Worker visa and CEC

[Hope to be there]

Hi,

My situation :
1) got BSC from UofT in May 2009
2) extended Study Permit to 2012
3) Studying Master and working in lab as Research assistant at UofT under stipend as monthly salary
4) got Post Graduation Work Permit until 2012
5) got SIN card
6) just got Temporary Resident Visa as W1 Worker Visa expired 2012 ( I thought they're going to give me a student visa ).

Questions :
1) After I worked as a Research assistant for 1 year, can I still apply PR under CEC ?
2) Any other choice to get PR quickly ?

Thanks a lot

Vara

 

[jes_ON]

Depends on the number of hours per week that you work (and can document). It has to be 1 year at 37.5 hours per week or the equivalent If you work fewer hours you will have to work longer than one year to meet the work requirement.

 

[Hope to be there]

Thanks very much jes_ON.

Actually, I would like to be sure that I still can apply PR-CEC under W1 Worker Visa instead of Student Visa ?

Thanks

 

[jes_ON]

No idea what a W1 Worker visa is. But you also say you have a study permit and a post-grad work permit valid until 2012 - very confusing. It sounds like you simultaneously have a study permit and 2 work permits - that sounds like a problem to me. Since you are a graduate RA, you need a study permit. I would get that sorted out before applying.

 

[natali]

w1 is for temporary work visa. for example if somebody comes to Canada as a visitor he/she will be given v1 visa, student S1 and worker w1 thats is just for CBSA agent to know that you hold visitor visa, worker or student permit.

 

[jes_ON]

w1 is for temporary work visa. for example if somebody comes to Canada as a visitor he/she will be given v1 visa, student S1 and worker w1 thats is just for CBSA agent to know that you hold visitor visa, worker or student permit.

I guess that's if you're not from a visa-exempt country, yes? (I don't need a visa, just have a TWP.) Do you need a permit + visa, or just the visa?

So, presumably a person can have one of the above (v1, s1, or w1) but not more than one at any given time - yes?

Hope to be, are you STILL a graduate student / working as an RA?

 

[Essat]

I agree that there is some little bit of confusion in Hope to be there's initial post, but it's actually possible to have a both a study permit and work permit at the same time but the work permit may come with a few restrictions.

If you hold a valid study permit, you are eligible to apply for a number of what CIC calls work permits for students (off-campus work permit, post-graduation work permit, co-op/internship) see http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work.asp

(1) Hope to be there graduated from a 4 yr BSc program in May 09 and extended the study permit because he/she wanted to continue in the masters program
(2) Having completed a 4 yr study program, he/she was eligible for a 3 yr post graduation work permit.
(3) He/she can work on-campus without a work permit (most common is Graduate research Assistant work while doing Masters/PhD)
(4) Hope to be there does not say that he/she has a "w1' work permit!!! See # 6 of his/her initial post. He only talks about the TRV ("w1" worker visa). My guess is this:

Hope to be there applied to renew his visa (for purposes of entering Canada). Note the difference between a visa and a permit!. Since he holds both a study permit and post-graduation work permit, the Immigration Officer decided to give him the worker visa since in most cases, the assumption is that your study permit expires shortly after applying for the post-graduation work permit (Note that you need to have a valid study permit before applying for a post-grad work permit)......In his case, his study permit is still valid since he extended it to 2012......It also depended on the documents he submitted when applying for the visa (a study permit or the post-grad work permit or both) ........just speculating. Hope to be there should make things more clear. May be other people can learn something here.

The bottom line: Hope to be there can apply under the CEC program if he graduated from a 4 yr BSc program and meets the minimum language requirements
Essat

 

[jes_ON]

Thanks very much jes_ON.

Actually, I would like to be sure that I still can apply PR-CEC under W1 Worker Visa instead of Student Visa ?

Thanks

Essat, please read Hope to be's 2nd post. The question is related to the type of visa. Hope was expecting a student visa but got a W1 instead. (or is it just a TRV?)

I asked if Hope was still a graduate student / graduate RA job, because if so he/she will have to show valid student status. What I don't know with all these visas/permits that Hope lists, if they can all be held simultaneously or if a newer one supercedes an older one. For example, on my TWP it expressly states that I cannot take any education/training courses. I don't know if I can simultaneously hold a TWP and a Student permit.

 

[Essat]

jes_ON,

Hope to be there was expecting a student visa but instead got a worker visa (not W1 permit). Therefore, Hope to be there only lists two permits (1 study permit, 1 Post-graduation work permit, and 1 worker visa). Now, the type of permit/visa does not matter much under CEC (according to my experience with a number of students at my institution who have been approved under CEC in the temporary worker stream using work experience gained while under a study permit). What matters is that the work experience was obtained with authorized temporary resident status.

As regards holding simultaneous permits/visas, it is very clear that you can have a study permit and a work permit at the same time. I think what is causing confusion is the types of work permits (basically what differs is the kind of restrictions on the work permit). A student who intends to work will be issued a work permit (similar to TWP) but with different restrictions. A student work permit is the Off-campus work permit with the restriction that you cannot more that 20 hours while a full-time student but can work full-time during the summer/winter breaks/reading weeks. Also a student does not need a work permit to work on campus meaning that all work experience obtained on campus qualifies under CEC. The restriction on your TWP simply means that you cannot use the work permit as authorization to study at an institution in Canada - you have to apply for a study permit. Once a study permit is issued, and assuming you intend to be a full-time student, some restrictions will be placed on your work permit.

If you look at the form for Application to Change Conditions, Extend stay or Remain in Canada (IMM 1249) and its guide, it is clearly stated that you can apply for more that 1 service e.g. applying both for a renewal of a work permit and initial study permit.

So yes, you can simultaneously hold a study permit and a work permit (but with a different restriction from yours). Hope to be there can hold a study permit and a work permit valid for the duration of his studies and as I speculated (he/she needs to clear this), he could have applied for a visa and sent his work permit not study permit. In that case, they will issue him with a worker visa.

If he/she is still a student student/RA, all he needs to submit is a study permit because all work performed on campus (RA) does not require one to have a work permit. That’s assuming that he is only claiming the RA work experience and nothing from off-campus

Sorry for the long post!!

 

[jes_ON]

Thanks for the long post! Hopefully we haven't confused Hope to be... who (in summary) has no worries

 

[Hope to be there]

Thanks everyone for your useful comment

Sorry, my info might not be cleared enough but Essat understands me correctly. Let me explain again.

1) I (as a she ) first came to Canada with Study permit and Student Visa.

2) The study permit was expired when I was in year 4 (around Jun.2009) so I extended the study permit first and got extension to Jun.2012.

3) I plan to apply for PR under CEC and I found from this website that I must have a Post Graduation Work Permit to eligible to apply PR under CEC. Then I applied for the Post Grad Work Permit in Aug. 2009 . It will be expired on Sep.2012 with condition : "must leave Canada by Sep.2012. Unless authorized, must not attend any educational institution or take any academic professional or vocational training course".

For "Unless authorized...", I thought that it should be ok to me to attend Master at UofT because I already got Study Permit extension. Is this correct ?

For the Post Grad WP, I also thought that I may work outside university sometimes, so I applied for it. Now I am working as RA at the university.

4) My Student Visa was expired in Sep.2009 but I did not travel out of Canada so I did not extend it. Now I plan to travel out of Canada in Aug. 2010 so I sent application to Buffalo in Feb.2010 together with all my documents like study permit, post grad work permit , acceptance letter to master degree and contract for a RA. I thought they would give me the Student visa as I am studying master degree but they gave me "W1 Worker Visa" instead.

So I am not sure that if I work as RA for 1950 hours (supposed to be in Oct. 2010) + the Post Grad Work Permit + IELTS test (if score is ok)(I will take it in Aug. 2010) + Study Permit + W1 Worker Visa, I am eligible to apply for PR under CEC category or not.

Hope your answer is YES !

Thanks again guys.