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It's kind of a strange situation, I'm currently working from Canada on an employer-specific work permit and it is going to expire in February 2021 along with the W-1 category visa, i.e both work permit and W-1 visa will expire in February 2021. And, my passport is going to expire in August 2021. In addition, I also have a B-1 category visa valid until August 2021, i.e valid until the passport expires.

I got to know, because of the Covid situation the work permit applications are taking approximately 6 months to process, is it true?

Now, my work permit renewal application is already submitted a couple of days ago (in January) from within Canada and I can continue working from Canada as per the new Covid rules even if the work permit expires but the thing is I have to travel to my home country at the end of March and I cannot postpone it. Now, in order to get back to Canada to work, even if I somehow get hold of the renewed work permit by July 2021 it'll only be valid until August since my passport expires in August 2021.

I was wondering, to avoid this situation if I put an application to renew my passport and get the work permit renewal application updated with the new passport information: Will I be permitted to travel back and work in Canada on my B-1 visa (which is on my old passport) after I get my work permit let's say somewhere in July or do I have to apply for a new visa again for the new passport?

What if, instead of the above, I do not apply for the new passport, get the renewed work permit by July (thinking optimistically) and travel to Canada in July with both the work permit and passport imminently expiring in August and apply to renew both once I reach Canada, will I be allowed to travel in this case?

Are there any other better options that'll help in traveling back? Really looking forward to some help!

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I got to know, because of the Covid situation the work permit applications are taking approximately 6 months to process, is it true?

Current estimate is about three months.

I was wondering, to avoid this situation if I put an application to renew my passport and get the work permit renewal application updated with the new passport information:

This is strongly advisable if your passport country is quick to renew passports (which I know can be some challenges even during normal times for certain countries).

Will I be permitted to travel back and work in Canada on my B-1 visa (which is on my old passport) after I get my work permit let's say somewhere in July or do I have to apply for a new visa again for the new passport?

Your visitor visa (in your old passport) remains valid until the expiry date specified on the visa. This is assuming your passport country lets you keep the old passport and does not do anything altering the visas inside (e.g. cutting corners).

But you might want to apply for a visitor visa for the new passport anyway if you qualify.

What if, instead of the above, I do not apply for the new passport, get the renewed work permit by July (thinking optimistically) and travel to Canada in July with both the work permit and passport imminently expiring in August and apply to renew both once I reach Canada, will I be allowed to travel in this case?

Yes. But this can be very risky if any new Covid restrictions (or other unexpected events) in your home country or in Canada cause both your passport, visitor visa and work permit to expire before you are able to travel.

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  • Hi @zhantongz, thanks for your response. My passport country does not alter the visas inside and I'll apply for passport renewal soon.
    – maverick
    Jan 24, 2021 at 21:32
  • I've never heard of a country altering visas in old passports, indeed the official advice and first hand experience is your visa in an old passport is valid.
    – chx
    Feb 25, 2021 at 9:53
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    @chx Certain Chinese embassies and government offices inside China used to cut the corner off the whole passport, which can sometimes damage the visas inside. With the new biometric passport and better awareness/training now they just cut the information and remarks pages and disable the electronic chip. Some countries also don't give you back the old passport unless you ask explicitly.
    – xngtng
    Feb 25, 2021 at 13:02

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