Inland Application - Pilot Work Permit Program Questions

[Pollywog86]

Hi All,

So my girlfriend (Australian) and I (Canadian) have been living together in Sydney, Australia for the past two years and have been together for almost 4 years. We are planning on moving back to Canada in January 2016 and are just trying to sort through all the paperwork and figure out which will be the best way to go about it for us.

Due to the fact the we are slow to get this started we're leaning towards making a Inland application once we arrive in Canada so that she can apply for the Open Work Permit through the One Year Pilot program. This will give us more time to prepare our application/evidence and will hopefully mean she can continue her career ASAP rather than having to wait for her entire application to be approved.

According to the CIC website...(links apparently ain't allowed!)

"After one year, CIC will assess this pilot and determine how to most effectively process open work permits for SCLPC applicants moving forward."

So my question are as follows;

1.Does anyone know if there is any chance of them revoking this program or will it most certainly be continued for the 2016 year?

2.From what I understand we have to include a form IMM5710E in our application so she can get a OWP, is that the correct form? If so do we have to pay any extra fees for the OWP application or will it be included in the cost of the SCLPC application?

3. With the inland applications why are there restrictions on the applicant entering/exiting the country? How strict is it? Does it mean she couldn't leave Canada for potentially 16 months(current processing time)? What if she has a family emergency in Australia? Or if we wanted to go down to the US for a music festival or to visit friends?

Our plan was to arrive in Canada in January 2016 with her on a Visitor Visa. We would lodge our SCLPC application as soon as we landed and then were thinking we could go down to South America and travel around for a few months, returning around the same time her Open Work Permit would be granted. As long as her Visitor Visa is multiple entry and hasn't expired is there any reason this would cause a problem for our application?

 

[scylla]

1. None of us here can answer this question. However there's always some chance the rules could change next year.
2. Yes - I believe that's the right form. Yes - you have to pay extra fees for the OWP.
3. She should not leave Canada at all during the processing of the inland application (not just the first 16 months - the entire thing). There is never a guarantee she will be allowed back into Canada if she leaves. If for any reason she is denied entry, this effectively cancels the inland application and you have to start again from scratch. The inland process expect you to live in Canada - so you should certainly not be leaving for a couple of months to stay elsewhere. If you want to be able to travel outside of Canada, pick outland. Having a visitor visa doesn't guarantee entry into Canada - people who hold visitor visas can and are refused entry into Canada. Having said that, she is an Aussie and will not apply for a visitor visa to come to Canada (she will travel on her passport alone). Once again, having a visa exempt passport does not guarantee entry. You really need to apply outland if you want to have that much travel flexibility.