IMM 5710: Canada's Work Permit Extension Form Explained (2026)

Where is your UCI number on a work or study permit?

Short answer: Your Unique Client Identifier appears on your study or work permit under the heading "Country of Citizenship". It is an eight or ten digit number, sometimes written with a dash. That placement is unintuitive enough that IRCC calls it out in its own instructions, and it is a frequent source of transcription errors on this form.

If you have never held a Canadian immigration document, you may not have a UCI at all, in which case the field is left blank rather than filled with zeros or "N/A". Once IRCC issues you one it stays with you for life across every application you ever file, so it is worth recording somewhere permanent.

Which answers must match your passport exactly?

Short answer: Your family name and given names must be typed exactly as they appear on your passport or travel document, including any misspelling the passport itself contains. IRCC states this explicitly. Do not use initials, and do not correct an error that appears in the travel document, because the officer is matching your form against that document rather than against your true legal name.

Two structural cases catch people out. If your passport shows no family name, enter all of your given names in the family name field and leave the given name field empty. If it shows no given name, leave that field blank rather than typing an asterisk, "Not applicable" or "NA". Where your full date of birth is genuinely unknown, an asterisk fills the unknown year, month or day.

Dual citizens select the country that issued the passport they are using, not whichever citizenship they consider primary.

How do you download and open IMM 5710?

Short answer: Download the form from IRCC's IMM 5710 page using a desktop or laptop, then open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher. It will not open properly on a phone or tablet, and it will not render correctly inside a browser's built-in PDF viewer, which is what produces the blank or grey page most people hit on their first attempt.

If clicking the link opens a broken page rather than downloading, right-click and choose "Save as", then open the saved file from within Acrobat Reader rather than double-clicking it. Preview on macOS and Chrome's viewer both fail to run the form's embedded scripting, so fields will not expand and the validation button will not work.

Fill the form on the computer rather than printing and writing by hand. IRCC recommends this because the electronic version validates entries as you go, and a validation failure caught on your screen is far cheaper than one caught by an officer.

What is the latest version of IMM 5710?

Short answer: The current release is dated September 2023, shown as 09-2023 in the form's bottom corner. IRCC does not maintain an archive of superseded versions, so any copy hosted somewhere other than canada.ca may be years out of date. The college and university PDFs that rank well for this form include copies from 2019, 2020 and 2024.

Check the version stamp before you start filling anything in. Downloading fresh from IRCC each time costs nothing and removes the whole category of risk, whereas discovering a version problem after submission usually means the application is returned and you refile from the beginning.

Where can you get help with a work permit application?

Most extensions with the same employer are straightforward, and filing one yourself is realistic if your status is valid and your situation matches a single box in question 3. The applications worth a second opinion are the ones where the form does not describe you cleanly: a restoration after losing status, a change of employer partway through a permit, or a post-graduation work permit where the study permit expiry is close.

If you are appointing a consultant or lawyer to file for you, that authority comes from a separate form, and our IMM 5476 guide covers the version change that now invalidates older copies.

Our work permit pages cover the permit types and who qualifies for each, and the processing times pages track current published figures. If you want an application reviewed before it goes in, Go Far Global is a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) firm in Toronto and you can book a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the IMM5710 form?

IMM 5710 is the Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker. It is the form Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires for work permit applications made from inside Canada, covering extensions with the same employer, applications with a new employer, initial work permits for people already in Canada, restoration of status as a worker, and temporary resident permits. Post-graduation work permit applicants use it too. Each person applies on their own copy of the form. Applicants outside Canada use IMM 1295 instead. The current version is dated 09-2023 and is available free from IRCC.

How to download IMM5710 form?

Go to IRCC's IMM 5710 page on canada.ca and click the download link using a desktop or laptop computer. The form will not open on a phone or tablet. Save it somewhere you can find again, then open it from inside Adobe Acrobat Reader version 10 or higher rather than double-clicking it, because browser PDF viewers and macOS Preview cannot run the form's embedded scripting and will show a blank or grey page. If the link does not download automatically, right-click it and choose "Save as". The form is free, and no third-party site is required.

How to fill out form imm 5710?

Complete it electronically on a computer, answering every question unless the form says otherwise. Start with your Unique Client Identifier, printed on your existing permit under "Country of Citizenship". Question 3 sets your application type, so choose carefully between same employer, new or initial employer, restoration, and temporary resident permit. Type names exactly as printed on your passport, including any misspelling, and never use initials. If you are out of status, select "Other" and type "Out-of-status - restoration", leaving the dates blank. Validate the form before submitting, and have each applicant complete a separate copy.

What is the latest version of IMM 5710?

The current version is 09-2023, printed in the lower corner of the form. IRCC updates forms without notice and does not keep old releases available, so a copy saved months ago or downloaded from a college website may already be superseded. Submitting an outdated version risks having the application returned, which costs you the processing time and can be serious if your current status is close to expiring. Download a fresh copy from canada.ca at the start of every application and check the version stamp before entering any information.

Sources

• Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker (IMM 5710), IRCC
• Post-graduation work permit: who can apply, IRCC
• Restore your status as a worker, IRCC
• Work permit: apply from inside Canada, IRCC
• Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Justice Laws Website