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Spousal Work Permit Application

trini777

Hero Member
May 24, 2011
229
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Good morning everyone,

My friend lets call her Erin has a situation that they need help with, here are the circumstances.

Spouse lets call him Aaron was in student in Canada and they both had an open work permit while Aaron was studying.
Aaron graduated this summer, but has yet to find a skilled job, initial permit expires at the end of this month.
Erin received employment on a 1 year contract, but her work permit also expires in November as discussed above.
Aaron is going to apply for a PGWP, but he is unable to add Erin unless he has a job (there are a few leads but he wont have 2 paystubs by the end of November)

Are there any options for Erin to remain at her current job or will she have to quit once per spousal work permit expires?
They were advised that she could try applying for an open work permit on her own, and she could remain employed while she awaits it, is this correct? Erin does not care if this will be rejected, she only cares that she can continue to work legally, and it will give Aaron time to land a job.
How difficult are these applications, do you recommend an immigration consultant, or can they do it themselves? (they are both well educated)


Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and regards
 
Last edited:

Naturgrl

VIP Member
Apr 5, 2020
44,950
9,525
Good morning everyone,

My friend lets call her Erin has a situation that they need help with, here are the circumstances.

Spouse lets call him Aaron was in student in Canada and they both had an open work permit while Aaron was studying.
Aaron graduated this summer, but has yet to find a skilled job, initial permit expires at the end of this month.
Erin received employment on a 1 year contract, but her work permit also expires in November as discussed above.
Aaron is going to apply for a PGWP, but he is unable to add Erin unless he has a job (there are a few leads but he wont have 2 paystubs by the end of November)

Are there any options for Erin to remain at her current job or will she have to quit once per spousal work permit expires?
They were advised that she could try applying for an open work permit on her own, and she could remain employed while she awaits it, is this correct? Erin does not care if this will be rejected, she only cares that she can continue to work legally, and it will give Aaron time to land a job.
How difficult are these applications, do you recommend an immigration consultant, or can they do it themselves? (they are both well educated)


Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks and regards
Who is Erin and Aaron…is this the same person? Because Aaron is the student and Erin is on SOWP.

1. Erin needs an approved LMIA and then apply for closed work permit. If her spouse doesn’t have NOC A, B or 0, she quits.
2. She isn’t eligible for a OWP if her spouse doesn’t have a NOC A, B or 0 job.
3. They can do it themselves.
 

trini777

Hero Member
May 24, 2011
229
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Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Hi thanks,

We understand she may not be eligible for the OWP and it will likely be rejected. We want to know if she will be able to continue working while the application is in process.
 

scylla

VIP Member
Jun 8, 2010
95,875
22,124
Toronto
Category........
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Buffalo
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App. Filed.......
28-05-2010
AOR Received.
19-08-2010
File Transfer...
28-06-2010
Passport Req..
01-10-2010
VISA ISSUED...
05-10-2010
LANDED..........
05-10-2010
Hi thanks,

We understand she may not be eligible for the OWP and it will likely be rejected. We want to know if she will be able to continue working while the application is in process.
- She does not qualify for the OWP extension at this time and she should expect it's going to be refused unless Aaron is able to meet the requirements extremely quickly.
- She can apply to extend the OWP (without qualifying) and continue working while the application is being processed.
- As soon as the extension is refused, she must stop working and will then be in Canada without status. At that point she will need to apply to restore her status to visitor in order to be able to remain in Canada legally. Working likely wont' be possible for quite some time.
- Since she will have applied for the OWP extension without qualifying, any work experience she gains in Canada after the original OWP expires will be classified as work gained without authorization and cannot be used towards any permanent residency application.
 
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trini777

Hero Member
May 24, 2011
229
2
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
- She does not qualify for the OWP extension at this time and she should expect it's going to be refused unless Aaron is able to meet the requirements extremely quickly.
- She can apply to extend the OWP (without qualifying) and continue working while the application is being processed.
- As soon as the extension is refused, she must stop working and will then be in Canada without status. At that point she will need to apply to restore her status to visitor in order to be able to remain in Canada legally. Working likely wont' be possible for quite some time.
- Since she will have applied for the OWP extension without qualifying, any work experience she gains in Canada after the original OWP expires will be classified as work gained without authorization and cannot be used towards any permanent residency application.

Thank you for responding. This isn't the ideal situation but its something I guess.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,597
13,525
Hi thanks,

We understand she may not be eligible for the OWP and it will likely be rejected. We want to know if she will be able to continue working while the application is in process.
Would add that IRCC doesn’t like when people apply without qualifying in attempt to work when they don’t qualify. Filing the application knowing you don’t qualify can potentially impact future cases. Goodwill will no longer be there. Not a great idea to piss IRCC off.