What happens if AOR not received and IEC visa expires?

[lisazhu94]

Hi all,

My husband and I are sending in our application for spousal sponsorship a little close to his IEC visa expiration date.

We are hearing a lot of different scenarios and need a peace of mind. What happens if IEC visa expires before AOR is received? Much appreciated.

 

[simoneleah]

Presumably you're sending in an inland spousal application with an OWP?

It would be risky for your husband to continue working before receiving AOR. AOR implies that your package has been received and nothing will be sent back, but this is not always true (in some cases, people have received AOR and then had their OWP returned separately).

Your husband should inform his employer that he may have to stop working if his visa expires before he receives AOR. If he has AOR, he can argue that he has "implied status," because his OWP is processing, which would allow him to continue working under the same conditions of his IEC permit.

Per the website: (https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/visitors/implied-status-extending-stay.html)

"If a temporary resident applies for renewal of their work or study permit and their permit expires before a decision is made, paragraph 186(u) and section 189 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) (the right to continue working or studying under the same conditions pending a determination of their application for renewal) apply only as long as the person remains in Canada."

https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1476&top=25

You should also consider whether your partner is from a visa exempt country or not.

 

[scylla]

Hi all,

My husband and I are sending in our application for spousal sponsorship a little close to his IEC visa expiration date.

We are hearing a lot of different scenarios and need a peace of mind. What happens if IEC visa expires before AOR is received? Much appreciated.

I disagree with the above. As long as you apply outland and include an OWP with the application, he can legally continue working on implied status until a decision in the OWP is made. IRCC has made it clear that implied status applies to IECs. He should continue working.

The one risk you run is that there's always a chance your application may be incomplete. If that's the case, he will end up in Canada without status. To give yourself a bit of insurance, in addition to submitting the inland application + OWP - I would recommend applying to change his status to visitor before the IEC expires. That way if the inland application package is returned, he won't be out of status in Canada (although he will need to stop working until you are able to resubmit the application and the OWP is approved).

 

[simoneleah]

I disagree with the above. As long as you apply outland and include an OWP with the application, he can legally continue working on implied status until a decision in the OWP is made. IRCC has made it clear that implied status applies to IECs. He should continue working.

The one risk you run is that there's always a chance your application may be incomplete. If that's the case, he will end up in Canada without status. To give yourself a bit of insurance, in addition to submitting the inland application + OWP - I would recommend applying to change his status to visitor before the IEC expires. That way if the inland application package is returned, he won't be out of status in Canada (although he will need to stop working until you are able to resubmit the application and the OWP is approved).

Apologies if I was unclear. This is more what I was getting at - if your application is incomplete and you've been working on "implied status" after the IEC visa expires, you wouldn't have actually HAD implied status for that period. In that case, that work would then technically be "illegal."

From what I've read, having AOR makes it much easier to prove implied status if you need to, but I didn't mean to say it's necessary. And yes, I agree that implied status applies to IECs. In my case, I applied for inland + OWP with an IEC visa in place, got approved for OWP, and gave that to my employer (I was never on implied status). If I had been on implied status, I would have shown my employer a printout of my linked OWP and the information on having implied status under IEC in the second link I posted.

Hopefully that clarifies as I think we're more or less in agreement and I don't want to confuse OP.

 

[aken]

Hey guys,

My IEC 2 year work permit expired on March 15th 2020. I applied for PR under Common-Law including an OWP in February, therefore, I'm on implied status. I also applied for a Visitor Visa before my IEC expired in order to retain status in case my PR application is returned for any reason.

I'm just getting worried that I applied for the wrong visitor visa as I read somewhere today to apply for a visitor record in order to retain status in the case your application is returned. Fingers crossed my application won't be returned and it won't matter but I just want to be safe.
Should I have applied for the Visitor Record? Is there much of a difference between the two in this circumstance?

Thanks

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hey guys,

My IEC 2 year work permit expired on March 15th 2020. I applied for PR under Common-Law including an OWP in February, therefore, I'm on implied status. I also applied for a Visitor Visa before my IEC expired in order to retain status in case my PR application is returned for any reason.

I'm just getting worried that I applied for the wrong visitor visa as I read somewhere today to apply for a visitor record in order to retain status in the case your application is returned. Fingers crossed my application won't be returned and it won't matter but I just want to be safe.
Should I have applied for the Visitor Record? Is there much of a difference between the two in this circumstance?

Thanks

A visitor visa is a TRV, a stamp in a passport that allows a person to board a commercial carrier to travel to Canada. It has nothing to do with status in Canada.

What application specifically did you send?

 

[ishyfishy]

I had a question relating to this.

We've applied for common law inland PR + OWP, received end of January. My partner's IEC work permit expires April 25th.
As I understand it, if it's past April 25th, and our application is returned (PR or OWP), my partner will be out of status. We can then apply for the PR again, but not the OWP since she's out of status.

Would it make sense for her to apply for a visitor extension, so if the application gets returned after April 25th, she can resubmit the OWP with the PR app given she'll be on a legal visitor status?

 

[aken]

I had a question relating to this.

We've applied for common law inland PR + OWP, received end of January. My partner's IEC work permit expires April 25th.
As I understand it, if it's past April 25th, and our application is returned (PR or OWP), my partner will be out of status. We can then apply for the PR again, but not the OWP since she's out of status.

Would it make sense for her to apply for a visitor extension, so if the application gets returned after April 25th, she can resubmit the OWP with the PR app given she'll be on a legal visitor status?

Okay so I've figured it out. I actually applied for a visitor record which is an application to extend status as a visitor.

Exactly @ishyfishy. If for some reason your application is returned, you partner will be out of status. At least with visitor status, you can resubmit your application again, otherwise, you would need to restore status which could take months. So it's basically just a precaution to apply for the visitor extension to avoid being out of a status.

 

[ishyfishy]

Okay so I've figured it out. I actually applied for a visitor record which is an application to extend status as a visitor.

Exactly @ishyfishy. If for some reason your application is returned, you partner will be out of status. At least with visitor status, you can resubmit your application again, otherwise, you would need to restore status which could take months. So it's basically just a precaution to apply for the visitor extension to avoid being out of a status.

Okay, good to know!

Even if out of status, you can still apply for PR right? Just not OWP? We'll apply for an extension just in case as we get closer to the end of the IEC work permit, if we still haven't received the AOR.

 

[aken]

Okay, good to know!

Even if out of status, you can still apply for PR right? Just not OWP? We'll apply for an extension just in case as we get closer to the end of the IEC work permit, if we still haven't received the AOR.

Yes you can apply for PR without status but not the OWP - so apply for the visitor extension to be safe.
All going well you will receive AOR before your IEC expires as you are a January applicant, although it seems to be slow moving atm.
Good luck!