jfanselow said:
I am from New Zealand and am on the working holiday programme with my permit expiring end of November and am currently in the process of getting sponsorship through the provincial nominee programme, however my permit will be up before it will be processed and im trying to avoid going back to n.z to wait it out. Does anyone have any options for how I can stay and work in Canada in-between?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Justin
You can send in an application to change status to a visitor: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/visitor.asp. Note that if you do this after your work permit expires you will need to restore status, which will require an extra form and cost an extra $200 and can only be done in the first 90 days following expiration of the previous status document.
If you know that the amount of time before you can land is brief, you can always apply for a new work permit. This approach is risky if you are not in the last stages of a PR application however. What you do is
apply for a renewal of your work permit. You know it won't be granted, but you want the implied status that comes with having an application. So, you look at the CIC website. You note that it currently takes 102 days to process a paper application to renew your work permit with your current employer. Your work permit expires on November 30, 2012. So on November 29, 2012, you send a complete work permit application to Vegreville via courier (FedEx, UPS, Purolator, DHL, TNT, etc.) In that way, your application was submitted before your work permit expired. You are now legally covered under "implied status".
One of two things happens: (1) your work permit is rejected, at which point you will have to stop working. Further, you will likely be asked to leave (a "departure order") in which case you
must leave within 30 days (or face a lifetime ban). (2) You have your COPR in hand. You go to the US border, ask them to refuse you ("administrative refusal") because you wish to flag pole. You then have a piece of official paper from the US saying you were outside Canada. That satisfies CBSA and they process your COPR. At that point, you are
not eligible for a work permit because only a foreign national may be given a work permit. Thus, your work permit application can be withdrawn - you can get a refund of the fee even, since it hasn't started processing.
But this second approach only works if you're almost done (e.g., within 3 months) of finishing your PR application.
