My common-law partner is a Canadian citizen, can I get a TWP without an LMO??

[KatyO]

Hi there,

I'm in need of some advice. So my situation is this..

1) I'm currently working in Canada on the one year international experience visa. I currently have a permanent part-time position as a registered nurse. My visa expires in November.

2) My common-law partner is a Canadian citizen in an occupation listed in the NOC skill level 0.

3) Does my employer need to obtain a positive LMO in order for me to apply for a temporary work permit? Or does my partners status cover this?

4) In either case, would I apply from inside or outside Canada? Considering I'm already working here.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks

 

[computergeek]

Your partner's status in Canada does not affect your ability to obtain a work permit as a general rule. Thus, your employer would need to obtain an LMO in order to allow you to continue working (unless you are working in a job category for which no LMO is required, review the CIC and HRSDC web sites for information on this.)

Assuming you have been living with your partner for at least one year (and can clearly document that to the satisfaction of CIC) you will be able to apply in the family class. Because you are in Canada, you may apply either inland or outland (if you were outside Canada, you could only apply outland). The disadvantage of applying inland is that there is a risk if you leave Canada and are then refused re-entry because your application becomes abandoned. An outland application is valid, even if you are not in Canada.

One reason people apply inland is because any documents you include with your application (e.g., a renewal of visitor status or a work permit) are considered with your application and you may continue to operate under your old document (this is known as "implied status"). I am not certain if it would work in your specific case; perhaps someone else on the forum has experience with a case like yours. In addition, an inland application grants you an "open work permit" once the sponsor has been approved ("AIP").

Inland applications generally take from 11-19 months to complete (11 months for sponsor approval, then up to 8 months for your approval, although in a fair number of cases, full approval is made in the 11 month timeframe, especially if everything necessary is included with your application).

Outland applications generally take 3 months (sponsor approval) plus the amount of time for your country's visa office (see the CIC website for "application processing times" to determine how long this would be.) With an Outland application you will not receive an open work permit at any point in the process. For example, last I looked, US applications (which are listed under the now closed Buffalo visa office) required 3 months for the sponsor plus 12 months for the applicant (this is the "80% of applications completed" time, so it's better than this for most applicants.) I know you aren't from the US (because you are on an international experience visa and those aren't available in the US) so this is just demonstrative, not definitive.

Good luck!

 

[KatyO]

Thank you for such a quick and thorough response!

I just have a couple more questions..

When you say I should be able to apply for family class (after confirming my common-law status) are you referring to applying for permanent residence or temporary foreign worker permit?

If I apply inland I may not be allowed re-entry if I leave Canada? We're planning a trip to the UK in October, although my international experience visa is valid until Novemeber, so I should be allowed re-entry on that?

If I apply outland I may not get implied status or an open work permit while waiting for the application to process? Processing time is 2 months from my country.

Hmm tricky one, what to do, what to do!??

 

[scylla]

Apply outland for PR. No question.

You do not qualify for an open work permit if you apply outland (it's not a 'may not qualify' it's a do not qualify'). Having said that, definitely apply outland. Applying outland gives you the option to leave the country without putting your PR application in jeopardy (the processing times for inland applications are a minimum of 11 months but quite likely longer and possibly much longer). It currently takes around 11 months to obtain stage 1 approval for the inland process and qualify for an open work permit. If you apply outland instead, chances are good that the processing of your file will be completed and your PR visa approved before 11 months have passed.