Open work permit? for future self employed?

[Luca73]

Hi all,

i have sent the application to vegreville for inland sponsorship(my wife is sponsoring me) two weeks ago. i know inland it takes a long time but i was wondering if i needed to send also the request for a working visa together with the application(which i didn'T) Our idea is to open a business soon in the quebec province. i cannot provide an employer now because my idea is not to be employed anyway but when they give me the first stage of approval that automatically gives me the open working visa or i have to apply again? do you know if i need a working visa to open a business where i will be working(self employed)?
Thanks for all the info that you may provide
Luca

[PMM]

Hi

Hi all,

i have sent the application to vegreville for inland sponsorship(my wife is sponsoring me) two weeks ago. i know inland it takes a long time but i was wondering if i needed to send also the request for a working visa together with the application(which i didn'T) Our idea is to open a business soon in the quebec province. i cannot provide an employer now because my idea is not to be employed anyway but when they give me the first stage of approval that automatically gives me the open working visa or i have to apply again? do you know if i need a working visa to open a business where i will be working(self employed)?
Thanks for all the info that you may provide
Luca

1.  You should have sent the request for the open work permit with your application.  Now you will have to wait to get to get first level approval and send the OWP application before you will get an OWP, it is not automatic.  Yes you will need a work permit to work as self employed.

[RobsLuv]

If you have documented temporary status in Canada that's currently valid, you should have included an extension application WITH the PR application to protect that status.  In doing so, you choose what type of status you request.  It's my understanding that you cannot earn an income in Canada (whether that be by working for someone else or starting your own business) without having a work permit.  So, if you want to start your own business, you need an open work permit.  Had you included an extension/change my conditions application WITH the inland PR application and opted for the "initial work permit", you would have been issued the OWP after first stage approval and you could start your own business.  If you have documented status that's still valid, send your extension application NOW to CPC-Vegreville so that it's received by them before your status expires.  Include a cover letter that tells them that you have an inland PR ap to match the extension application to - write across the top of the extension ap, "INLAND PR APPLICATION - DO NOT PROCESS UNTIL FIRST STAGE APPROVAL".  You do this because you are not eligible for an open work permit without the inland PR ap and the first stage assessment - so you want them to match the extension to the PR ap, and not assess the extension until they've assessed you as an eligible PR applicant.

There's no guarantee that they'll actually match the two, but if you get your OWP ap in to them before your current status expires, you're at least protecting your temporary status until after first stage approval.  Chances are, though, that they'll match the two and issue you the OWP after first stage approval.

[Luca73]

Thanks a lot for your answers, wow you seem to be pretty expert about it!

[Luca73]

just found on CIC website the option of applying for a work permit ONLINE that apparently would apply to me and many more other people given the fact that i'm member of the family class(spouse or common law). this is what it says on the website


You are eligible to apply for a Work Permit from within Canada if any of these situations apply to you.

Between the many(unfortunately i couldn't paste all the options because the forum apparently doesnt allow it) there is one that says if :

You are a member of the spouse or common-law partener in canada class(which i am)

___________________________________________________________________________________

also in the website this option is advertised as NEW and lets you create a user id  and password, it is called E-pass. the only thing is that it asks you for a client id number that i still don't have and that i would find i guess when my PR will start to be preocessed. even without id number it lets you process but it says that if you have applied for anything with CIC(which i did) you must provide the client ID otherwise your application will be refused. so what shall i do?shall i wait to get the client ID and then apply online? the funny thing is that it gives also the option of applying by paper(why waste all this time and paper in the  world of technology??), so maybe they are starting this to relieve Vegreville of all those applications and long piles of papers?or to give a better and more intelligent service to everybody. ?
I HOPE i understood right and that i will be able to apply online.Will this permit be the same of an OWP?
Anybody knows if i'm right about this or wrong? At the moment my status is visitor(as Italian i don't need  a visa and my stay is valid for another 5 months)
Thanks!

[Paul-in-Canada]

Hi Guys

         I am in currently in the US. My wife is going to Canada for studies. I know I can get an "Open Work Permit". But I am already employed here in US. And thankfully my employer is willing to allow me to work from my Home-Office if I move to Canada.

So my questions are : 

1. Can I work for a US employer in Canada on an "Open Work Permit" ?
2. I often do freelance jobs. Is it ok to do freelance jobs on an "Open Work Permit" ?

Any advise/help is very appreciated.

Thanks

[TreeLover]

Paul-in-Canada,

I wouldn't think that you would need a work permit in Canada if your employer is in the USA (or some other country) and you are working over the internet and phone.  Someone posted a document about that on here, so that's how I found out about it.  Can't remember where the post is though.  But if you work for an employer in the USA and you are paid via a US bank and you are not interacting with clients or in any business in Canada then it's not considered "working in Canada."   

As for freelancing, if your clients are in the USA and you are paid through a US bank, then it's the same.  I have my own business as a freelancer and all my clients are in the USA.  My business is based in the USA and all my checks all go to a bank in the US and then I transfer what money I need over here to my Canadian bank account.  I am in Canada, waiting for my application to be processed (it's been more than 4 months now).  When I crossed the border, they didn't seem alarmed at what I do either. 

I am no expert on this subject, by any means though, so I guess you shouldn't just take my word for it, but here is the excerpt from the foreign worker document called "fw01-eng.pdf":

What kind of activities are not considered to be “work”?

• An activity which does not really ‘take away' from opportunities for Canadians or permanent
residents to gain employment or experience in the workplace is not “work” for the purposes of
the definition.
Examples of activities for which a person would not normally be remunerated or which
would not compete directly with Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents in the
Canadian labour market and which would normally be part-time or incidental to the reason
that the person is in Canada include, but are not limited to:
• volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated, such as sitting on the
board of a charity or religious institution; being a ‘big brother' or ‘big sister' to a child; being on
the telephone line at a rape crisis centre. (Normally this activity would be part time and
incidental to the main reason that a person is in Canada);
• unremunerated help by a friend or family member during a visit, such as a mother assisting a
daughter with childcare, or an uncle helping his nephew build his own cottage;
• long distance (by telephone or internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer
is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada;
• self-employment where the work to be done would have no real impact on the labour market,
nor really provide an opportunity for Canadians. Examples include a U.S. farmer crossing the
border to work on fields that he owns, or a miner coming to work on his own claim

[Paul-in-Canada]

TreeLover

         Thanks for your reply. Can you plz explain in little detail, what kind of Visa I will get if my wife gets a Canadian Student Visa. I know all about US visas, but have no knowledge of Canadian Visas. Here in US, its called F1 (student visa) & F4 (spouse of student). What's its called in Canada ?

        Also when my wife apply for a Student Visa, do I get the "Open Work Permit" automatically at the start or do I have to apply for it again at a later stage ? What's the whole process like ? Also I guess, I do need the "Open work Permit" bcoz I want to make some new Canadian clients and do some freelance work for them as well once I reach Canada.

Thanks Again

[TreeLover]

Yes, if you will have clients in Canada, then you would need a work permit.

I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about visas for spouse of students or open work permits.  I didn't even know there was a spouse of a student visa.  Since USA residents are visa-exempt, I only have a visitor record from the border that says how long I can stay until I need to renew it (or I get permanent residency).

Are you actually applying for permanent residency in family class?  If not, then you might find more information in one of the other categories on this forum.

If you are applying for PR in family class, then you might want to start another thread here showing the information you need as this was someone else's thread asking for specific information applying to them.

Good luck