Work Permit. Am I eligible to apply like this?

[moorhs]

Hello, I'm after some help about how to proceed with my working visa application.

I'm Australian, 25 and a qualified electrician. I came to Canada as a visitor about 3 weeks ago (26th of September 2013) to see a friend I met in Europe. I'm now in a relationship with her and looking to apply for a working visa from within Canada.

I know I will have to re-cross the border, but I would rather apply for my permit without leaving Canada. I'm waiting on my police check to arrive from Australia, but I dont want to waste anymore time than needed.

Do I need to get a LMO? TRV? Can it even be done from outside Australia?

I'm looking to send my application away to the Canadian Consulate in Sydney, Australia, from Edmonton, after hopefully being approved, and received my letter of entry, re enter a border crossing/port to get my permit printed, is this the best/quickest way or even possible to do?

thank you for any help/advice you can give me.

 

[scylla]

If you want to apply for a work permit, you'll first need to find an employer who is willing to offer you a job. Once you have found an employer, that employer must apply for an LMO (you cannot do this - only your employer can). The LMO processing time is typically two months. Once the LMO is approved, you can then apply for a work permit. You can certainly apply without leaving Canada - however you'll be waiting quite a bit longer to receive the work permit than you would if you just went to the border. So the quickest way to get things done is to apply for the work permit at the border. But the choice is yours.

So the first step is to find an employer. The next step is for that employer to obtain an approved LMO. Then you can start looking into applying for a work permit.

If you're unable to find an employer - another option would be the working holiday visa program:

https://www.whpcanada.org.au/working_holiday-vacances_travail.shtml