Want my Japanese Wife to Work in Canada for Less than 6 Months; Perhaps PR Best?

[Raynforce]

I am a Canadian living in Japan with my Japanese wife (fluent in English and Japanese). We were married in Canada a year ago and currently have our marriage officially registered in both Japan and Canada (Only the ceremony was in Canada, my wife has never lived in Canada nor been there on anything other than a visitor visa for a few weeks).

I need to go back to Canada in about 4 months from now between July 16th to December 27th (Just over 5 months) to work with some of my business associates on a project there. I want to bring my wife with me, and while there, she wants to work. What kind of visa should she get?

From what I have read, I only know of 3 paths I can take (please let me know if there are others):

1) She applies for a regular open work visa: This is no good. She has a high school diploma and no real skilled labor certifications or experience. The application process is also excessively long.

2) She applies for a working holiday visa: I don't know how long this takes, but I do know that Japan and Canada have an agreement for a working holiday visa. Will her being married to a Canadian have any effect on this application process?

3) She applies for PR: This one is a little tricky for me. Can she apply for PR if she only intends to live in Canada for 5 months? In about 10 years time we do indeed plan on permanently moving to Canada, so perhaps we should start the process now? Can she maintain PR status while living in Japan with me after our 5 months in Canada is done?

Ironically, if I was NOT Canadian she could easily get a visa to work in Canada as long as I had a visa to work in Canada too, but they got rid of visas for the spouses of Canadians back in 2002 I think (and have not brought back a similar programme as far as I know).

 

[usagi]

Working Holiday is the easiest.

You can check this page and see if it will be fits

Working Holiday's Eligibility Requirements is only these.
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/japan-japon/youth-jeunes/index.aspx?lang=eng&menu_id=8&menu=L#whp
(English)

It takes 2-3months if the person is eligible for this Working Holiday program.
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/japan-japon/youth-jeunes/faq.aspx?lang=jpn&highlights_file=&left_menu_en=&left_menu_fr=&mission=
(Japanese)

 

[dlee31]

Hi,

About the PR, I think you should know what a long and unsteady process this visa is. It starts with you (the sponsor) proving that you have adequate Canadian funds to support your wife (the applicant) so that no financial support from the government will be needed when she starts living there. You would most likely have to send your income & tax statements, etc. to do this. Then you have to put together an application for your wife, which has to include basically the story of your entire relationship, what she plans to do when she gets to Canada, medical exams, and proof of a clean police record. Just getting the application package ready took us a good two months (because we also had to wait for medical exam results), then we waited a month for my husband to get his sponsorship approved, then another four months before I received a request for my passport (so they can put the PR visa in it, which will take another 30+ days). Total time until PR approval: 6 months, and people have told us our case was resolved relatively quickly.

I'm sure your wife can apply for PR, but the fact that she wants a PR visa to work in Canada for five months then leave doesn't sound like a very strong case.

What kind of work is she looking to do?

I do know that the work visa process goes much quicker if you already have a letter of employment or a job offer, and the employer is willing to sponsor you during the time you are working/living there. However, it is also hard for a Canadian employer to meet the requirements for sponsoring a foreign worker. i.e. Canadian citizens get dibs on any jobs that might be out there, then if the employer REALLY can't find anyone to work, they can hire foreigners.

I'm not too sure about the working holiday process in Japan, but if it's not too complicated it's probably a good option for short-term work & stay in Canada. The one in Korea is retarded because there are so many applicants every month.

Also, she could go on a tourist visa and find a place that is willing to let her work there temporarily. (not exactly legal, but I've heard of cases where the foreigner "borrows" a friend or family member's SIN number to work for a short time.)

I know from experience how hard it is for a foreigner to do anything except spend money in Canada. I had to spend six months in Canada last year on a tourist visa and I couldn't legally work the whole time I was there. Everything I did (making and maintaining a bank account, getting car insurance, getting a phone, etc) took twice the hassle and, more often than not, twice the funds. I was lucky because my job in Korea allowed me to work via email and get paid through my Korean bank account, but even so, it was a very frustrating experience.

It sounds like you have about three months before you leave Japan. Good luck!

 

[javcil]

Some agencies will assist with a work-and-study program. My spouse applied for this on a part-time basis (although full-time is possible), enabling him to work and study ESL in Canada for 6 months. Well, it WOULD have enabled him to do this had his not been refused ... :'(
But it works for some people, and only took one month to process. This option requires some money in the bank though.

 

[AllisonVSC]

I would encourage you to consider the PR process as it seems you could have a straight forward case. If the process takes longer then your work timeline she may be able to come to Canada with you as a temporary resident (it should be easy to prove she will return to Japan since you also plan to return in a short period of time).

I suggest this route since you intend to return in 10 years or so and because of a recent and very informative post by Toby regarding maintaining PR status while living abroad. You can check it out here... http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/can-prs-count-time-abroad-with-a-canadian-spouse-toward-quota-t38396.0.html

Whichever route you choose, best wishes for a successful process.