Hi everyone,
Hope to hear your thoughts on this situation. I'm in a real bind. I have a CSQ but no AR yet. I'm not eligible for any of the work permits (ANY!!! yes, just my luck) because applied for CSQ under old program when they were letting graduate students apply after completing their comps.
Context: I took an approved leave of abscence from my PhD program after my first year. During that time I left Canada and returned to my country. I then resumed program a year later, have since renewed study permit twice with no problems. Now that I'm about to graduate and apply for PGWP, my university claims that:
a) I may not be eligible for the permit at all because the leave was more than 150 days; and that
b) even if I were eligible, I can't start working immediately upon submission because of the leave and instead have to wait for the permit to be issued.
I disagree with their reading of the policy (not that my disagreeing makes any difference, sigh) as I believe that the 150 day leave applies to students staying INSIDE Canada. During my leave of absence. IRCC states that if a leave is longer than 150, a student must change status or leave Canada or else risk being non-compliant with conditions. I understand this to mean that leaving Canada is one way to avoid being non-compliant with Study Permit conditions which in turn would mean that I could start working immediately upon application submission.
Some universities like Carlton specifically state that although leaves longer than 150 affect the PGWP/ implied status eligibility, leaving Canada during absence allows for an exception from this policy.
Any thoughts/ expereinces?
more context:
I'm in a real bind here: I have a teaching job that starts days after I submit dissertation and I'd lose the job if I couldn't start on time. Even though some PGWPs are being processed quickly, I only have a few days between the date I can get letter from my school confirming degree completion and job start date--so not enough time.