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Question in regards to open work permit that was submitting at the same time as Spousal Sponsorship

L

lightraven

Newbie
Jun 6, 2022
7
0
Hello to all. I was just making this post to seek some insight on our process of applying for spousal sponsorship. Having gotten my AOR, I have created an IRCC profile and can now see my application was received on May 6, 2022 for the Spousal Sponsorship of myself who is an American being sponsored by my Canadian wife. I now have a UCI and Application number and have been sent to do my biometrics and also have my medical exam. The portal is now saying the following:

My application was received on May 6, 2022
The latest update was Oct 3 with the review of my medical exam, which they say I passed.
My biometrics have been added to the account with a number and date of enrollment and expiry, which was on August 17, 2022
These are in the upper tables at the top of the page. Below it says:

Review of eligibility
  • Your application is in progress. We will send you a message when we start reviewing your eligibility.
Review of medical results
  • October 3, 2022 You passed the medical exam.
Review of additional documents
  • We have received the additional documents you provided.
Interview
  • You do not need an interview. We will send you a message if this changes.
Biometrics
  • We do not need your fingerprints. We will send you a message if this changes.
Background check
  • We are processing your background check. We will send you a message if we need more information.
Final decision
  • Your application is in progress. We will send you a message once the final decision has been made.
So given all of this, it looks promising. And I get that people are just saying to keep waiting. That's the key, keep waiting. And I'm trying my best to be patient. My question is that we put in for my work permit at the same time as the spousal sponsorship. There was a box to check off and a fee to pay as well, which we did both. While I am in kind of a hard spot because of the health care, we can get by with paying out of pocket for any of my health needs that need to be addressed for now. It's just very expensive and hard to get providers to even see you if you don't have a social insurance number. But my question stems to the work permit. With that in hand, I can start applying for work and get into companies that have decent enough private health insurance to at least cover me in some ways. And it will definitely help not relying solely on my wife's income to cover any of these expenses in this meantime. I have looked all over the internet and can't find a way to check on the progress of a work permit if it has been filed with a spousal sponsorship. I've used the IRCC portal and tried to search every way I can think of and I can find nothing. I've also been reading that open work permits tied to spousal sponsorships typically take around four months (I get that that is an approximation though and it can vary). But I'm coming up on seven months and no word on that. I'm not trying to sound unappreciative or snippy and I understand that these processes take time and it is a lot of moving parts and such. But I'm literally just sitting here stuck because I can't do anything in either country now. I can't even take online schooling from US based schools because none will offer me financial aid while I'm not working in the states (or even living there for that matter) and Canadian schools won't touch me until I have a social insurance number for any type of financial assistance. I can't even get grants for either because in either direction there are rules that say you cannot. I'm literally just a nomad that is stuck until further notice. If anyone has any links I can follow or information I can looks at, it would be so much appreciated. I'm just sitting here, twiddling my thumbs while my wife is at work just waiting to get moving forward in my life and career here. I've done the best I can with finding any schooling I can online that I can do for free at the moment, such as any from Coursera which you can apply for financial assistance (make it free), but most companies say yeah it's great and all, but recruiters don't really give that stuff a second look. Anyway. Part of this is just venting as well. I knew that this was going to be a long process, but this is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Literally being at the mercy of an inanimate object when I have worked my whole life to provide for myself. Thank you all for listening.

Best Regards,

Bill
 
lightraven said:
Hello to all. I was just making this post to seek some insight on our process of applying for spousal sponsorship. Having gotten my AOR, I have created an IRCC profile and can now see my application was received on May 6, 2022 for the Spousal Sponsorship of myself who is an American being sponsored by my Canadian wife. I now have a UCI and Application number and have been sent to do my biometrics and also have my medical exam. The portal is now saying the following:

My application was received on May 6, 2022
The latest update was Oct 3 with the review of my medical exam, which they say I passed.
My biometrics have been added to the account with a number and date of enrollment and expiry, which was on August 17, 2022
These are in the upper tables at the top of the page. Below it says:

Review of eligibility
  • Your application is in progress. We will send you a message when we start reviewing your eligibility.
Review of medical results
  • October 3, 2022 You passed the medical exam.
Review of additional documents
  • We have received the additional documents you provided.
Interview
  • You do not need an interview. We will send you a message if this changes.
Biometrics
  • We do not need your fingerprints. We will send you a message if this changes.
Background check
  • We are processing your background check. We will send you a message if we need more information.
Final decision
  • Your application is in progress. We will send you a message once the final decision has been made.
So given all of this, it looks promising. And I get that people are just saying to keep waiting. That's the key, keep waiting. And I'm trying my best to be patient. My question is that we put in for my work permit at the same time as the spousal sponsorship. There was a box to check off and a fee to pay as well, which we did both. While I am in kind of a hard spot because of the health care, we can get by with paying out of pocket for any of my health needs that need to be addressed for now. It's just very expensive and hard to get providers to even see you if you don't have a social insurance number. But my question stems to the work permit. With that in hand, I can start applying for work and get into companies that have decent enough private health insurance to at least cover me in some ways. And it will definitely help not relying solely on my wife's income to cover any of these expenses in this meantime. I have looked all over the internet and can't find a way to check on the progress of a work permit if it has been filed with a spousal sponsorship. I've used the IRCC portal and tried to search every way I can think of and I can find nothing. I've also been reading that open work permits tied to spousal sponsorships typically take around four months (I get that that is an approximation though and it can vary). But I'm coming up on seven months and no word on that. I'm not trying to sound unappreciative or snippy and I understand that these processes take time and it is a lot of moving parts and such. But I'm literally just sitting here stuck because I can't do anything in either country now. I can't even take online schooling from US based schools because none will offer me financial aid while I'm not working in the states (or even living there for that matter) and Canadian schools won't touch me until I have a social insurance number for any type of financial assistance. I can't even get grants for either because in either direction there are rules that say you cannot. I'm literally just a nomad that is stuck until further notice. If anyone has any links I can follow or information I can looks at, it would be so much appreciated. I'm just sitting here, twiddling my thumbs while my wife is at work just waiting to get moving forward in my life and career here. I've done the best I can with finding any schooling I can online that I can do for free at the moment, such as any from Coursera which you can apply for financial assistance (make it free), but most companies say yeah it's great and all, but recruiters don't really give that stuff a second look. Anyway. Part of this is just venting as well. I knew that this was going to be a long process, but this is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Literally being at the mercy of an inanimate object when I have worked my whole life to provide for myself. Thank you all for listening.

Best Regards,

Bill
Click to expand...
Hi Bill,

I agree...the above does look promising. I also concur that the wait is arduous at best!

Regarding health care coverage, depending on which province you are in, you may be eligible for coverage if you have received your AIP (Approval in Principle) phase, which it would appear that you have already passed. I know that BC works that way.

Regarding the OWP, IRCC made changes recently (not sure when, exactly) that now require the Inland applicant to wait until they have received AOR (Acknowledgement of Receipt) before they are `eligible' to submit the OWP. In the old days, the OWP was usually submitted simultaneously with the inland application in the same envelope. Those that were without legal status had to wait until they reached the AIP phase before their OWP could be processed. Not sure if the new system applies to you, or if IRCC has somehow lost your OWP application. Either way, it stinks!

You could try to call IRCC, but it's difficult to actually reach a human and...even if you do, the answer(s) may or may not be correct. Thi sis probably old info, but it may still work:

Call the IRCC Call Centre (1-888-242-2100), from within Canada only, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm local time, except for statutory holidays). To speak to an agent, navigate through the automated messages by pressing 3-4-1-0.

You can work remotely via the internet or telephone for a company or individual that is NOT in Canada, does not have a Canadian presence and are not remunerated from within Canada. No work permit is needed. Granted, the choices are probably very limited, but it might be an interim option until you get your OWP, or...a more likely result will be your PR approval. You could then get a refund from IRCC for the OWP...and take your wife out to dinner! :)

Good luck, Bill!
 
Hi there,

They need to work on this, those are already inland applicants they can get a chance to apply for a work permit then how about outland applicants, there should be something for them too! At least they can reunite with their spouse during their outland PR process is going on?
 
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