Spouse Open Work permit

[fkl]

Hi Fkl and everyone!

We are also in the process of applying again for SOWP as a PNP holder. My partner got refused because we did not demonstrate that we are in a common law relationship.
I believed our mistake was with the IMM5405 where you are supposed to fill up the dates of your cohabitation we put in the total # of years
of our relationship up to present instead of putting in April 2009- March 2012 wherein we lived in as common law partners. We have tons of evidences for those years including the residential lease, joint account (upto present), insurance, CRA showing my partner as common law and more evidences that we live together for 2yrs and 11 mos and our relationship is on going up to present. That's the only thing we are thinking that we made a mistake.

Previously, I only put in my PNP certificate plus the support letter from Alberta, but now I got my PNP AOR.
Is it okay to tell them that he is my dependant with my PR?
Ever since I apply for my work permit extensions, visa etc.. I always put my partner as my common law partner.
I was reading about the "dual intent", will it really affect the SOWP application?

We put in the letter that we will follow the timeframe of the validity of our work permit and we will return home if ever we will not have a positive result with the PR or when
our work permit expires on july 2017.

We applied for GCMS just last week but just waiting for the result. I have strong feeling that our mistake was the form. We submitted the same evidences with our PR application sent July 2015.

Getting refuse is really frustrating, but we dont want to give up. We would like to reapply again for SOWP even if our PNP is on process. I would like to live with him as soon as possible. It's been a while that we are not together.

Please everyone...guide us with this. Need your inputs badly. Thank you.

And by the way, according to CIC website the open work permit fee is refundable if you get refused.

Did anybody get their refund? We called VFS in Hong Kong, they said No, I understand that we cannot get the service fee but how about the OWP fee?

Thank You.

Hi Butterfly,

Most likely yes that is cause of refusal. You need to put the period that you actually lived together and provide all the evidence as you mentioned for that. Still gcms notes would confirm that so if they found any thing else you would know.

I don't know where does it say that you get reimbursed for refusal. You only get reimbursed if you submitted an incomplete application and it was returned unprocessed being incomplete. For e.g. if you missed one of the required forms etc. The above doesn't look like fitting into that criteria.

 

[fkl]

Now, I am trying to get work visa for 2 years under LMIA. if I get it, my wife will go with me or few months later? and will she permit for work ?

Assuming your LMIA is for a skilled job NOC 0, A or B, you can and should actually apply together. In that case acceptance or refusal comes together.

If you haven't done that and already applied, then it is probably better to apply latter once you are actually here and settled. At least gotten a pay stub or 2, gotten apartment etc. so you could submit all of that to support your application. This is just a recommendation, officially there is no such formal restriction from CIC.

A lot of people apply together and come together.

 

[fkl]

Hi Friends,

I came to Canada as Open Work Permit Status in 2014, when i applied for work permit in my home country as dependent of my spouse who is on student permit in Canada at that time. At that time i got OWP and i came to canada. Recently my work permit was expired.

I and my Spouse both applied for work permits, My spouse applied for Post graduate work permit and i applied for extension of my OWP. Now Immigration department approved PGWP for my spouse but they refused my application with in a week my spouse application was approved. And they are saying as

"As the spouse of a holder of a Post Graduate work permit, you have not provided sufficient evidence to prove that your spouse is employed in an occupation that falls within the National Occupation Classification Skill level of 0, A or B. You may be eligible to re-apply for a work permit if you are able to provide proof that your spouse is a skilled worker in Canada, which may include a letter from your spouse’s employer, stating his/her job title, duties, and salary. If you cannot prove that your spouse is in a skilled occupation, your application for a work permit cannot be approved without a Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada"

Please help me if you have any information about this,
What is the process for applying for Restoration of Work Permit, What are the documents have to submit.

I am confused, do I need to submit any “Explanation Letter” why i am applying for restoration or not? if so what is the format for the letter.

Restoration is of STATUS in Canada and not of work permit. For that you have to submit application as well as a letter and possibly proof explaining in the first place why did you get out of status which should be a legitimate explanation.

You should know that the above is exactly what CIC has as a criteria.

If your spouse has a job offer and that is a skilled job by now - NOC 0, A or B ONLY THEN you can do any of above.

i.e. submit another application for restoration of status. Above is pretty much a genuine ground i.e. you were on implied status having applied for extension of SOWP and you were not aware that NOW YOU NEED YOUR SPOUSE TO HAVE A SKILLED JOB FIRST.

If that is not the case, may be you could apply for restoration requesting a temp resident visa (this is just my thought right now, i would have to read up a little to see what is the process for that like right now, which you can do as well).

But the straight forward and genuine scenario would be (as also stated in CIC's refusal) that your spouse gets a skilled job, adds its proof and you apply for restoration of status with application of SOWP

 

[butterfly11]

Hi Fkl,


Thanks for the input, we will make a letter of explanation to answer the refusal letter and admit that we made a mistake on that form (dates). Do you think it will be ok?

I got my AOR with my PNP and I will include that in my application as my certicate expired last Sept. He is also my dependant for my PR, do you think it might affect my SOWP application if we will say that?

And lastly, I have a screen shot of the owp refusal refund from the cic website, I just can not upload it here, as I don't think I can upload an image in this site. Anyway, It's okay, we don't bother. We will pay it again, most important is my fiance can come here.

Thanks again, appreciate your help!
To anyone who can give me advice too, please feel free to share.

Thank You.




Hi Butterfly,

Most likely yes that is cause of refusal. You need to put the period that you actually lived together and provide all the evidence as you mentioned for that. Still gcms notes would confirm that so if they found any thing else you would know.

I don't know where does it say that you get reimbursed for refusal. You only get reimbursed if you submitted an incomplete application and it was returned unprocessed being incomplete. For e.g. if you missed one of the required forms etc. The above doesn't look like fitting into that criteria.

 

[Kumard21]

Hi

I tried to fill the questionnaire for "Restoration of status with open work permit" in CIC Website, and its was showing the below optional documents to upload

Optional Documents

--Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada
--Letter of Explanation

I have few Questions to know:

1. Why it was asking "Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada", I am living in Canada now, do i have to fill this form

2. Please help me with any sample "Letter of Explanation" for "Restoration of status with open work permit"


And in the page it was not showing any option to upload my spouse employment letter, my spouse got job as Baker, and past refusal letter. Where i have to upload these two documents.

Please help me, the 90 days time was moving so fast, almost completed 60 days.

 

[Kumard21]

Restoration is of STATUS in Canada and not of work permit. For that you have to submit application as well as a letter and possibly proof explaining in the first place why did you get out of status which should be a legitimate explanation.

You should know that the above is exactly what CIC has as a criteria.

If your spouse has a job offer and that is a skilled job by now - NOC 0, A or B ONLY THEN you can do any of above.

i.e. submit another application for restoration of status. Above is pretty much a genuine ground i.e. you were on implied status having applied for extension of SOWP and you were not aware that NOW YOU NEED YOUR SPOUSE TO HAVE A SKILLED JOB FIRST.

If that is not the case, may be you could apply for restoration requesting a temp resident visa (this is just my thought right now, i would have to read up a little to see what is the process for that like right now, which you can do as well).

But the straight forward and genuine scenario would be (as also stated in CIC's refusal) that your spouse gets a skilled job, adds its proof and you apply for restoration of status with application of SOWP

Hi

I tried to fill the questionnaire for "Restoration of status with open work permit" in CIC Website, and its was showing the below optional documents to upload

Optional Documents

--Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada
--Letter of Explanation

I have few Questions to know:

1. Why it was asking "Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada", I am living in Canada now, do i have to fill this form

2. Please help me with any sample "Letter of Explanation" for "Restoration of status with open work permit"


And in the page it was not showing any option to upload my spouse employment letter, my spouse got job offer as Baker , and past refusal letter. Where i have to upload these two documents.

Please help me, the 90 days time was moving so fast, almost completed 60 days.

 

[butterfly11]

Hi Butterfly,

Most likely yes that is cause of refusal. You need to put the period that you actually lived together and provide all the evidence as you mentioned for that. Still gcms notes would confirm that so if they found any thing else you would know.

I don't know where does it say that you get reimbursed for refusal. You only get reimbursed if you submitted an incomplete application and it was returned unprocessed being incomplete. For e.g. if you missed one of the required forms etc. The above doesn't look like fitting into that criteria.

Hi Fkl,

I am still waiting for the result of gcms. As we dont want to assume that is the reason for refusal, but wel'll see we might resend the application again even before the gcms comes out, takes 30 days though

By the way, my partner got the Open Work Permit refund and the Canada Immigration in Hong Kong sent it to him by cheque. We were actually surprise because the VFS said it's not refundable. But if you go to CIC site, ooen work permit fee is refundable if application is refuse.
Still thankful, at least we can use it again for the next application.

Just another question to FKL and to everyone here, anybody here got SOWP approve when you send your PNP AOR with the application? Did it make the case stronger or it may affect the application in a bad way?

Thanks everyone for the response.

 

[shallu7287]

Hi Fkl,

I am still waiting for the result of gcms. As we dont want to assume that is the reason for refusal, but wel'll see we might resend the application again even before the gcms comes out, takes 30 days though

By the way, my partner got the Open Work Permit refund and the Canada Immigration in Hong Kong sent it to him by cheque. We were actually surprise because the VFS said it's not refundable. But if you go to CIC site, ooen work permit fee is refundable if application is refuse.
Still thankful, at least we can use it again for the next application.

Just another question to FKL and to everyone here, anybody here got SOWP approve when you send your PNP AOR with the application? Did it make the case stronger or it may affect the application in a bad way?

Thanks everyone for the response.

How did you ask for the refund?

 

[butterfly11]

How did you ask for the refund?

&

Hi Shallu,

We called VFS in Hong Kong and asked about the refund, but they said it is non refundable including their service.
And now we were surprised my fiance got his cheque in the mail with a letter indicating the Open Work Permit refund from CIC.

So I am not sure if VFS follow up or it's automatic. If you go online with CIC page, you can see ther that OWP is refundable if refused. But for regular WP it says non redundable, so we only got OWP fee but not the WP and VFS services fee.

Did you apply OWP as well?

 

[shallu7287]

&

Hi Shallu,

We called VFS in Hong Kong and asked about the refund, but they said it is non refundable including their service.
And now we were surprised my fiance got his cheque in the mail with a letter indicating the Open Work Permit refund from CIC.

So I am not sure if VFS follow up or it's automatic. If you go online with CIC page, you can see ther that OWP is refundable if refused. But for regular WP it says non redundable, so we only got OWP fee but not the WP and VFS services fee.

Did you apply OWP as well?

Yes.. it was spousal open work permit.

 

[abhina]

Hi fkl and everyone on the forum,

I came as a student in 2013 and finished my studies in april this year and now I am on a post graduation work permit which is valid till september 2018. I am currently working full-time, permanent in Noc category B and my wages are 40$/hour. I applied for my spouse visitor visa in last 2 years for 3 times and I got rejections on all 3 times stating the same reasons as others like insufficient ties to home country, she will not go back and her travel history. Now I am going to apply for her OWP in this month. i have prepared every document including my last 3 months pay stubs, employment letter mentioning my job duties and NOC Category, work permit copy, spouse employment letter, pay stubs from India, medical from last month, 15000CAD$ in her account in form of fixed deposits, police clearance, and even a letter of support from current member of parliament in Canada for spouse work permit application. I have hired a lawyer also to apply on my behalf and he is asking to apply online from Canada and not from New Delhi, India as he was saying that that is better to do but the only thing is processing time which is currently 2 months from India and 4 months from Canada but I wont mind 4 months also if that works.

I just need some valuable suggestions and insights from you through which I can improve my chances this time. I dont want to give them any excuse this time. Please do reply to me, I will be highly obliged to anyone on the forum who can help me out.

Looking to here soon. Thanks.

 

[fkl]

Hi fkl and everyone on the forum,

I came as a student in 2013 and finished my studies in april this year and now I am on a post graduation work permit which is valid till september 2018. I am currently working full-time, permanent in Noc category B and my wages are 40$/hour. I applied for my spouse visitor visa in last 2 years for 3 times and I got rejections on all 3 times stating the same reasons as others like insufficient ties to home country, she will not go back and her travel history. Now I am going to apply for her OWP in this month. i have prepared every document including my last 3 months pay stubs, employment letter mentioning my job duties and NOC Category, work permit copy, spouse employment letter, pay stubs from India, medical from last month, 15000CAD$ in her account in form of fixed deposits, police clearance, and even a letter of support from current member of parliament in Canada for spouse work permit application. I have hired a lawyer also to apply on my behalf and he is asking to apply online from Canada and not from New Delhi, India as he was saying that that is better to do but the only thing is processing time which is currently 2 months from India and 4 months from Canada but I wont mind 4 months also if that works.

I just need some valuable suggestions and insights from you through which I can improve my chances this time. I dont want to give them any excuse this time. Please do reply to me, I will be highly obliged to anyone on the forum who can help me out.

Looking to here soon. Thanks.

Hi,

Did you ever order gcms notes? Any specific details of refusal you could. If i were in your shoes thats what i would do first.

Applying on line doesn't change the visa office or processing time. Your spouse is currently residing in India so it would be visa office in india that would process her application. But yes online is relatively faster plus several other benefits.

 

[hamid_bashir]

HI I applied for my spouse visa and CIC requested [size=14pt][size=14pt]Recognized Organization acceptance letter (required)[/size][/size]
What does this mean.

 

[fkl]

Please see my answers highlighted below

Hi

I tried to fill the questionnaire for "Restoration of status with open work permit" in CIC Website, and its was showing the below optional documents to upload

Optional Documents

--Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada
--Letter of Explanation

I have few Questions to know:

1. Why it was asking "Schedule 1 - Application for a Temporary Resident Visa Made Outside Canada", I am living in Canada now, do i have to fill this form

YES - It is just a mistake on CIC part they use the same form.


2. Please help me with any sample "Letter of Explanation" for "Restoration of status with open work permit"

I do not have a sample, and it probably is a lot of effort for me to write one here. Just write a standard letter which should cover following.
a) WHY did you get out of status - describing your situation such as you applied in time, were on implied status but then refused for a missing doc. The point is to clarify that you never INTENDED to go out of status, understand it is illegal and are willing to do every thing to fix it.
b) Attach documentary or otherwise proof of above.

Don't over do - Be concise. Shouldn't be more than a few paragraphs.

And in the page it was not showing any option to upload my spouse employment letter, my spouse got job offer as Baker , and past refusal letter. Where i have to upload these two documents.

If you don't have additional space to upload, just include every thing in your cover letter. Add a table of contents and upload that all as a single document.

Please help me, the 90 days time was moving so fast, almost completed 60 days.

 

[Kumard21]

Please see my answers highlighted below

Hi Friends,

I have applied for extension of Open Work Permit in May 2015 and the application was refused in September 2015,

My original Work Permit was expired in July 2015

Now I am applying for Restoration of status with Open Work Permit,


While i am filling the below form I got one doubt in BACKGROUND INFORMATION Column:

• Application to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada (IMM 5710)


In the below options which check boxes I have to select


Question 2

Check the box to indicate if you have ever:

1. Have you ever remained beyond the validity of your status, attended school without authorization or worked without authorization in Canada?

Yes or No

2. Have you ever been refused any kind of visa, admission or been ordered to leave Canada or any other country?

Yes or No

3. Have you previously applied to enter or remain in Canada?

Yes or No

If you checked “Yes” to one of the above questions, provide details.


For which questions i have to select YES or NO


Please clear my doubt.