Open work permit for the spouse of international Post graduation student

[Gurpinder]

Dear friends
pls help me out. My wife went to Nova scotia (canada) for her postgraduation (study visa) last month. her postgraduation is of 2 years. Right now  i am in India, i have done MBA in finance. I want to apply for canada to accompany her. Please suggest me any better way to get appropriate visa for canada. can I apply for open work permit?
Can i get work permit easily? is there any other visa option available to me?
please help me out.

[androme]

1) can I apply for open work permit?
Ans: Yes you def can.

2) Can i get work permit easily?
Let me answere this question by giving you a picture of what happened to me. I was living in london with my fiance. We both went to London from india to study. After a year we found that London, UK was very very costly and the university that my fiance was in was not at all good. We searched for other options as we didn't want to go back to India. Found Canada is cheaper. She applied for student visa and so did I. Mine was rejected and hers was accepted. Somebody adviced that we should get married and after a year I should apply under spousal open work permit. We got married and she left for Canada. After a year I applied and I got it in a month's time. Now we both are in Canada. She was studing from 2006 to 2011. I was here in 2007 and working since then. She finished her studies april 2011 and has now converted her status to POST GRADUATE WORK PERMIT which is valid for 3 years.
Going back to your question, no one can say if its easy or not. One of my wife's friend from India is in Canada for the past 4 years and have been trying to get her husband on the spousal open work permit without any success. However, I don't know if her husband is as qualified as you are. You also have to consider the current economic situation over here. There is a sense that jobs are not readily and easily available right now. Lots of new graduates are unemployed and immigration is doing its part to ensure that available jobs goes to PR holders and citizens first before it goes to foreign and temporary workers. This could be an issue that would prove to be paramount in your visa approval. having said all that no one can say if you will be granted or not. However I would definitely encourage you to apply. If you don't apply there is 100% possibility that you are not going to get the visa. However if you apply its 50-50. So go ahead and apply. With MBA in FIn you probabaly ahve to move to Toronto or the west coast to find a decent job. Nova Scotia is pretty scarce in jobs unless you strike gold in the oil industry. BUT PLEASE APPLY. i don't know if its easily granted or not however I do know that Spousal work permit has a better chance. Good lUck.

3) is there any other visa option available to me?
You could try to come here as a student or if you have a job offer approved by HRDSA with LMO.
SPousal open work permit is the best option.

[aman04]

 I also have similar question
Hi, I live in United States and My Fiance is studying in Canada. As i understand i am eligible to get open work permit In Canada if we get married (We are planning to get married this month). I have Canadian visitor visa, My question is if i go to Canada as a visitor and get married to my Fiance in Canada will i be eligible for Spouse open work permit.
Another question is If i apply from within Canada it will take almost 75 days but application at the port of entry would be quick. So which would be a better option staying in Canada and apply for OWP or coming back to US and reenter Canada and apply it at the port of entry??

[androme]

Hi aman,

I have to admit I am not an expert however, from my experience I have learnt that you can apply only after a year of getting married. I am not sure if that rule still applies or if it ever applied. Anyways, I think it will be a lot better if you apply from outside Canada. In the worst case scenario, if you get rejected it will be very difficult to reapply and get the application approved from within Canada. Good Luck.

[aman04]

Thank You for your reply Androme. Just wanted to update on this case.
I got married on Nov 20 2011, went to United States and applied for open work permit at Washington DC Consulate. I guess the one year condition applies to Common law partners (not sure about it though) but definitely does not apply to spouse. I got my open work permit in a week. They issued me LETTER OF INTRODUCTION and at the Regina Airport i got my permit. But i guess what you mentioned in your post was the best decision i made. Applying from outside Canada was good decision as it was quick and less risky.

Also only those people who are from visa exempt countries can apply for work permit at the port of entry.

[sali84]

hi all,

my name is shahzad. my wife has applied for an open work permit based on my PGWP and it's been almost 5 months and we did not get any reply. we email them twice and both time they say that the application is in queue for review.

if any one knows how long it will take to get the decision as this is getting delayed. the time for process is 3 months i guess.

any help/suggestion would be appreciated.

thanks

[janwar]

Hello Friends,

Please clarify;

I am currently working in Nova Scotia and Nominated by the province for the immigration under International Graduate Provincial Nominee stream. My job skill level is C. My wife is currently here on a visitor visa. I would like to get a work permit for my spouse as well. As per the link on cic web site --> under question "Can my spouse or common-law partner work in Canada?" my job must be listed in Skill Level 0, A or B in the National Occupational Classification in order for me to apply for a spousal open work permit.

While I was checking CANADAVISA website, I found the link regarding open work permit and It states "This skill level requirement does not apply to principal temporary foreign workers who have been nominated for permanent residence by a province (provincial nominees)."

I tried looking for this information on cic.gc.ca but I was unable to find anything. Please advise where I can confirm this information on cic website.

Thanks for your reply in advance,

[PMM]

Hi

Hello Friends,

Please clarify;

I am currently working in Nova Scotia and Nominated by the province for the immigration under International Graduate Provincial Nominee stream. My job skill level is C. My wife is currently here on a visitor visa. I would like to get a work permit for my spouse as well. As per the link on cic web site --> under question "Can my spouse or common-law partner work in Canada?" my job must be listed in Skill Level 0, A or B in the National Occupational Classification in order for me to apply for a spousal open work permit.

While I was checking CANADAVISA website, I found the link regarding open work permit and It states "This skill level requirement does not apply to principal temporary foreign workers who have been nominated for permanent residence by a province (provincial nominees)."

I tried looking for this information on cic.gc.ca but I was unable to find anything. Please advise where I can confirm this information on cic website.

Thanks for your reply in advance,

From The Foreign Worker Manual  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/manuals/fw/fw01-eng.pdf


Section 5.39 provides for the issuance of open temporary work permits to spouses of provincial nominees who hold valid work permits, irrespective of the skills category under which the nominees‘ occupation falls.
All staff who have responsibilities for the issuance of temporary work permits are urged to review these new sections. As well, in reading these sections, staff should keep in mind that all other relevant provisions of the FW manual with respect to the issuance of work permits continue to apply.