Spouse Open Work permit

[metalrahul]

My brother in law is coming to Toronto to study (he is has received his study permit for Canada).

His wife too wishes to travel with him and intends to work in Canada. Right now she has a basic visitor VISA for Canada. Can she travel along with her husband on a visitor VISA and get an open work permit upon landing ?

Note: She is a IT profession in her home country and wants to work in the same industry here.

No, she has to apply and get it approved forefront.

 

[fkl]

No, she has to apply and get it approved forefront.

Please refrain from spreading unconfirmed info.

@neo26

A visitor to Canada can certainly enter here with spouse and apply latter for work permit based upon her spouse's study permit from inside Canada.

The same requirements will hold i.e. the visitor won't have health care (unless she gets wp), will be allowed for a six month visit (so apply for WP asap), would need enough funds to cover her stay in Canada for at least a year (in addition to her student spouse's fee + expense)

At max she might face a bit of scrutiny at the airport to ensure she understands her terms of stay. Like her stay is temp - for six months max unless she gets a wp to stay. She cannot work UNLESS a work permit is approved etc.

 

[fkl]

No, either of you should get another work permit to support other's SOWP. And I think her SOWP will expire along with your work permit since you are more like her sponsor.

Additionally to be clear for the original poster, leaving a closed work permit job does not cancel it. So if you leave your current job that does not cancel your work permit. Nor does it cancels your spouse's work permit.

However, you cannot apply for a spouse dependent open work permit based upon that. But you can stay in Canada till the expiry of your closed work permit. If you need to work for some one else, the employer has to get you a new work permit.

The only way to get past these requirements is when you have applied for a permanent residence or have received a provincial nomination.

 

[fkl]

from my understanding permits in Canada are limited to the province you are applying for...

That's not true per say. But yes often CBSA puts employer location as the province name in which scenario one falls under grey area if intending to work outside of province (assuming it's an open work permit).

Ideally, when some one applies and gets an open work permit, it should say ANY or UNKNOWN.

I have seen all variants. In some cases CBSA puts city name, in other cases i have seen EMPLOYER:ANY - LOCATIONROVINCE NES (no employer specified) etc. or in the most appropriate cases, EMPLOYER and location : UNKNOWN / ANY

TLDR - it is messed up but officially an open work permit has to be open and allowed to work ANY WHERE in Canada.

I believe if the applicant knows this and makes sure at airport, they will get the same.

 

[metalrahul]

fkl, thanks for clearing up the air. Sorry if I mislead anyone. I meant one cannot get open work permit upon arrival at the airport. Surely, once entered one have to start application inland and do a flagpole.

 

[fkl]

fkl, thanks for clearing up the air. Sorry if I mislead anyone. I meant one cannot get open work permit upon arrival at the airport. Surely, once entered one have to start application inland and do a flagpole.

No worries - we all are trying to help and learn in the process.

One further note, if you apply in land (on line or on paper), there is no flag pole. Work permit is sent from CIC via mail / courier.

But yes if you are in a hurry and otherwise eligible to apply and get work permit, you can go to a border and do flag pole, then apply for WP.

 

[metalrahul]

@fkl, I am curious whether you know about the online application made together for me and wife is processed together or on a separate timeline? As of now, I got the original passport request but I am still waiting to hear about her medical report.

Thanks in advance

 

[fkl]

@fkl, I am curious whether you know about the online application made together for me and wife is processed together or on a separate timeline? As of now, I got the original passport request but I am still waiting to hear about her medical report.

Thanks in advance

If same visa office (meaning country of residence is the same) and submitted together, then CIC processes them together.

If one applicant is say in Canada and the other back home in another country, then likely processed at different pace.

It is also possible to have those processed separately if Principal applicant is student because SP is processed much faster than work permit.

 

[metalrahul]

Thanks a lot fkl, it's same office and mine is work permit and her's SOWP, though there was few days delay with uploading her medicals and that's when I got my passport request. Hopefully, I will hear something this coming week then. Thanks again for your insight!

 

[OWP2015Dec]

If same visa office (meaning country of residence is the same) and submitted together, then CIC processes them together.

If one applicant is say in Canada and the other back home in another country, then likely processed at different pace.

It is also possible to have those processed separately if Principal applicant is student because SP is processed much faster than work permit.

Hi fkl,

Do you think there might be other factors that impact the pace of processing the application? My wife and I applied together from the same country for her SP and my OWP. She got her SP approval within 4-5 days, whereas my OWP application is still under process after more than 6 1/2 months. One reason I can think of is because my wife's study program commences only in September 2016 and perhaps the visa office didn't want me working in Canada before then.

Also, looking at this forum, it appears that many people first go to Canada and later apply for their spouse' OWP. Do you think there is a better chance of timely OWP approval if the principal applicant is already in Canada?

 

[neo26]

Please refrain from spreading unconfirmed info.

@neo26

A visitor to Canada can certainly enter here with spouse and apply latter for work permit based upon her spouse's study permit from inside Canada.

The same requirements will hold i.e. the visitor won't have health care (unless she gets wp), will be allowed for a six month visit (so apply for WP asap), would need enough funds to cover her stay in Canada for at least a year (in addition to her student spouse's fee + expense)

At max she might face a bit of scrutiny at the airport to ensure she understands her terms of stay. Like her stay is temp - for six months max unless she gets a wp to stay. She cannot work UNLESS a work permit is approved etc.

Thank you fkl.

Couple of questions based on you reply:
1. Which option has more chances of getting her the OWP - a) Apply for OPW from home country or b) Apply for OPW on landing
2. In case we go for option #a and it gets rejected by CIC, will it impact her current TRV (temporary visitor VISA)

 

[hassan.arif]

How to get SOWP extended for my spouse

Dear FKL and other members please help me regarding this issue;

I will apply for open work permit after my graduation in September 2016. My study permit is going to expire in December 2016 and same date is on my wife SOWP. I dont have any full time job yet. What is the procedure after getting my work permit to apply for SOWP and what should be the conditions that will help me get my wife SOWP extended.....

Thanks,
Muhammad Hassan

 

[scylla]

Re: How to get SOWP extended for my spouse

Dear FKL and other members please help me regarding this issue;

I will apply for open work permit after my graduation in September 2016. My study permit is going to expire in December 2016 and same date is on my wife SOWP. I dont have any full time job yet. What is the procedure after getting my work permit to apply for SOWP and what should be the conditions that will help me get my wife SOWP extended.....

Thanks,
Muhammad Hassan

You can't apply to extend your wife's SOWP until you have a full time job that is NOC A, B or 0 and have received at least one pay cheque. If you don't have a job that meets these requirements by the time your wife's work permit is scheduled to expire - she should apply to change her status to visitor to avoid going out of status.

 

[OWP2015Dec]

Congratulations!

My application for study permit was submitted online(im going to finish Master's degree) on Feb 1st, approved on Feb 6th(so it only took 5 days).

My spouse's open work permit was also submitted at the same time under the same account on Feb 1st but still waiting for approval.(applied online from Czech Republic).

The processing time on CIC website is currently showing 1 Month but this has already been more than that. I've sent a Case Specific Enquiry a week ago but no reply yet.

The course is starting in a week and i really need my spouse to accompany me to Canada.

I guess this is all about patience :-X

Thanks and have a great day!

B.

Hello,

Did your spouse get her OWP? If yes, when was that?

 

[metalrahul]

Looking at all the recent threads here in this forum. It's quite apparent that SOWP applications are getting delayed more than usual. While work permits and student permits are granted much faster.

Just an observation, frustrated and I don't want to think of moving to Canada without my spouse at the moment. If this was the case I would have opted for just a TRV for her or even that's difficult too?