Working while waiting for PR.

[Caitlinl]

Hello everyone,

My fiance and I are going to be getting married within the next year. He is currently a United States Marine and will be getting medically discharged soon. We would like for him to move up here with me to Canada.

By the time we start anything, we will be getting married. The goal is to have him move in with me (here in Canada) and for him to be able to work while we work on a PR application for him. We are extremely confused about what our options are and how to go about doing all of this.

He wants to move in with me immediately and be able to work anywhere in Canada. We then would like to apply for a Family Class Sponsorship so that he may become a permanent resident; and 3 years later (or however long is required) he would apply to become a Canadian citizen.

The ultimate question is, What can we do to have him living here with me and being able to work (Open work permit?) while we work on his PR?

Thank you SO much in advance,

~ Caitlin

[mitamata]

The only way that will work is if you have him immigrate on his own. He's free to come visit you for up to 6 months and he can extend that stay, but he wouldn't be able to work during it.

There is the option of an Open Work Permit, which you can apply for at the same time as applying for an inland PR application, but he wouldn't get that until first stage approval, which is currently taking 5-6 months.
If you do an outland application (have it processed in Buffalo instead of in Canada), then there is no Open Work Permit available, but with the shorter processing time, it's possible he'd be done by the time he would've gotten the OWP anyway.

[thai/peg]

Can you get an open work permit while applying inland if you do not have a letter of invatation from an employer?

[mitamata]

Yes, you don't need that at all.
From what I know though, you only get an the work permit if Vegreville gives 'approval in principal', so if you have a complicated case where there might be a lot of doubt about your relationship, you might not get it.

[Caitlinl]

Let me see if I have this right.

My fiance comes to Canada, as a visitor, we get married.
We apply for his PR through spousal sponsorship and apply for an Open Work Permit at the same time.
4-6 months later we get the Open Work Permit, so I support him until then.

Does that sound right?

[Leon]

5-6 months actually and that is if your application is bulletproof and immigration doesn't want an interview with you.  If they do want an interivew, an inland application can turn into a nightmare where your file would be forwarded to your local office without the first stage approval and work permit and then you could be waiting for up to 3 years for the local office to have time to schedule your interview.  In the meantime, your husband is sitting at home without healthcare and without being able to work.

If you were to do outland, your husband could still stay with you while it's being processed.  He would not get an open work permit but he would have his PR and ability to work in average 6 months.

[Caitlinl]

5-6 months actually and that is if your application is bulletproof and immigration doesn't want an interview with you.  If they do want an interivew, an inland application can turn into a nightmare where your file would be forwarded to your local office without the first stage approval and work permit and then you could be waiting for up to 3 years for the local office to have time to schedule your interview.  In the meantime, your husband is sitting at home without healthcare and without being able to work.

If you were to do outland, your husband could still stay with you while it's being processed.  He would not get an open work permit but he would have his PR and ability to work in average 6 months.

Thank you so much for the reply. My fiance and I are trying to decide whether to do this inland or outland.

So, let me get the outland process straight.

We get married here in Canada during one of his visits.
He either returns home to work or stays with me.
We send in his PR application along with my (spousal) sponsorship application. (To Buffalo, right?)
We wait 5-6 months for the entire process to be completed.

Is that right? Thanks so much!

[Leon]

For outland, you would actually send the application to Mississauga.  They would approve you as his sponsor which takes right now 38 days.  After that your file would go to Buffalo and they take on average 5 months there.