OWP Refused under new family reunification policy

[pawan01]

Hello All,

If anyone here can guide me and help me, that would be great. I am a Canadian citizen, and I applied for my wife's OWP under the new family reunification program. She was in Dubai when we applied for PR spousal. She got her AOR, and then she got her visitor visa. She arrived in Canada, and we applied for OWP on June 29, 2023. Today we got a refusal letter, and the reason was as mentioned below:

This letter refers to your application for a work permit. Based on your application and the accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all the information, and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application, as requested, is therefore refused. [X] As a foreign national in Canada, you are not eligible to apply for a document of this type until you receive confirmation that your application for permanent residence will be processed within Canada. [X] You must leave Canada on or before the expiration of your current document, or if your document has expired, you must leave Canada immediately. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action being taken against you.

Can someone please guide me on what to do next? She is in Canada on a visitor visa, and her PR application is still in progress. The visa office is in London.

Thank you and much appreciated!

 

[Flyingfast]

Canada has a current program in place that anyone in Canada on a visitor visa can apply for a working visa with a valid job offer.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/notices/visit-to-work.html

 

[ERCAN]

Hello All,

If anyone here can guide me and help me, that would be great. I am a Canadian citizen, and I applied for my wife's OWP under the new family reunification program. She was in Dubai when we applied for PR spousal. She got her AOR, and then she got her visitor visa. She arrived in Canada, and we applied for OWP on June 29, 2023. Today we got a refusal letter, and the reason was as mentioned below:

This letter refers to your application for a work permit. Based on your application and the accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all the information, and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application, as requested, is therefore refused. [X] As a foreign national in Canada, you are not eligible to apply for a document of this type until you receive confirmation that your application for permanent residence will be processed within Canada. [X] You must leave Canada on or before the expiration of your current document, or if your document has expired, you must leave Canada immediately. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action being taken against you.

Can someone please guide me on what to do next? She is in Canada on a visitor visa, and her PR application is still in progress. The visa office is in London.

Thank you and much appreciated!

Hm... That`s worrisome. This is a second report of such case despite the inland requirement was lifted.
Have followed this guide to apply including selecting right options as to indicating

• I am applying for an open work permit under an active public policy or pilot program announced by IRCC.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/spouse-common-law-partner-canada-open-work-permit.html

 

[ERCAN]

I have found out that in one of your posts in august you wrote
"
Hello All,

Does anyone know any information regarding this case. I applied for my wife OWP under new family reunification on June 29. She has visitor visa of Canada and we applied as inland. "
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/new-trv-measures-from-ircc-for-spouses-having-sponsorship-application.803791/post-10582517
Thus I suspect you have selected the wrong option in your OWP application. Can you double check which option have you selected when applying? If you have indeed applied as inland, this might be a formal reason for the refusal. Similarly, some people selected wrong PR class ("in Canada" while actually being outland) and their application was returned.

 

[HTS_QC]

On your tracker, what address is shown? Canada or original address where you were living when you submitted the application?

Reason I am asking is that, although IRCC had acknowledged my webform to update the address, they didn't update my contact details on the tracker until I called them. Maybe that could be the issue?

 

[pawan01]

Hm... That`s worrisome. This is a second report of such case despite the inland requirement was lifted.
Have followed this guide to apply including selecting right options as to indicating

• I am applying for an open work permit under an active public policy or pilot program announced by IRCC.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/family-sponsorship/spouse-partner-children/spouse-common-law-partner-canada-open-work-permit.html

Hello,

Yes i applied as "under an active public policy or pilot program announced by IRCC" and followed the guidelines mentioned in their website. but still got refusal

 

[pawan01]

I have found out that in one of your posts in august you wrote
"
Hello All,

Does anyone know any information regarding this case. I applied for my wife OWP under new family reunification on June 29. She has visitor visa of Canada and we applied as inland. "
https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/new-trv-measures-from-ircc-for-spouses-having-sponsorship-application.803791/post-10582517
Thus I suspect you have selected the wrong option in your OWP application. Can you double check which option have you selected when applying? If you have indeed applied as inland, this might be a formal reason for the refusal. Similarly, some people selected wrong PR class ("in Canada" while actually being outland) and their application was returned.

Hello,

I followed the guidelines mentioned on IRCC website. When i was applying for OWP they asked me couple of questions. At that time my wife was in Canada so when they ask where are you currently located i put Canada. Also, i had my AOR done so i attached the AOR as well along with my OWP application.

 

[pawan01]

On your tracker, what address is shown? Canada or original address where you were living when you submitted the application?

Reason I am asking is that, although IRCC had acknowledged my webform to update the address, they didn't update my contact details on the tracker until I called them. Maybe that could be the issue?

Surprisingly, i moved from Mississauga to Milton and i sent webform to change the address of "Sponsor" and they changed the address of my wife "prinicipal applicant" too. Currently she is in Canada but on visitor visa which is valid till March (6 months restrictions i guess) but on tracker her address is showing in Canada.

Is this something i should be worry about?

 

[ERCAN]

Thank you for update. That's is very concerning. I'm at lost as to the reasons of this decision.
I think you have to appeal the decision and involve your MP.

And you should be concerned as if there is any delay in your application your wife will have to leave Canada, find a way to keep her status or just live without the status (which isn't really advisable)

 

[pawan01]

Thank you for update. That's is very concerning. I'm at lost as to the reasons of this decision.
I think you have to appeal the decision and involve your MP.

And you should be concerned as if there is any delay in your application your wife will have to leave Canada, find a way to keep her status or just live without the status (which isn't really advisable)

This is what it says on the letter we received for OWP




This letter refers to your application for a work permit.


Based on your application and accompanying documentation that you have provided, I have carefully considered all information and I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations. Your application as requested is therefore refused.


[X] As a foreign national in Canada you are not eligible to apply for a document of this type until you receive confirmation that your application for permanent residence will be processed from within Canada.


[X] You must leave Canada on or before the expiry of your current document or, if your document has expired you must leave Canada immediately. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action being taken against you.


Her PR applicaiton is still in progress, on GC Tracker is shows "Background and Eligibility" in progress and its been more than a month since eligibility in progress has started. So i dont know what to do. Either wait for her PR to be completed and hope that it's completed before March 2024 (we applied in March 2023), or request for OWP again.

 

[ERCAN]

I would appeal the decision

 

[T0pubo]

Apply for GCMS notes.

Re apply under the policy again after reviewing the GCMS notes.

Worst comes to worst, she goes back and comes back to Canada after a week. Maybe you travel with her to some other country for a 1 week holiday.

 

[ERCAN]

I just re-read the public policy and related documentation. It appears as a processing error.. Unfortunately, the only option is to either re-apply or request judicial review (which is costly and I'm not sure if it's possible to recover the cost somehow). Or the reply is generic and there is different reasons for refusal that were not disclosed

I would also recommend to those applying to append to the additional information a LOE and explicitly state that the application is made under
Temporary public policy exempting certain applicants applying under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or the Family Class from work permit requirements
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/public-policies/spousal-work-permit-exemption.html
Public policy for spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or family class applicants to apply in Canada [R205(a) - A74] – International Mobility Program
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/special-initiatives-pilot-project/partner.html

 

[pawan01]

I just re-read the public policy and related documentation. It appears as a processing error.. Unfortunately, the only option is to either re-apply or request judicial review (which is costly and I'm not sure if it's possible to recover the cost somehow). Or the reply is generic and there is different reasons for refusal that were not disclosed

I would also recommend to those applying to append to the additional information a LOE and explicitly state that the application is made under
Temporary public policy exempting certain applicants applying under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or the Family Class from work permit requirements
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/public-policies/spousal-work-permit-exemption.html
Public policy for spouse or common-law partner in Canada class or family class applicants to apply in Canada [R205(a) - A74] – International Mobility Program
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/special-initiatives-pilot-project/partner.html

Dear Ercan,

I want to express my gratitude for taking the time to address this matter; your assistance is truly valued. Unfortunately, my wife's Open Work Permit (OWP) application was denied on the grounds that it is only applicable to those whose PR application falls under the "Spouse or Common-Law Partner in Canada Class."

Following the advice of another user, I have initiated the process of obtaining GCMS notes for further insight.

To provide some context for a clearer understanding, my wife and I got married in Dubai, and we applied for PR as a Spouse or Common-law partner outside Canada on March 17, 2023. We have received the AOR, completed the medical requirements, and are currently in progress with eligibility and background checks. Additionally, my wife holds a visitor visa valid until 2032.

In June, she visited Canada for a two-week period, during which we applied for the OWP on June 29, 2023. Adhering to online application instructions, we filled out the required questionnaires provided by the IRCC system. Subsequently, she returned to Dubai and came back to Canada on October 7, 2023.

Unfortunately, we received a refusal, citing the reason mentioned above.

My question is, can we reapply? If so, what steps should we take, considering the online application does not have an option to attach a Letter of Explanation (LOE) or any documents other than the requested forms?

I would greatly appreciate your guidance on this matter, and any suggestions you can provide will be immensely helpful.

Thank you and regards,

 

[ERCAN]

Thank you for the context. This might contain the real reason for your refusal. Again, this is only my speculations: The refusal letter is often generic and does not fully disclose the reason of refusal. To be eligible under this public policy your wife has to be living with you in Canada and must have a status. Since she left she effectively fails the 1.V criteria (see my first link) as she has no more status in Canada (trv doesn't equal to a status) Additionally, I belive that you didn't really satisfy the officer that she really lives with you due to her long absence.

So you must reapply. I still recommend submitting the LOE. I don't remember which exact field to attach it to but when you get your checklist, there is one field that offers you to submit additional info. Check the ? (Help signs).