An applicant with CRS 509 and a work permit expiring within months asked about filing a weak 'fake' extension just to buy implied status time until an Express Entry ITA arrived. Members pushed back with concrete mechanics:
- A throwaway extension can backfire fast. Some applicants were getting refusals on such extensions quickly - and the moment it's refused, you are out of status and no longer allowed to work. The 'bought time' can evaporate in weeks.
- The bridging gap trap: even if you later get an ITA and apply for PR with a bridging open work permit, members relayed (citing a group expert's session) that a refusal of the earlier extension creates a period - from the refusal date until PR approval - during which you cannot work.
- Your CRS doesn't care where you live. The advice several members preferred: leave Canada and wait at home, or switch to visitor status (no work allowed). Your score stays the same from abroad; when PR comes through, you return. The only score risks are age-point loss and language-test expiry - if IELTS is expiring, retake it and update the profile.
- If you can stay legally, stay. One member argued the opposite corner: 509 was a decent score, and if any legitimate route existed (LMIA-backed extension, PNP), staying in status inside Canada makes the eventual landing smoother than leaving and returning.
The thread's consensus: buy time only with legitimate status - visitor record, LMIA, or PNP - or wait it out abroad. A knowingly weak extension application risks your work rights and creates misrepresentation exposure.