Urgent Help Needed: Work Permit Condition Removal for PT

[metcabuk]

Hello everyone,

I am a physiotherapist who has successfully passed the licensure exams in Canada. I recently signed a contract with CBI Health to begin working as a physiotherapist. However, I currently hold an Open Work Permit (OWP) with a condition that states I cannot work in the health sector.

I thought this condition could be resolved through flagpoling at the border, but I’ve learned that this option is no longer available. I contacted IRCC, and they advised me to apply online and request urgent processing to have the condition removed. Unfortunately, they did not provide a timeframe for how long urgent processing might take.

My contract is set to start next week, and both my employer (CBI Health) and the provincial PT college are waiting for my work permit condition to be amended so that I can begin working.

This situation has caused me significant stress as I urgently need to start my job. Has anyone else faced a similar situation? How long does urgent processing for this kind of request usually take? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Naturgrl]

Hello everyone,

I am a physiotherapist who has successfully passed the licensure exams in Canada. I recently signed a contract with CBI Health to begin working as a physiotherapist. However, I currently hold an Open Work Permit (OWP) with a condition that states I cannot work in the health sector.

I thought this condition could be resolved through flagpoling at the border, but I’ve learned that this option is no longer available. I contacted IRCC, and they advised me to apply online and request urgent processing to have the condition removed. Unfortunately, they did not provide a timeframe for how long urgent processing might take.

My contract is set to start next week, and both my employer (CBI Health) and the provincial PT college are waiting for my work permit condition to be amended so that I can begin working.

This situation has caused me significant stress as I urgently need to start my job. Has anyone else faced a similar situation? How long does urgent processing for this kind of request usually take? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

All you can do is wait. Have you even done the medical? IRCC doesn’t need to take urgent processing into account because so many people are you in your situation. Have seen that amendments take up to 6 months or more.

 

[metcabuk]

All you can do is wait. Have you even done the medical? IRCC doesn’t need to take urgent processing into account because so many people are you in your situation. Have seen that amendments take up to 6 months or more.

Six months?! That’s incredibly surprising to me. I’ve already completed the medical exam.

If it truly takes that long, I don’t know how I’ll manage. If this process drags out for months, I might have no choice but to consider returning home.

 

[Naturgrl]

Six months?! That’s incredibly surprising to me. I’ve already completed the medical exam.

If it truly takes that long, I don’t know how I’ll manage. If this process drags out for months, I might have no choice but to consider returning home.

You can ask for urgent processing but there is really nothing you can do but wait. See processing is about 5 weeks so you may be lucky. Ask under Foreign Workers because there are many posts on this.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

 

[metcabuk]

You can ask for urgent processing but there is really nothing you can do but wait. See processing is about 5 weeks so you may be lucky. Ask under Foreign Workers because there are many posts on this.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html

I see that the processing time for Amendment of a valid temporary resident document is listed as about 5 weeks, while the processing time for Work permit from inside Canada (initial and extension) is 151 days. I’m a bit confused about which one applies to my situation since I’m requesting the removal of a condition on my existing Open Work Permit.

If it’s the 5-week timeline, that’s much more manageable and gives me some hope.

 

[Naturgrl]

I see that the processing time for Amendment of a valid temporary resident document is listed as about 5 weeks, while the processing time for Work permit from inside Canada (initial and extension) is 151 days. I’m a bit confused about which one applies to my situation since I’m requesting the removal of a condition on my existing Open Work Permit.

If it’s the 5-week timeline, that’s much more manageable and gives me some hope.

You are asking for an amendment. Remember those are just estimates so may or may not get it within 5 weeks.