Time line/work permit

[Mehwish9]

hello All,
I have two questions:

Q.1). I joined my husband in June 2008 and entered as a visitor. then I applied for my PR under the spousal category from within Canada (in-land)to CIC Veg. I also submit my request for extension in visitor status to keep my status maintained and got a year long extenssion till Dec 2009.the details of PR case is as follows.

Details:
CIC-Veg received file in Sep 2008.
CIC-Veg started processing in Oct 2008.
CIC-Veg transferred file to local office Calgary in March10 2009.
CIC Calgary- No News yet,

Can anyone please provide any info how long will it take to get my PR or any news from the local office?or what steps will be involved further.
Q.2). If it is taking long at CIC local office,is there any possibility to apply/or get a work authorization/permit before my case is decided.if yes,what could be the the best way to get a work permit.
thanks and waiting for your valuable suggestions.
 

[RobsLuv]

I'm a little curious - you said you came into Canada as a visitor and then applied to extend your temporary status and got an extension for a year - but it sounds like you did that separately from the inland PR application.  Did you provide proof with your inland PR ap that you have valid temporary status in Canada when you filed the application?  Normally an inland ap is sent to a local office from CPC-V when there's a problem with processing - and many times the problem is that CPC-V thinks the applicant is in Canada without valid temporary status because they applied without actually having temporary status - or without providing proof.  That's why normally it's a good idea to submit the extension application WITH an inland PR ap . . . that protects your status until first stage approval, and if you ask for an initial work permit rather than visitor status then they'll issue you an OWP when they've completed the first stage of processing. 

Do you have any indication of why your ap was transferred to Calgary before first stage approval?  If not, you should ask your sponsor to contact the Call Centre to see what type of info he can get, or have him contact his MP to make an inquiry, or order your FOSS notes for more information.  You're not eligible for a work permit until after they complete the first stage of processing - so it's important, if the processing office doesn't know that you have legal temporary status, that you let them know immediately.  It's not enough to assume the left hand knows what the right hand is doing.  It's clear to me that isn't usually the case.

[Mehwish9]

thanks RobsLuv,no I had valid status at the time of application for PR and I applied for extension in visitor status(separately from PR application,giving its referenc) 2 months before my visa expired so i was on the safe side and also i have to keep my status maintained.I got visa extension for a year,and the PR application sounds "in process" and transferred to CIC local office.the call centre does not tell anything useful except CIC calgary time line which they tell it may take 18-20 months.thats why I was amazed and looking for WP,atleast i should get work permit rather than wasting time waiting for a long ordeal.

[Leon]

If you had gotten first stage approval, you would have gotten a work permit.  Because they had a problem with your application, you can't.  It's not very nice having to wait another 18-20 months but some offices are even busier than that.  One couple in Ontario was told they had to wait for 3 years before the local office would look at their file.

Your alternative would be to cancel your inland application, leave Canada and apply again outland and make sure you have all your ducks in a row.  First you need to find out though why they had a problem with your application so you can correct it.