Open Work Permit without valid temporary resident status

[commonlawing]

Hey folks! First post here.

I'm deep in the Common Law affair and I've run into a hiccup. I applied for my Open Work Permit 3 months ago along with my Common Law app. When I submitted my papers together I was just at the brink of the 6 month mark for my allowed stay as an American. Fortunately, I did submit on time. Unfortunately, My Open Work Permit was bounced back to me as my payment receipt was out of order. At the time I didn't see that as an issue and one wasn't raised when it was sent back. I merely re-included the receipt, sent it back, and it began re-processing.

My fear now though is that the little blip got me out of status, as an open work permit is supposed to give you implied status. However, I just received a letter regarding my open work permit saying I was out of valid status and that I must now wait until my permanent residence is approved before I get my work permit.

The language of the letter is as follows:

"This letter refers to your application for an Open Work Permit. Qualifying foreign nationals who have submitted an application for permanent residence under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada (SCLPC) class may be issued an open work permit if they meet eligibility requirements. As a Foreign National in Canada who currently does not have valid temporary resident status, you are not eligible to apply for an open work permit until such time as you receive confirmation that your application for Permanent Residence will be processed from within Canada. Your application for an open work permit will be considered at the same time as your application for permanent residence and if the latter is accepted, the open work permit will be issued to you."

All in all, I'm deeply confused. Does my guess about falling out of status seem right? Was there some kind of blip in the system? Am I reading this letter wrong? etc. etc.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[scylla]

There's no blip in the system. You are out of status in Canada. The OWP application is what gave you implied status (i.e. kept your status legal in Canada). To have implied status, a complete OWP application needed to be received before your status ran out in Canada. However your OWP was returned as incomplete and resubmitted once you were out of status. Since you were out of status at the time you submitted a complete OWP application, you remain in Canada without status today.

If you had found this forum earlier, we would have told you to apply to extend your visitor status in Canada (in addition to filing for PR and the OWP). Extending your visitor status in Canada would have been "insurance" in the event either your PR and/or your OWP applications were returned as incomplete. Unfortunately it's too late for that now...

If it's been 90 days or less since your six month allowed visit ended, you should apply to restore your status ASAP.

 

[commonlawing]

Wow. Well thanks for the info.

I'm beyond the 90 days, is there anything I can formally do or anything I should know now that I'm out of status?

 

[scylla]

Wow. Well thanks for the info.

I'm beyond the 90 days, is there anything I can formally do or anything I should know now that I'm out of status?

Ah - that sucks. Was hoping you still had a few days remaining.

Since you're out of status, you're not going to benefit from the OWP pilot and won't get the OWP within four months of applying. It's going to take much longer than that.

As an American, you could obviously leave Canada and re-enter based on your passport alone. Two issues with that are: (1) There's always some chance you could have problems re-entering (i.e. be refused entry) and that chance has probably increased somewhat because you've been here without status for a number of months now. Unfortunately it's impossible for any of us to say what will happen at the border since that's entirely up to the CBSA officer you deal with when you're there.; (2) If you leave and re-enter to fix your status, I have no idea if IRCC will take that into consideration and issue your OWP earlier or if they will stick with the later issuance. If you decide you want to consider leaving and re-entering, suggest you join the Family Sponsorship section of the forum and post these questions there. This is where all of the discussions for spousal sponsorship are located.

 

[commonlawing]

Ah - that sucks. Was hoping you still had a few days remaining.

Since you're out of status, you're not going to benefit from the OWP pilot and won't get the OWP within four months of applying. It's going to take much longer than that.

As an American, you could obviously leave Canada and re-enter based on your passport alone. Two issues with that are: (1) There's always some chance you could have problems re-entering (i.e. be refused entry) and that chance has probably increased somewhat because you've been here without status for a number of months now. Unfortunately it's impossible for any of us to say what will happen at the border since that's entirely up to the CBSA officer you deal with when you're there.; (2) If you leave and re-enter to fix your status, I have no idea if IRCC will take that into consideration and issue your OWP earlier or if they will stick with the later issuance. If you decide you want to consider leaving and re-entering, suggest you join the Family Sponsorship section of the forum and post these questions there. This is where all of the discussions for spousal sponsorship are located.

Got it. I'm very weary of leaving and re-entering. My partner was banned from the US for 5 years after a border issue there in February of 2016, so my hesitation is very strong. That said, is there any use in calling the CIC help #? Feels like my hands are tied right now.

 

[scylla]

Got it. I'm very weary of leaving and re-entering. My partner was banned from the US for 5 years after a border issue there in February of 2016, so my hesitation is very strong. That said, is there any use in calling the CIC help #? Feels like my hands are tied right now.

No point calling the CIC help desk - it will be a complete waste of time. They can't do anything to fix your situation and are typically useless for all but the most basic problems. They also don't provide advice. If you want advice - you would need to pay for an immigration lawyer / consultant.

If you want to avoid leaving Canada, then your only real option is to remain in Canada without status while you wait for the PR application to be processed.

 

[commonlawing]

No point calling the CIC help desk - it will be a complete waste of time. They can't do anything to fix your situation and are typically useless for all but the most basic problems. They also don't provide advice. If you want advice - you would need to pay for an immigration lawyer / consultant.

If you want to avoid leaving Canada, then your only real option is to remain in Canada without status while you wait for the PR application to be processed.

Again, I really appreciate it. I may consult a lawyer. My final question is more just a confirmation, a typical PR app in Common Law class takes a year, correct?

 

[scylla]

Again, I really appreciate it. I may consult a lawyer. My final question is more just a confirmation, a typical PR app in Common Law class takes a year, correct?

Yes - around 12 months.

 

[Fabiog]

hi,
I want to ask if you didnt get the out of order problem and even though your visitor visa expired would you have been able to stay in canada with implied status until the OWP was issued?

 

[scylla]

hi,
I want to ask if you didnt get the out of order problem and even though your visitor visa expired would you have been able to stay in canada with implied status until the OWP was issued?

You can certainly try to stay. Technically since you are out of status, it's possible a removal order could be issued and it's possible you might have to leave Canada. However many are successful in staying without status.

 

[Fabiog]

You can certainly try to stay. Technically since you are out of status, it's possible a removal order could be issued and it's possible you might have to leave Canada. However many are successful in staying without status.

In my situation I need to stay for 6 months when I enter Canada and then extend for another 6 for a total of 12 months in commonlaw but I need legal status to apply for my owp and PR so I ask once I establish 12 months and then if I get extended once more even for a few weeks and apply for opw ,can I wait for my work permit on implied status.