How long until my foreign wife can work?

[dhedhunter]

I am a Canadian citizen and I have recently married my Mexican wife in Mexico (I am originally from Mexico).
We now want to live together in Canada and I beleive I need to sponsor her as my wife.
It is important for us that she can start work as soon as she can. She is a skilled worker (Engineer). How long would it take to get her the appropriate permit and what should the process be?
Thanks

 

[yppgina]

It really depends on how you go about it.

She could:

a) Apply for a work permit if there is an employer here in Canada willing to sponsor her

b) If she can get a visitor's visa you can apply inland and submit an application with her PR application for her Open Work Permit. An Open Work Permit would be issued after first stage approval which can take from 3 months to 6/7 months if there is no problems. During this time she would not be allowed to work or go to school.

c) Apply outland (which has faster processing time) and being work after she receives her PR card (roughly 4 weeks after landing)

 

[Anatolia]

The above advice is RIGHT ON. I can only add that you really need to have a contingency plan, because it will be really hard to get a employer to sponsor her and the PR stuff takes a while in the BEST of cases. Realistically she wont be able to work legally for a while.
I should know. my husband is in Canada waiting for his PR. He is very handy around the house and it is a treat to have him close by and NOT in Peru. However I know it can be a drain financially for most families. Best of luck.

 

[RobsLuv]

I agree with Anatolia - it can be a drain financially on a family to have one partner unable to work for an extended period of time. An outside application, processed through Mexico City will get her a PR visa in the shortest amount of time (5-9 months), but she would not be able to work in Canada unless an employer sponsors her for an HSRDC approved (restricted) work permit. That process normally would take longer than the process to get her PR visa.

Now that you're married, you could accompany her to Canada and get her extended visitor status - and file an inland application, including an extension of status/change conditions to work permit application with the PR application. This extends her visitor status until first stage approval (AIP) is reached (about 4-5 months after you submit the application) and then she'd be issued an open work permit which eliminates the need for HSRDC job approval. But getting her final approval for a PR visa takes much longer with an inland application - normally 12-18 months. It's a personal choice - you'll have to weigh the pros and cons and make a decision based on what seems applicable to your own situation.