Applying for PR from outside Canada -- When can US citizen work in Canada?

[lauraxted]

I'm a Canadian citizen and my fiance is American. If I'm residing in the US when we apply for Canadian PR for him, I was wondering how soon after that he would be able to work in Canada.

I've heard that the first stage of the outside-Canada application process, which takes place in the US, takes about a month. Is this the same as what's referred to as "first-stage approval" as in the inside-Canada PR application? That is to say, if we applied for an open work permit when initially submitting our application, would he get it after that first month-long stage? Could he then move to Canada and work there while waiting for the second stage of the PR application process to complete?

Thank you very much for any help and info!

 

[Leon]

You are right that the first stage of outland takes about a month, however, that is not the same as the first stage approval of inland which takes about 6 months. In 6 months, he will probably have his PR already with outland.

There is no open work permit available for outland but you can stay in the US and work there until he gets his PR.

 

[lauraxted]

Thanks, Leon! That was very helpful.