Does maintained status apply to each family member separately or only to the main applicant?

Maintained status applies individually to each person's own application and their own underlying status — it is not automatically shared across a family just because one family member applied on time. If a spouse or dependant needs their own permit extended or changed, each person generally needs their own timely application filed before their own permit expires for maintained status to protect them specifically.

This means a family can end up in a situation where the main applicant's status is protected by maintained status while a spouse or child's status has already lapsed, if that family member's own extension was not filed before their permit's expiry, even if everyone intended to apply together. Each person's documents and deadlines need to be tracked separately, not treated as one combined household deadline.

Because missing this can leave a family member without status even when the main applicant is fully protected, checking each family member's individual permit expiry date and confirming a timely application was filed for each person is essential, rather than assuming one filing covers everyone.