EMPLOYMENT GAP FOR INLAND SPOUSAL APPLICANTS.

[vik999]

HELLO EVERYONE.
MANY OF US HAVE GAP OVER 1 YEAR AS WAITING FROM CIC FOR INLAND SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP. HOW APPLICANTS HAVE THOUGHT TO OVERCOME THAT ON YOUR RESUME/CV?

 

[bigredmoose]

HELLO EVERYONE.
MANY OF US HAVE GAP OVER 1 YEAR AS WAITING FROM CIC FOR INLAND SPOUSAL SPONSORSHIP. HOW APPLICANTS HAVE THOUGHT TO OVERCOME THAT ON YOUR RESUME/CV?

"I was unable to work as of <insert date> as I was in Canada waiting for my immigration application to be approved but did not have a work permit."

 

[MaryLou6]

If you did some volunteer work during that time it's good to put it on your resume.

 

[bigredmoose]

If you did some volunteer work during that time it's good to put it on your resume.

+1 That is an excellent point! Not only good for the resumé but helps to get settled, meet people, feel like part of the community, etc.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Just a note with volunteer work, to avoid it being looked at as illegal working, it has to be volunteer work that would NORMALLY be volunteer work. For example, you could volunteer at a soup kitchen, or at Meals on Wheels, or the Salvation Army, or at a crisis hotline. All those positions are normally staffed by volunteers. You cannot do "volunteer" work that would otherwise normally be a paid position - for example, you can't volunteer to be the receptionist at an office, and you can't volunteer to work as a dishwasher in a restaurant. Those would normally be considered paid positions - the fact that you are "volunteering" is irrelevant in those scenarios.

So volunteering is excellent, just make sure it's somewhere that would normally be staffed by unpaid volunteers.

(And for the record, unpaid internships count as work, not as volunteering, since they are seen as taking the opportunity away from someone otherwise trying to further their career.)