How Venezuelans can work, study, and settle in Canada

Venezuelans seeking to come to Canada have many options to enter the country, both on a temporary and permanent basis.

Due to the individual-centric nature of Canadian immigration, Venezuelan applicants seeking temporary or permanent residence (PR) are afforded processing rights that consider their ability to meet eligibility criteria, over their nationality and country of application.

Discover if You Are Eligible for Canadian Immigration

This article will cover the different options that Venezuelans have to enter Canada:

Temporary resident pathways, including
- Visitor visas;
- Study permits; and
- Work permits.
Permanent residence (PR) pathways such as
- Express Entry;
- PNPs; and
- Federal pilots and pathways.
Family sponsorship pathways.

Important information for Venezuelans applying to Canadian TR pathways is also detailed below.

Temporary resident (TR) pathways

1) Visitor visa

What it is: A visitor visa is the visa sticker placed in the passport that lets a visa-required traveler seek entry to Canada as a visitor. Visitor visas typically allow foreign nationals to reside in Canada for up to six months at a time.

Visitor visas do not allow holders to study or work in Canada, however those holding a visitor visa can apply for a study or work permit once in Canada.

Core eligibility: Applicants must, among other things, show they have a valid travel document, enough funds to cover their stay and their return travel home, and must be admissible to Canada.

Typical process (outside Canada):

Gather documents that fit your purpose of travel (such as tourism, business, or family visit).
Apply online (paper is only for specific situations).
Give biometrics, if required.
If approved, your passport must be sent to the corresponding visa processing office, and a visa is issued and placed within.

Want to learn more about how to visit Canada? Check out our dedicated webpage on the topic here.

2) Study permit

What it is: A study permit authorizes study in Canada, and allows students to work in a limited capacity (if the conditions on their study permit states they can). Most people must apply for a permit and a visa before coming to Canada.

Key documents to plan for:

Letter of Acceptance (LOA) from a designated learning institution (DLI);
In most cases, a Provincial/Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL) (part of the study permit cap system); and
Proof of minimum necessary funds for travel and tuition.

Typical process:

Get a LOA + a PAL/TAL (and Quebec Acceptance Certificate if studying in Québec, where applicable).
Apply online with the required documentation and proof of funds.
Provide biometrics and complete a medical exam, if requested by IRCC.
If approved, you receive a letter of introduction, and IRCC will issue your visa for travel.

Eligible international graduates can receive a work permit after graduation, allowing them to work in Canada with a great degree of freedom (covered below).

Want to learn more about getting a Canadian study permit? Visit our dedicated webpage.

Discover your options to study in Canada

3) Work permits

What they are: Work permits authorize foreign nationals to engage in full-time work in Canada. They can be employer-specific—meaning they are restricted to one employer—or open, allowing the holder to work for most employers in most industries across Canada.

Some work permits require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), which is a labour market test to assess the impact of hiring a foreign national on the Canadian labour market.

LMIA-based work permits typically require candidates to have a job offer first to be approved, whereas open work permits are generally given to foreign nationals for the cultural or social benefit of Canada (such as giving international graduates access to Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWPs) so they may enrich Canada’s labour market).

Work permits are also key documents for those seeking to gain eligibility for Canada’s economic pathways to PR.

Typical process:

Confirm the work permit type (employer-specific with an LMIA or LMIA-exempt category vs. an open work permit category you qualify for).
Apply online with job/eligibility documents, proof of funds, and any required biometrics/medical exams.
If approved, you receive a letter of introduction and (if required) IRCC issues your visa for travel.

Want to discover more about work permit options? Visit our dedicated webpage.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Important information for Venezuelans applying to Canadian TR pathways

Understanding “removal risk” and how to avoid it

Under Canadian law, immigration officers must be satisfied that temporary residents will leave Canada by the end of their authorized stay. This requirement appears for all kinds of temporary resident applications.

Due to current and historical political instability in Venezuela, applicants from the country may be under increased scrutiny here. Immigration officers typically weigh the reasons for and against an applicant being a removal risk before making a decision.

Failure to satisfy an immigration officer of this criterion can lead to the rejection of your temporary resident application.

In refusal letters, IRCC typically won’t attribute rejection to a specific political situation or context. Instead, the refusal reasons are usually framed in more general terms, such as insufficient ties to the home country, one’s financial situation, the purpose of the visit, or travel history—i.e., factors connected to the officer not being satisfied that the applicant would leave Canada.

How to satisfy immigration officers in Canada:

Make the purpose specific and well documented: This can be an itinerary, event/family plan for visiting, an LOA, PAL/TAL, and study plan for study, or a job offer/contract and employer letter for work.
- For visitor visas, booking a return flight can help your application.
Show realistic finances: This is how you will pay for the trip, tuition (if applicable), living costs and (especially) return travel.
Prove “reasons to return” to Venezuela: This can include employment/studies, dependent family responsibilities, property/lease, assets to be managed, and/or lawful status and strong ties in your country of residence if you live outside Venezuela.
Be consistent across forms and documents: Include the timeline for your stay, addresses, job history, and family information. Inaccuracies can damage credibility and may have serious consequences, such as being found guilty of misrepresentation____
If you also plan to immigrate long-term, use “dual intent” properly: You're allowed to seek temporary status while also intending to immigrate, as long as the officer is satisfied you’d leave if needed.

Consult with an experienced immigration representative

Canadian recognition of passport validity for Venezuelans

Canada recognizes the Venezuelan National Assembly decree extending certain Venezuelan passports by five years (excluding provisional passports) from August 19, 2019. This can help applicants who would otherwise be stuck with an expired passport to continue to apply.

IRCC also uses the “printed expiry date + five years” approach in some temporary-resident contexts but warns that if the passport is still expired even after adding five years, it’s considered expired for the application.

Permanent residence (PR) pathways: A short overview

Express Entry

Express Entry is the federal online system that manages applications for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), and the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP).

These programs seek to facilitate the entry of skilled workers into Canada. The CEC is specifically for candidates with at least one year of Canadian work experience, whereas the FSTP and FSWP allow foreign work experience to qualify.

The basic process for eligible candidates under Express Entry is:

Create an Express Entry profile with a corresponding Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score;
Enter the Express Entry pool and wait for an eligible draw where your profile meets the cut-off score;
Receive an invitation; and
Apply for PR.

Interested in learning more about Express Entry? Visit our dedicated webpage.

See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs)

PNPs let provinces/territories nominate candidates who meet their local labour needs and immigration goals. All provinces and territories (with the exception of Quebec and Nunavut) run their own PNP programs.

These programs usually reward candidates who have some sort of work and/or study experience in the province prior to applying; however, some streams do allow candidates to apply from outside of Canada directly for PR.

Generally, you either:

Get nominated and apply for PR through a non–Express Entry stream/process, or
Receive an enhanced nomination tied to Express Entry (depending on the province/stream).
- Getting an enhanced nomination can grant candidates 600 extra CRS points for their Express Entry profile, all but guaranteeing them an ITA.

You can learn more about PNPs by visiting our dedicated webpage.

See your eligibility for Express Entry-aligned PNP streams

Federal pilots and other federal pathways

The federal government also runs pilot programs and pathways that lead to PR.

Examples that may be relevant depending on language, job offer, and location include:

Rural and Francophone Community Immigration pilots: Community-driven PR pathways requiring candidates to have a job offer from a designated employer and settle in a participating community (with the FCIP requiring French language abilities).
Atlantic Immigration Program: An employer-driven PR pathway for candidates who possess a job offer from a designated employer in an Atlantic province, wishing to settle in that province.

For more information on other federal immigration programs visit our dedicated webpage.

Family options

Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP) and the Super Visa.

These two programs are for Canadian citizens and PRs who would like to bring their parents and/or grandparents to Canada from Venezuela.

For Venezuelans to arrive in Canada through this pathway, they must be sponsored by their Canadian child or grandchild and meet eligibility criteria.

PGP (PR sponsorship): This program opens by intake and invitation, which only opens once a year. For the 2025 intake, IRCC invited potential sponsors who submitted an interest form in 2020, and that intake closed in October 2025.

Super Visa (long visits): If PR sponsorship isn’t available or you want a faster long-visit option, parents/grandparents may apply for a Super Visa, which allows stays of up to 5 years at a time and permits multiple entries for up to 10 years.

Note that while the PGP is a PR pathway, the Super Visa is a special kind of visitor visa, which allows longer continuous stays and has a greater validity period.

More information on the PGP and Super Visa can be found on our dedicated webpages.

Spousal sponsorship

If a Canadian citizen or PR has a spouse or common-law/conjugal partner in Venezuela, they can sponsor them for PR under the family sponsorship program.

Sponsors must choose the correct class of application (commonly the Family Class for processing outside Canada, or the in-Canada class if the spouse/partner is already in Canada and eligible).

If the spouse/partner is outside Canada, after the PR application is submitted, they may still apply separately for a visitor visa (approval is not guaranteed but is subject to expedited processing).

Under either class, if the sponsored individual is in Canada and has submitted the application, they can apply for a Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) and begin working in Canada even before their application is processed.

To learn more about the difference between the two application classes, find our dedicated article on the topic.

Interested in applying for spousal sponsorship? Visit our dedicated webpage.

Sponsor your family for Canadian immigration