Work permit denied (other reasons) despite meeting eligibility criteria?

[scamp]

Hi,

I am a Canadian citizen living in New Zealand. My wife and I want to go on a working holiday in Canada and so she applied for an Open Work permit.

After taking the eligibility test on the CIC website, it suggested she apply for an Open Work permit.

Today it was denied but it doesn't say why, only "Other Reasons"! The eligibility test still says she is eligible.

Can anyone explain why this is? Considering I am Canadian I cannot believe how difficult it seems to be for my wife to obtain a work permit.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[scylla]

Your wife doesn't qualify for a regular open work permit. Being married to a Canadian doesn't give her the right to work in Canada. She was correctly refused. I'm not sure why the eligibility test gave her a positive result - perhaps she answered a question incorrectly (for example, perhaps she answered "yes" to the question asking if she has a spouse who is a temporary worker in Canada when she should have answered "no").

If she is the right age, she should look into obtaining an open work permit through the IEC / Working Holiday Visa program. If she qualifies, she specifically needs to apply through this program. The first step is to apply to be in the pool for consideration, the next step is to be selected from the pool in one of the draws. Note there are a limited number of spots available.

Otherwise she will need to obtain a closed work permit tied to a specific employer. In order to do qualify to apply for a closed work permit, she would first need to secure a full time job offer from an employer in Canada and that employer would need to obtain an approved LMIA.