Working holiday visa whilst waiting for outland PR application to be processed?

[ESUJ]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and it seems to me that there are a lot of very knowledgeable people here who can help me with some questions which I couldn't clearly answer myself by browsing the internet.

My Canadian husband and I (German citizen) have been living in Germany for the past five years and are planning to move to Canada after my Ph.D. is finished and our baby is old enough, which would be ideally in early 2017.

We are currently in the process of filling out the forms and collecting evidence for an outland application(Vienna) for PR for myself. As the processing times can be very long and somewhat unpredictable we were wondering whether I could apply for a working holiday visa in parallel. Usually they are given out not before spring (so for working holiday visa 2016 this would be spring 2016), and if I got it right, as soon as I would get my letter of introduction I would have one year to move to Canada: so I could move there early 2017 with that visa which then would be valid for another year (in which my PR application hopefully will have been processed). So far our theory.

I still haven't found satisfying information if this is possible at all though; can I run both applications in parallel, or will they somehow affect each other (i.e. will my appilication for a working holiday visa affect my PR application???)

And is it really true that I could usw a "working holiday visa 2016" for only moving there in 2017? Seems strange to me...

It might be clear to some of you though, so I hope someone can help

 

[andrew-brit]

Yes, you are correct.

This year the International Experience Canada (IEC/working holiday visa) for Germany opened up in April 2015, so it will likely open up at the same time next year. See here for more info such as eligibility (must be between 18 and 35 years old, etc).

The applications will be processed in different visa offices, it is perfectly acceptable to apply for both at the same time.

 

[kangamoose]

Yes the letter of introduction is valid for a year. I think Germany may have a quota for IEC so you should try and get everything together to apply the day it opens.

 

[ESUJ]

Great, thanks so much, that's what I'll be doing then!

 

[andrew-brit]

Germany does have a quota but they do not go as fast as other countries.

Here is the summary of this years. You can see that although round 1 went fast, round 2 was open for 2 weeks.

Round two
Quota: 2,100
Opened on: April 14, 2015, at 10:00 EDT (16:00 Berlin time)
Closed on: April 28, 2015, at 11:12 EDT (17:12 Berlin time)
Applicants currently on waiting list: 32Footnote *

Round one
Quota: 2,100
Opened on: April 9, 2015, at 10:00 EDT (16:00 Berlin time)
Closed on: April 9, 2015 at 10:04 EDT (16:04 Berlin time)