply in time;
  • The nominee received an email from their designated IPDO explaining the permanent residency application process at the time of nomination, but claims to be unaware of the need to apply before the expiration of the certificate; and,
  • Any other grounds as determined by the Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills.

3. After receiving the request for an extension, the IPDO will either recommend or not recommend a nomination extension. The IPDO will advise the Manager of Immigration Programs of their recommendation on how to proceed. The Manager of Immigration Programs will issue a decision to either approve or refuse the request for an extension.
4. Both the IPDO and the Manager of Immigration Programs will take careful note of the fact that the applicant’s Express Entry profile may have expired after they were nominated, but before they requested an extension to the nomination (see Note above).
5. The Manager of Immigration Programs will inform the Director of the decision they have taken. The decision will be tracked by the Manager of Immigration Programs to ensure performance indicators are available on how many extensions are granted to nomination certificates.
6. If the request is approved, the IPDO will send a new nomination certificate that indicates “Extension” instead of “Original”. The extension will have a validity of six (6) months past the date upon which the extension is granted.
7. For any additional requests to extend a certificate, the IPDO will consult with the PNP Champion, who will consult the Manager. In case of greater than two extension requests, the Manager will inform the Director, who will inform the Assistant Deputy Minister of the decision being made.
8. If the extension request is refused due to incomplete documents or not enough justification to the amendments requested, the IPDO will request more information from the nominee to be sent to OIM within ten (10) business days.
9. If the information received from the nominee is still insufficient, or if the nominee fails to respond to the email sent by the IPDO within the indicated timeframe, the IPDO will send a follow-up email to the nominee indicating the refusal of the extension requested.