Petitioning CIC to improve inland processing time and grant Open Work Permit

[torontosm]

Countries with more tighten rules on immigration than Canada, such as USA, are giving sponsored spouses the Open Work Permit. Do you think USA can't see the problems that Canada sees? Do you think an open work permit would give these ppl something more than a right to work for a limited TEMPORARY period until the PR applications are processed? And while they are entitled to working right, the provinces allow them access to health coverage.
In your mentality, even international students who are here only for school, should not get health coverage because they don't pay taxes. But in reality, foreign students are fully covered too and its been like that for a very long time.

Canada also provides sponsored spouses with Open Work Permits. However, to qualify, the sponsoring spouse first has to be approved as being eligible to sponsor (phase 1 of the inland process). The couple in the article are still waiting for this approval, at which stage the wife will be allowed to work and will qualify for healthcare.

 

[SenoritaBella]

Again, students are living here temporarily not visiting. I'm not clear on what your point is. My point is, I don't believe we should provide free healthcare to visitors. Once the visitors qualify, then yes, they can have health coverage. Which province is that which offers health coverage after 6 months?

In my province, foreign students are eligible for coverage after living in the province for 13 consecutive months. They get coverage for 1 year at a time, which they have to renew. To renew it, they can't have been outside the province for 30 consecutive days.

My dear, International Students who are here to study ESL more than 6 months are also eligible for health coverage. ESL students are not allowed to work. These people are not asking you to pay for their health coverage. They want Open work permit so they can have a status and a right to work so they can contribute to tax system just like you.

 

[lellen]

You still haven't explained why your spouse can't go for the LMO type process.

I just did.

So no, until they get AIP and eventually an open work permit, I don't believe my tax dollars should pay for health coverage for visitors.

People who are married to Canadians (or PR's) and are waiting two years for a PR process while in Canada, forced to remain in Canada as the "inland" process defines, are NOT visitors.

 

[SenoritaBella]

If they have visitor status, are they considered visitors or not? I rest my case.

I just did.

People who are married to Canadians (or PR's) and are waiting two years for a PR process while in Canada, forced to remain in Canada as the "inland" process defines, are NOT visitors.

 

[sunshinemrc]

People who are married to Canadians (or PR's) and are waiting two years for a PR process while in Canada, forced to remain in Canada as the "inland" process defines, are NOT visitors.

No one is forcing you to be in Canada. If you entered Canada as a visitor and applied for sponsorship you are still legally a visitor. If you don't like it here go F*** OFF to your own country for free healthcare and work.

and I can assure you that 80%+ Canadian feel the same way. Read the public opinions.

 

[torontosm]

People who are married to Canadians (or PR's) and are waiting two years for a PR process while in Canada, forced to remain in Canada as the "inland" process defines, are NOT visitors.

They are visitors until they qualify for, and obtain, their PR status. And no one is "forcing" them to remain in Canada. They are welcome to leave and apply from outside Canada as well. It seems like you want people to be granted PR rights and benefits from the day they get married, which is unreasonable and will result in even more corruption and abuse of the system than presently exists.

 

[lellen]

What CBC reporters are doing is showing a single example of a larger problem by turning it into a relatable story that the public can empathize with. If they simply wrote a generic statement about the backlogs, people's emotions wouldn't be affected, the story wouldn't sell and it wouldn't be worth publishing. It's sad that the story they chose doesn't click with you guys, but it is a very positive thing FOR EVERYONE IN THIS FORUM (whether you want to admit it or not) that the issue is being addressed.

Hopefully they'll talk about someone else, someone who maybe you feel deserves the work permit more, and that way you can support us.

oh well...

 

[Ponga]

No one is forcing you to be in Canada. If you entered Canada as a visitor and applied for sponsorship you are still legally a visitor. If you don't like it here go F*** OFF to your own country for free healthcare and work.

and I can assure you that 80%+ Canadian feel the same way. Read the public opinions.

Wrong (at least in BC).

If a visitor has applied for PR, they are now a deemed resident...entitled to buy heathcare.

Imagine, just for a moment, that you too were one of the `stupid ones' that chose to apply Inland, instead of going back to your own country. What if you knew that you really were eligible (not entitled) to something as important as healthcare, because you have an active spousal sponsorship application? Would you not even bother to apply and, unfortunately, fight for this?!?!

 

[civic]

Again, students are living here temporarily not visiting. I'm not clear on what your point is. My point is, I don't believe we should provide free healthcare to visitors. Once the visitors qualify, then yes, they can have health coverage. Which province is that which offers health coverage after 6 months?

In my province, foreign students are eligible for coverage after living in the province for 13 consecutive months. They get coverage for 1 year at a time, which they have to renew. To renew it, they can't have been outside the province for 30 consecutive days.

We cannot compare between the group of immigrants, who contribute more to the tax pool and therefore entitled to more benefits. International students in most provinces are covered even though they do not or contribute very minimal to tax system. The reason is because the main purpose of them being here is for school, not for work, but it is generous that provinces cover them for heath. After they graduate if they wish to remain and work for Canada, their income taxes will be refunded in full for a couple years thanks to the tuition fee tax credit they receive. So international students still get free health care, driver license, etc..., and they make very minimal contribution to Canada during their first years in the country. They themselves do not pay taxes as much, many of the also have no Canadian sponsors such as parents or spouses who pay taxes for them to benefit from the system.

On the other hands, most of sponsored spouses are accepted to stay because they have Canadian sponsors who live here, pay income taxes, have good employments. Their family members do contribute to Canadian tax system but they are entitled to no social benefits here.

Just so you know I was a foreign student, then a foreign worker, before I become a citizen and trying to sponsor my wife. I've been through it all and I can see where the loopholes are.

 

[lellen]

No one is forcing you to be in Canada. If you entered Canada as a visitor and applied for sponsorship you are still legally a visitor. If you don't like it here go F*** OFF to your own country for free healthcare and work.

and I can assure you that 80%+ Canadian feel the same way. Read the public opinions.

Thank you for telling me to F** off in such a polite manner. I did not come here as a visitor, however, as I wouldn't even be allowed near this country as a visitor. I came here paying international student fees, I have worked here for three years, and even though most of the times I feel like going back home, I know that I want to be with my husband forever and our best options are here in this country. I AM a foreign worker, not a visitor. In a few months, when my work permit expires, I'll be in the black because AIP is taking too long, and I would LOVE to go back home and work if it didn't mean that I would lose the 600 dollars I paid because my application would then be refused. I didn't know that it would take this long when I applied, and I didn't know that I couldn't go back home and temporarily work while it was being processed.

Thank you, really, for showing how polite people can be on the internet.

 

[civic]

Thank you for telling me to F** off in such a polite manner. I did not come here as a visitor, however, as I wouldn't even be allowed near this country as a visitor. I came here paying international student fees, I have worked here for three years, and even though most of the times I feel like going back home, I know that I want to be with my husband forever and our best options are here in this country. I AM a foreign worker, not a visitor. In a few months, when my work permit expires, I'll be in the black because AIP is taking too long, and I would LOVE to go back home and work if it didn't mean that I would lose the 600 dollars I paid because my application would then be refused. I didn't know that it would take this long when I applied, and I didn't know that I couldn't go back home and temporarily work while it was being processed.

Thank you, really, for showing how polite people can be on the internet.

I am with you and strongly sympathize for what you've been through. Ignore the selfishness you see. That s part of human nature. Until they are in the situation they won't stop it.

it's a country that promotes freedom of speech so they are free to talk and we don't have to care

 

[lellen]

I am with you and strongly sympathize for what you've been through. Ignore the selfishness you see. That s part of human nature. Until they are in the situation they won't stop it.

it's a country that promotes freedom of speech so they are free to talk and we don't have to care

Thank you! I like you. It's incredibly frustrating how these people are missing the point. I don't understand what their problem is with us wanting to change things for the better! Thanks for the petition, and everything.

 

[torontosm]

Wrong (at least in BC).

If a visitor has applied for PR, they are now a deemed resident...entitled to buy heathcare.

Imagine, just for a moment, that you too were one of the `stupid ones' that chose to apply Inland, instead of going back to your own country. What if you knew that you really were eligible (not entitled) to something as important as healthcare, because you have an active spousal sponsorship application? Would you not even bother to apply and, unfortunately, fight for this?!?!

Apparently you believe you know much more about this than the couple in question (living in BC), the CBC and the BC Medical Services officials they have been speaking to. In the article, it says:

"However, it’s a two-step approval — the sponsorship, then the residency. B.C.’s Medical Services Plan requires confirmation that phase two — the residency — is being worked on."

Also, if you look at:http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/pdf/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf it says:

COVERING A SPOUSE OR CHILD WHO IS AN APPLICANT FOR PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS IN CANADA

Is my spouse/child eligible for coverage?

To be eligible for coverage with British Columbia’s health care plans, your spouse/child must be a resident of this province. The Medicare Protection Act defines a resident as a person who is a citizen of Canada or is lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence, makes his or her home in British Columbia, and is physically present in British Columbia for at least six months in a calendar year, or a shorter prescribed period, and includes a person who is deemed under the regulations to be a resident but does not include a tourist or visitor to British Columbia.

Based on the preceding, Canadian citizens and persons with permanent resident status in Canada are eligible to apply for benefits. In addition, certain non-permanent residents may be deemed residents and thus be considered eligible (e.g., many holders of study and work permits valid for six or more months and many applicants for permanent resident status who are the spouse or child of an eligible B.C. resident). Tourists and visitors to B.C. are not eligible for provincial health care benefits.

Note: Entitlement cannot be confirmed over the phone by the Medical Services Plan (MSP). MSP can only determine a person’s eligibility for coverage after the person arrives in British Columbia and their application for coverage and immigration documentation has been reviewed.


It does not say that ALL deemed residents are eligible for healthcare and clearly states that visitors to BC (which the wife is at present) are not eligible.

 

[sunshinemrc]

Thank you for telling me to F** off in such a polite manner. I did not come here as a visitor, however, as I wouldn't even be allowed near this country as a visitor. I came here paying international student fees, I have worked here for three years, and even though most of the times I feel like going back home, I know that I want to be with my husband forever and our best options are here in this country. I AM a foreign worker, not a visitor. In a few months, when my work permit expires, I'll be in the black because AIP is taking too long, and I would LOVE to go back home and work if it didn't mean that I would lose the 600 dollars I paid because my application would then be refused. I didn't know that it would take this long when I applied, and I didn't know that I couldn't go back home and temporarily work while it was being processed.

Thank you, really, for showing how polite people can be on the internet.

if you are on a work permit that is not tied to IEC or WHV you can continue working on implied stauts, and without having to get an LMO. Don't know who told you differently.

 

[lellen]

if you are on a work permit that is not tied to IEC or WHV you can continue working on implied stauts, and without having to get an LMO. Don't know who told you differently.

Everybody
I didn't know I could submit a work permit application with my PR application. I hadn't found this forum. Therefore, no implied status for me until AIP. In any case, my LMO was based on a contract that expires in August anyway. I would only be allowed to work for that company, on a project I already finished, so no more work for me!