Can You Work After Your Program But Before Letter of Completion?

[canuck_in_uk]

She is officially a full time student until she complets her program. Undergrad students often wait after their exams to receive letter of completion. How can someone apply for PGWP if they don't have documents that they have completed their program?

No, she's not officially a full-time student. Again, she has completed the last academic requirement of her program and is done.

As soon as they complete their final exam, undergrad students are no longer full-time students and must cease all on campus work and can only work part-time off campus until receiving confirmation of program completion. At that point, they either cease ALL work or they apply for their PGWP, which then allows them to work full-time.

Your wife is done her studies. She is not allowed to work on campus and can work off campus part-time until she receives confirmation of program completion, at which point she can apply for a PGWP.

 

[SatNight]

No, her final academic requirement is to submit her thesis to the university, actually.

Why is she allowed to work off campus and not on campus? And what are sources for this?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

No, her final academic requirement is to submit her thesis to the university, actually.

Why is she allowed to work off campus and not on campus? And what are sources for this?

She should confirm with her university that that is the final requirement in order to make sure that any continued work is legal. Completion of the final requirement is the cut-off.

There is no explanation of why students are not allowed to work at all on campus but part-time off campus after finishing studies. It is just what is said by IRCC on their website.

 

[SatNight]

Yes, we will check with her university. Thank you for warning us about this.

It seems that the submission of the thesis is the final requirement because they will not issue you letter of completion until you do that; they will not even prepare it (it's not just that you have to wait - according to the university, you are not done until you submit your thesis). It might be because some people pass their defense with revisions so they technically are not done until those thesis revisions are made, even though they have passed a thesis defense (and the date of the defense stays as the date they obtained a PhD).

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Yes, we will check with her university. Thank you for warning us about this.

It seems that the submission of the thesis is the final requirement because they will not issue you letter of completion until you do that; they will not even prepare it (it's not just that you have to wait - according to the university, you are not done until you submit your thesis). It might be because some people pass their defense with revisions so they technically are not done until those thesis revisions are made, even though they have passed a thesis defense (and the date of the defense stays as the date they obtained a PhD).

That would be good, as it will allow her to work longer. She will want to ensure that all work is legal so that there is no risk to her PGWP, particularly if the date of defence is what will actually be listed as her completion date. She should definitely speak with the international advisor or a person who is experienced with this situation at her school to confirm that final academic requirement part. Hopefully they will be able to give her experienced advice about the situation and she will be able to keep working.

 

[SatNight]

Hello,

Yes, of course. The last thing we'd want is to do anything illegal. We didn't come here from Europe to cause any problems to ourselves, or Canadians.

There has to be someone in her situation so university people have experience with similar cases, probably.

This is what we found on University's website: "Thesis-based programs are not recorded as complete until the thesis and accompanying documentation have been submitted".

It seems to me that this means "you complete your PhD when you submit your thesis", but we will definitely ask at her university tomorrow. Thesis submission seems like the last step, because there is a warning on the website that students who do not submit their thesis before a specific deadline are counted as being withdrawn from the program and like they didn't complete their program.

Once again, thank you for your help.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello,

Yes, of course. The last thing we'd want is to do anything illegal. We didn't come here from Europe to cause any problems to ourselves, or Canadians.

There has to be someone in her situation so university people have experience with similar cases, probably.

This is what we found on University's website: "Thesis-based programs are not recorded as complete until the thesis and accompanying documentation have been submitted".

It seems to me that this means "you complete your PhD when you submit your thesis", but we will definitely ask at her university tomorrow. Thesis submission seems like the last step, because there is a warning on the website that students who do not submit their thesis before a specific deadline are counted as being withdrawn from the program and like they didn't complete their program.

Once again, thank you for your help.

Good luck, hope it's a positive answer!

 

[SatNight]

Thank you.

 

[SatNight]

UPDATE: We consulted the university. The final academic requirement is a submitted thesis. She is still considered a full time student.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

UPDATE: We consulted the university. The final academic requirement is a submitted thesis. She is still considered a full time student.

Good to hear. I'm a big fan of getting everything in writing, if it is officially stated anywhere by the university .

 

[SatNight]

Good to hear. I'm a big fan of getting everything in writing, if it is officially stated anywhere by the university .

See, that's a good point. It was confirmed to us in writing that she is a full time student and will be until the university issues a letter of completion, which can happen only after she submits her thesis.

We checked and her grades are still listed as incomplete and the program says that you cannot complete your studies before you submit your thesis.

However, the wording on the university's website is not clear regarding this. The biggest problem is that immigration consultants on the campus seemed unsure about these things, which is bad. I am sure there are many students who work on campus at the time they complete their programs, so immigration consultants should know.

By the way, can you provide a link to IRCC page where they list who can work after studies and where? I trust your word on it, but I would like to have a link for future reference if a friend or someone else needs it. It seems really strange to restrict any work on campus, after allowing students to work full time. I found the information regarding on campus work to be limited compared to off campus work in general.

Once again, thank you for your help.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

See, that's a good point. It was confirmed to us in writing that she is a full time student and will be until the university issues a letter of completion, which can happen only after she submits her thesis.

We checked and her grades are still listed as incomplete and the program says that you cannot complete your studies before you submit your thesis.

However, the wording on the university's website is not clear regarding this. The biggest problem is that immigration consultants on the campus seemed unsure about these things, which is bad. I am sure there are many students who work on campus at the time they complete their programs, so immigration consultants should know.

By the way, can you provide a link to IRCC page where they list who can work after studies and where? I trust your word on it, but I would like to have a link for future reference if a friend or someone else needs it. It seems really strange to restrict any work on campus, after allowing students to work full time. I found the information regarding on campus work to be limited compared to off campus work in general.

Once again, thank you for your help.

It is a combination of information from IRCC from their pages about off campus and on campus work. I agree that information is limited; that is unfortunately pretty common with IRCC. The key part is that as soon as a student stops studying full-time, they are no longer allowed to work at all on campus. A student has stopped studying as soon as they have completed the final academic requirement, basically when they have done all they can and just have to wait for their marks i.e. written their last final exam or as per your wife's program, final thesis submission. Previously, students weren't allowed to work at all, either on or off campus, once they had finished that final requirement until they got their PGWP. That was changed several years ago but only for off campus.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/study-permits/campus-work.html

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/work-on-campus.html

 

[SatNight]

Thank you for the links.

I know IRCC information is often limited, but I am more disappointed in student services available at universities. We learned more about the rules and regulations from this forum than any official info available, which is a shame.gfdgddf

According to this scenario, and at least according to my wife's university rules, the final thesis submission is not the last step, technically. It is the thesis being accepted by the university - many times, people fail to format their thesis properly, so it is returned for editing. You only "sit and wait" for your marks once your thesis is accepted. But this step never happens, technically: you either receive a notification about program completion, or you receive a request for thesis editing. So she can work even after submitting her thesis because she remains a full time student; she has to stop working or apply for PGWP when she receives letter of completion, because this is the date she stops being a full time student.

This might be different depending on the school, so it's worth checking. And this is definitely different for undergraduate students or those who don't have a thesis.

PS- Looking at the links you provided, you are correct: it is clearly stated you have to stop working on campus on the day you stop being a full time student. But I am unsure how to interpret the off campus rule: on one hand, they do say a student can work after they have completed their academic requirements but before they receive a letter of completion. But it also says "they meet the eligibility criteria to work off campus [R186(v)]", and one of the requirements in R186(v) is to be a full time student? Again, I am not disagreeing with you; I am just trying to make sense of this. (I also know undergraduate students can be part-time in their last semester to be eligible for PGWP, but not sure how this relates to R186(v).

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thank you for the links.

I know IRCC information is often limited, but I am more disappointed in student services available at universities. We learned more about the rules and regulations from this forum than any official info available, which is a shame.gfdgddf

According to this scenario, and at least according to my wife's university rules, the final thesis submission is not the last step, technically. It is the thesis being accepted by the university - many times, people fail to format their thesis properly, so it is returned for editing. You only "sit and wait" for your marks once your thesis is accepted. But this step never happens, technically: you either receive a notification about program completion, or you receive a request for thesis editing. So she can work even after submitting her thesis because she remains a full time student; she has to stop working or apply for PGWP when she receives letter of completion, because this is the date she stops being a full time student.

This might be different depending on the school, so it's worth checking. And this is definitely different for undergraduate students or those who don't have a thesis.

PS- Looking at the links you provided, you are correct: it is clearly stated you have to stop working on campus on the day you stop being a full time student. But I am unsure how to interpret the off campus rule: on one hand, they do say a student can work after they have completed their academic requirements but before they receive a letter of completion. But it also says "they meet the eligibility criteria to work off campus [R186(v)]", and one of the requirements in R186(v) is to be a full time student? Again, I am not disagreeing with you; I am just trying to make sense of this. (I also know undergraduate students can be part-time in their last semester to be eligible for PGWP, but not sure how this relates to R186(v).

Regarding the off campus, it means that they need to meet the requirements upon completion of studies, not after completion. The last semester is an exception for the full-time rule, so they can still work part-time off campus after completion in that case.

 

[SatNight]

Right. Makes sense.

I wonder why there is so little information about on campus work after completion of studies and PGWP? Could it be because once you finish your program and are not a student anymore, there is no such a thing as "on campus"?