Please help - confusion with inland/work permit status

[dadoftheyear]

Hi everyone,

First time poster here - kind of hit a wall with my application process so I thought I would reach out for external input on my situation. I am an American living in Winnipeg with my fiancee and our 3.5 year old daughter. We moved in July of 2017 because she received a job opportunity that was worth the move and we wanted to be closer to her side of the family. I came into Canada with a valid TRP and have been living legally with a TRP ever since. Once we got our ducks in a row here, I applied for permanent residency via inland spousal sponsorship in late January 2018. I included an application for an open work permit at that time as well.

About a month later (March 2018), I received a portion of my application from the IRCC office in Vegreville. It stated that I needed to sign my name on a PDF (IMM 5710e to be exact...I had used the electronic signature method by mistake). Upon request, I completed and signed a new form and sent the files back to the Vegreville office.

Flash forward to August, I get contacted to submit my medical, which I pass and then get approval for in my online portal. In the first week of November I receive a packet from IRCC Edmonton (it seems during this time the Vegreville office moved to Edmonton). It contained the same open work permit that I had sent to Vegreville in March, but they requested that I send two passport size photos (I presume for the Work Permit itself or the corresponding TRP). I complied with that request and have been waiting ever since for an update. In that time, I also received my approval of eligibility statement for sponsorship.

In the recent weeks, I have contacted IRCC twice about the status of the work permit. And they are saying they don't have a record of any exchange after first sending me my work permit application back in March 2018?! How can this be? I was contacted in November 2018 with the same application that I had mailed back to them in March?

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Do I need to just call it a wash and resubmit my open work permit app?

Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[dadoftheyear]

This is so strange, I just received a follow up email that states:

Thank you for contacting Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

We have verified the information you provided and can confirm that your application is not available in the system yet.

However, rest assured that this situation is normal since the responsible office is currently processing applications received before October 11, 2018.

We invite you to verify the processing times on the IRCC website and contact us using the IRCC Web form if they have passed.

We hope the information provided is helpful in assisting you with your enquiry.

-----

Does this mean when I returned my Open Work Permit to Edmonton in November 2018 the clock was "reset" on it's review? Now that they are processing October applications I will have to wait until they catch up to November ones?

 

[np08]

Yes, if an application is sent back for any errors and must be resent, you don't keep your place in the queue. You start over fresh as processing for returned apps never begins - it's as if you never sent it.

It seems your PR application was also returned and you resent it in March, which would make you a March applicant (not January). What's weird is this whole long wait in terms of the OWP being returned. It usually takes up to four months for it to be approved and if they're returned, it happens in the first two months or so.

When you resent your PR application in March, did you also reapply for the OWP? But even so, you should have gotten the OWP by July. Instead they sent it back in November, way overdue. You didn't call them and inquire about it around July or August, when it was already late in being approved?

 

[dadoftheyear]

Yes, if an application is sent back for any errors and must be resent, you don't keep your place in the queue. You start over fresh as processing for returned apps never begins - it's as if you never sent it.

It seems your PR application was also returned and you resent it in March, which would make you a March applicant (not January). What's weird is this whole long wait in terms of the OWP being returned. It usually takes up to four months for it to be approved and if they're returned, it happens in the first two months or so.

When you resent your PR application in March, did you also reapply for the OWP? But even so, you should have gotten the OWP by July. Instead they sent it back in November, way overdue. You didn't call them and inquire about it around July or August, when it was already late in being approved?

First, thank you for taking the time to reply!

I have not been able to find a contact number to call them - does that exist? I have been working through the official web request forms. Back in March, the only thing they sent me was the IMM5710e form (that needed a real signature) and a couple extra background files that they said were not necessary. They did not send my PR application back to me. I have had no indication of that application being derailed as in August I got my medical request and in late November I received the eligibility approval). Does that make sense?

 

[np08]

When did you get the AOR for the PR application? The email with your UCI number and application number that let's you link the application to your online account?

Yeah, there's a number to call.

Telephone: 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only)

• Automated telephone service (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  If you have a touch-tone telephone, you can listen to pre-recorded information about our programs, and check the status of your application.
• Client Support Centre agents - Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., your local time, except for statutory holidays. Services are available in French and English.

 

[EstherBarros]

Here is their page for contact:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...orate/contact-ircc/client-support-centre.html
You should be able to call this number:
Telephone: 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only)

• Automated telephone service (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  If you have a touch-tone telephone, you can listen to pre-recorded information about our programs, and check the status of your application.
• Client Support Centre agents - Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., your local time, except for statutory holidays. Services are available in French and English.
  
  Agents can help you with general and case specific enquiries. They cannot:
  
  
  • make decisions on applications
  • help process applications faster, unless you meet the criteria for urgent processing

Be patient, it is hard to reach them! Call first thing in the morning, and try a bunch of times. Sometimes the call just disconnects, saying there are way too many callers at the same time. You have to keep trying

 

[dadoftheyear]

When did you get the AOR for the PR application? The email with your UCI number and application number that let's you link the application to your online account?

Yeah, there's a number to call.

Telephone: 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only)

• Automated telephone service (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  If you have a touch-tone telephone, you can listen to pre-recorded information about our programs, and check the status of your application.
• Client Support Centre agents - Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., your local time, except for statutory holidays. Services are available in French and English.

My PR application is linked. My Date Received is Feb 1, 2018. I receieved my "Eligibility Passed" letter on November 28, 2018.

Sincere thanks for the telephone number!

 

[dadoftheyear]

Here is their page for contact:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...orate/contact-ircc/client-support-centre.html
You should be able to call this number:
Telephone: 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only)

• Automated telephone service (available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
  If you have a touch-tone telephone, you can listen to pre-recorded information about our programs, and check the status of your application.
• Client Support Centre agents - Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., your local time, except for statutory holidays. Services are available in French and English.
  
  Agents can help you with general and case specific enquiries. They cannot:
  
  • make decisions on applications
  • help process applications faster, unless you meet the criteria for urgent processing

Be patient, it is hard to reach them! Call first thing in the morning, and try a bunch of times. Sometimes the call just disconnects, saying there are way too many callers at the same time. You have to keep trying

Thank you!

 

[np08]

My PR application is linked. My Date Received is Feb 1, 2018. I receieved my "Eligibility Passed" letter on November 28, 2018.

Sincere thanks for the telephone number!

Okay so then only the OWP application was returned (sorry I didn't know off the top of my head which form that was so I had to google it; usually Schedule A gets returned for missing signatures).

So then you signed the form and sent it back with the proof of payment and all that in March. And you heard nothing on it until November when they again returned it and asked for additional photos. I don't recall having to send extra photos for the work permit (the copy you get certainly doesn't contain a photo), but the requirements may have changed. As they have no records of it and they sent it back, obviously they put you back at the start of the queue.

It's normal for the "timer" to reset if applications are sent back as they don't begin with processing until the application is complete. What's not normal is waiting eight months to send the application back when it normally takes four months for the whole thing to be approved.

When you sent it back in March, did you have legal status in Canada? Was your visitor status still valid?

The only thing I can think of is that your status ran out and that, when you resent it in March, you were out of status. In that case, you can't apply for the work permit until you get AIP (Approval in Principle), which is that eligibility notice you got in November. And that would add up then - they had you resend it in November which is also when you had your AIP.

If that's not it and you had status in March, then I really have no idea, other than it being a mess up on their end.

 

[np08]

Wait a minute. You're an American with a TRP?

As in:

Who is eligible for a temporary resident permit (TRP)
A TRP can be issued to a foreign national who, in the opinion of an officer, is inadmissible or does not meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) [A24(1)].

The TRP is always issued at the discretion of the delegated authority and may be cancelled at any time. The delegated authority will determine whether

• the need for the foreign national to enter or remain in Canada is compelling; and
• the need for the foreign national’s presence in Canada outweighs any risk to Canadians or Canadian society.

That TRP?

Americans normally can just enter Canada freely without any visas as they are visa exempt. You can stay in Canada for up to six months. If you want to stay longer, you have to extend your status.

If you just normally entered Canada and thought that was a TRP, then your status expired in January. Six months from July. Meaning that when you resent the OWP in March, you were out of status and yep, they waited til you had AIP to let you reapply. This means you have been in Canada without legal status since January, mind you, and you still are.

If you have an actual TRP, what does it say? Why was it issued and what's its expiry? Have you exited Canada since initially entering with it? Usually TRPs get invalidated if you exit, unless specifically stated that it remains valid on reentry.

 

[dadoftheyear]

I have had a valid TRP since entering in July 2017. That original one was for six months. I reapplied for a TRP in late October 2017, and was granted that TRP in early 2018. That is the one I am currently living with and it goes through March 2019. So I have never not had valid status as I've always at least had a TRP or TRP application in processing.

I applied for an additional TRP WITH the OWP, so I'm thinking this is why they requested two photos (to put the new photos on the corresponding TRP.

Other than that I'm at a loss and will call tomorrow to try to dig in further. Thanks again to everyone for the replies.

 

[np08]

I have had a valid TRP since entering in July 2017. That original one was for six months. I reapplied for a TRP in late October 2017, and was granted that TRP in early 2018. That is the one I am currently living with and it goes through March 2019. So I have never not had valid status as I've always at least had a TRP or TRP application in processing.

I applied for an additional TRP WITH the OWP, so I'm thinking this is why they requested two photos (to put the new photos on the corresponding TRP.

Other than that I'm at a loss and will call tomorrow to try to dig in further. Thanks again to everyone for the replies.

Yeah, you being out of status is the only thing I can think of that would fit with your timeline. Highly unusual otherwise. Might just be some sort of a mixup or mistake on their part. See what they say when you reach them.

 

[dadoftheyear]

Well thanks to everyone who chimed in on this. I tried calling the office today and hit a dead end - I can't check the status of my work permit application because I don't have an application number to reference. I guess I will just have to resubmit everything and hope for the best.