Since I've benefited from being a fly on the wall here, I thought I'd share my experience getting both a Nafta 2 year temporary work permit/visa - and a spousal open work permit.
Long story short, we have been planning on moving to Canada for a year now. And we found (for us) the best way to get in and get on a PR track was by starting with a NAFTA visa.
My wife was offered a consulting gig with a startup company and we went through the process of obtaining a closed work permit/Nafta visa as a management consultant.
I thought I'd share our experience in applying for (and getting) our 2 year NAFTA work visas at the Vancouver airport (yvr) POE.
Hopefully this will help some of you!
Documents we brought to airport:
The process:
All in all... if you have all your docs in order, getting the NAFTA work visa is a simple process.
I hope this helps some folks!
Long story short, we have been planning on moving to Canada for a year now. And we found (for us) the best way to get in and get on a PR track was by starting with a NAFTA visa.
My wife was offered a consulting gig with a startup company and we went through the process of obtaining a closed work permit/Nafta visa as a management consultant.
I thought I'd share our experience in applying for (and getting) our 2 year NAFTA work visas at the Vancouver airport (yvr) POE.
Hopefully this will help some of you!
Documents we brought to airport:
- US Passport
- Marriage certificate (for proof of maiden name on college degrees)
- College degree docs (copy of diploma and transcripts)
- Employer contact info
- Employer contractor agreement
- Employer proof of incorporation document/tax filing document
- Resume
The process:
- Landed in Vancouver (yvr airport) at 9:30am
- Went through customs (automated kiosk)
- Went to immigration checkpoint and told officer we were applying for temporary work visas
- Officer directed us to go pick up our bags and head to the main immigration center (easy to find - lots of signs)
- We got bags and went to immigration center (not far from baggage claim)
- Waited about 5 minutes and went to the immigration officer and handed all the documents and requested 2 year permits
- Officer had us sit down while reviewing the documents
- After 10-minutes, we were called back up and asked a couple questions
- We received our visas. My wife received a closed work permit and I received an open work permit
- Out of the airport at 10:30am
All in all... if you have all your docs in order, getting the NAFTA work visa is a simple process.
I hope this helps some folks!
