British Citizen, question about IEC

[guyht]

I am a UK citizen and am being relocated to Canada with my job for 1 year.  My visa is not a problem as my company is sorting it out.

My girlfriend is going to move out with me (also a UK citizen) and she is applying for an IEC.  As I understand it, this will allow her to live in Canada with me, and also to look for work.

My questions are:  1) The estimated wait time for an IEC visa is 10 weeks, but I move out in 7 weeks.  Will she be allowed to come to canada as a 'visitor' (uk citizen so no visa required) for the first few weeks while waiting for her application to finish.

2) If for some reason her application is not successful, what are our best options?

Am very worried that I am going to go out and find that she cant come and join me so any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks

[Leon]

She is allowed to visit Canada as a UK citizen before getting the IEC visa.

If she can't get the IEC visa, you can get married and she can get an open work permit based on your permit.

If you have lived together more than 12 months, you could do that right now anyway instead of the IEC.  You just need to sign a declaration of common law partnership for it.

[guyht]

Hi Leon,

Thanks for the prompt response.

Thats great news that she will be allowed to visit as a UK citizen before the IEC comes through.

Unfortunately, I dont think marriage is an option quite yet, and we have not lived together for 12 months yet.

Again, I dont see why the IEC would not go through... but if it didnt, would she be able to come as a visitor, look for work, then apply for a working visa while in Canada?  She is well educated and has good work experience in the UK.

Just trying to figure out all our options, have spent hours on the cic site but a lot of it is very confusing.

[Leon]

Again, I dont see why the IEC would not go through... but if it didnt, would she be able to come as a visitor, look for work, then apply for a working visa while in Canada?  She is well educated and has good work experience in the UK.

Yes, she would but without the IEC or a spouse work permit, she would not get an open permit.  She would have to find an employer, the employer has to apply for an LMO proving that they have looked for Canadians for this job and not found any and then she can apply for a work permit but it will only be valid for that employer and that position.

[guyht]

Hi Leon, thanks for the clarification, its been a great help.

G