Visitor status expires in 5 months

[chelctron]

Hey all I am writing to try and get some info on submitting a form to extend my status as a visitor while I wait for my spousal sponsorship. To start, I came to Canada with my husband to apply inland back in October 2018. My status is valid until Dec. 31, 2019. We had some major issues submitted our application in a timely manner due to having to wait for my husband's taxes to update so we could get his 2018 Notice of Assessment (he was away in the U.S with me for three years and began working in November after we arrived in Ontario). When I began filling out my paperwork I realized that because he had begun working, we needed a notice of assessment, but because he had been gone for three years, we couldn't access his CRA account to get it and were told we would have to file for the 2018 T4's before his account would become accessible again. Well...we couldn't do that until he got his T4 in March (I already lost 5 months by this time). We got his Notice of Assessment in the middle of April and I submitted my Application on April 25. It was received by IRCC on April 30th. Now we have another problem...my application got returned. It came in the mail on July 15 and it was returned for two small errors...a missing signature and an insufficient fee payment for my work permit application (I didn't realize I had to pay the Open Work Permit with extensions and only paid for the $100 work permit fee). Anyway, I corrected my errors, updated all of the staledated dates on my application and am ready to resubmit. Now...I'm feeling very concerned because between having to wait on taxes and then having this setback, I have lost 9 of the 14 months allotted to me to stay in Canada. I'm planning on it taking IRCC another 2-3 months to reopen my application and then it's really up in the air on as to how long it's going to take to get approved for a work permit. Does a work permit allow me to stay in Canada without the need for submitting a request to extend my visitor status or do I need both? Would it be advisable, given the time frame of everything I have explained to just submit the request to extend my visitor status? This whole process has been giving me some major stress and I just have no more confidence that I know what I'm doing at all

 

[Hurlabrick]

Does a work permit allow me to stay in Canada without the need for submitting a request to extend my visitor status

Yes.


OWP approval usually take 4 - 5 months to process, so you should be fine.

 

[canuck78]

Don’t understand. If you entered Canada in October 2018 you would have likely received a 6 month visitor status. Did you apply to extend your visitor status?

 

[chelctron]

Don’t understand. If you entered Canada in October 2018 you would have likely received a 6 month visitor status. Did you apply to extend your visitor status?

No. When I came to the border, the immigration officer at the crossing station gave me a document with a UCI number and everything. It expires on Dec. 31, 2019. She said this will allow me to stay in Canada until that expires/until I apply to extend my status as a visitor unless my circumstances change where I can get approved to either work/study. It's a yellowish colored certificate that says "visitor record" on the top. She folded it and stapled it into my passport.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hey all I am writing to try and get some info on submitting a form to extend my status as a visitor while I wait for my spousal sponsorship. To start, I came to Canada with my husband to apply inland back in October 2018. My status is valid until Dec. 31, 2019. We had some major issues submitted our application in a timely manner due to having to wait for my husband's taxes to update so we could get his 2018 Notice of Assessment (he was away in the U.S with me for three years and began working in November after we arrived in Ontario). When I began filling out my paperwork I realized that because he had begun working, we needed a notice of assessment, but because he had been gone for three years, we couldn't access his CRA account to get it and were told we would have to file for the 2018 T4's before his account would become accessible again. Well...we couldn't do that until he got his T4 in March (I already lost 5 months by this time). We got his Notice of Assessment in the middle of April and I submitted my Application on April 25. It was received by IRCC on April 30th. Now we have another problem...my application got returned. It came in the mail on July 15 and it was returned for two small errors...a missing signature and an insufficient fee payment for my work permit application (I didn't realize I had to pay the Open Work Permit with extensions and only paid for the $100 work permit fee). Anyway, I corrected my errors, updated all of the staledated dates on my application and am ready to resubmit. Now...I'm feeling very concerned because between having to wait on taxes and then having this setback, I have lost 9 of the 14 months allotted to me to stay in Canada. I'm planning on it taking IRCC another 2-3 months to reopen my application and then it's really up in the air on as to how long it's going to take to get approved for a work permit. Does a work permit allow me to stay in Canada without the need for submitting a request to extend my visitor status or do I need both? Would it be advisable, given the time frame of everything I have explained to just submit the request to extend my visitor status? This whole process has been giving me some major stress and I just have no more confidence that I know what I'm doing at all

So you probably won't want to hear this but you could have applied without the NOA. The fact that he had been a non-resident who hadn't filed taxes in Canada for several years and therefore didn't have a recent NOA was a valid reason to not include it.

As for the visitor extension, don't bother right now. On the very off chance that you haven't received the OWP by Christmas, apply for a visitor extension then.