Hi,

Although this may seem quite a long story, it is really just the background of my situation. There is only really one question I have here, in essence....

So..I am an Australian, eligible for multiple-time 24-month Working Holiday Visas under the Canada WHP (working holiday program) for Australian passport-holders until the age of 31.

I had a 2-year WHV from MAY 2008 - MAY 2010, and in order to stay in Canada for another 6 months after that, I decided to just apply for another 2-year permit, and so was granted another 2-year WHP permit from May 2010 - May 2012. I have been back in Australia since Oct 2010, and am looking to head back to Canada for another 2 years in January 2012 (and still have a WHP work permit active and valid until May 2012).

I am now 30 years old, and would have to apply for, and be approved for another 2-year WHV before my 31st birthday (also in Jan 2012).
No big deal, I thought. I will apply for and be accepted for a new 2-year WHV well before I turn 31 in Jan 2012 (the last one I will be eligible for under this youth working holiday program - for ages 18-30), and as there is a 12-month grace period to enter Canada from the date of the visa approval letter, then when my current visa expired in May 2012 (when I'd been expecting to be back in Canada anyway), I would just cross the border into the USA, and re-enter with my new (and final) 2-year visa for another 2 years - from MAY 2012 -2014.

Now here's the problem:

I just checked the CANADA WHV for Australians' website and it seems that in Dec 2010 , 2 months after I had already arrived back in Aus, they have instated a clause saying that one (if they are trying to run one visa right into the next) cannot re-apply for a new WHV any earlier than 12 weeks before their current visa expires.
As my current visa (which I'm no longer even technically using) only expires in May 2012, I couldn't apply for a new one earlier than 12 weeks before that, which obviously would be after my 31st birthday, thereby rendering me ineligible.

Now here is my question, essentially:

Is there a way I can just have my currently-active 24-month work permit - which is a document in my passport - cancelled of my own volition ? Is there some way I can make a request from Australia for Canadian immigration to cancel the remainder of the work permit?

And if I were to cancel the work permit and/or passport containing the visa, then how would this be electronically registered on the system at the Canada Visa Office and Consulate in Sydney? Ie: How would they have a record of this (the work permit having been cancelled) when they receive my application for another WHV sometime in the next few months?

This is a real catch-22 situation for me. I am not eligible for the WHProgram after I turn 31 (which I knew all along, and had been planning everything well ahead for), but now they will not accept applications more than 12 weeks before a currently-held Work Permit is set to expire?
This is fundamentally unfair, and there must be a simple solution here.

Please help me, so I can get the ball rolling and return to Canada!!

Cheers

There is no provision for cancellation of a work permit. If you are not eligible for a WHP, then you would need a Canadian job offer which may be subject to the requirement of a Labour Market Opinion Confirmation prior to eligibility to seek the new work permit or change-of-terms.