2. Find out your immigration status

You need to know your immigration status in Canada. Your status will decide the steps you could take to try to stay in Canada after leaving your abusive partner.

Look at any paperwork you have from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) (formerly Citizenship and Immigration Canada or CIC).

For example, you might have documents to show that you:

• are a Canadian citizen
• are a permanent resident
• have a work permit
• have a study permit
• have a visitor visa
• are being sponsored for permanent resident status
• have made a refugee claim
• have made an application for permanent resident status on humanitarian and compassionate (H&C) grounds

If you’ve applied to IRCC, you can check on the status of your application. Some types of applications can be checked online through IRCC’s Client Application Status service. For example, if you:

• sponsored a member of the family class
• applied to be a permanent resident from inside or outside Canada
• applied for Canadian citizenship

If you can’t check the status of your application online, you might be able to check it by calling the IRCC Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100.

But if you call IRCC, they might ask you questions. If you make a mistake or say anything that’s not true, this could affect your application or your status in Canada. So you may want to talk to a lawyer before you call.