Is there a way for me to test permissions that are not yet granted to my app by Facebook like the "user_status" permission? I need to test "user_status" for a future app that is not yet in develop since I need to prove that what the client wants is possible.
As long as you are testing with an app admin/tester/developer, everything should work, even if the app didn't pass the facebook Review yet.
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However, in order to help you craft your Facebook Login experience, your app's developers will be able to see, and grant, any permission without requiring review by Facebook.
Note: People who are listed in your app's Roles tab will have access to extended permissions without going through review (e.g. publish_actions or manage_pages). For example, if you use the Facebook Plugin for Wordpress to publish your blog posts to your Facebook Page or Profile, you do not need to submit for review so long as all your publishers are listed in your app's Roles tab.
Also, if you're the developer of an app and are the only person using it, then your app doesn't need to go through review. Since you're the developer, all app capabilities should be available. You will still need to take your app out of developer mode, but you should be able to do that without going through review.