Hello everyone, my apologies if this has been written about before but I can't find much information on the topic. I just got off the phone with IRCC after such a struggle getting through to them, and it wasn't very helpful, so I'm hoping people here have more details.
I am a Canadian citizen, sponsoring my partner through the Common law In-Canada class PR application. She is a Mexican citizen, so has 6 months in Canada as a visitor. We applied for the PR back in June 2021 through a mailed copy (not online), and included a completed Open Work Permit application as well. We know that the PR process takes a really long time, but the Open Work Permit was said to take several months only, not 1+ year like the PR. We applied through the paper copy rather than online because this is what the IRCC website told us we had to do for our particular case, that this type of application was not available online.
We received an Acknowledgement of Receipt email at the end of July, stating that the application had been received on June 17, 2021.
Since we entered Canada in May, her 6 months are running out now in November, so we also completed and sent a Visitor Visa extension application early last month in October. We have not received any Acknowledgement of Receipt for that, although the tracking we got on the package says it was delivered.
We are regularly checking processing status on the website: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-status.html, but were unsure whether to be checking "Work Permit" (for the Open Work Permit portion) or "Family Sponsorship" (for the overall PR app). This makes a big difference, since the work permit one is currently in June 2021, and the family sponsorship one is still in May 2020. Since all documents were sent together (this was explicitly written in the instructions when applying - to send the OPW together in the same application), we hope that the OPW will not only be processed once the entire PR application is processed, otherwise we'll be waiting an extremely long time. The whole point of the OPW is to be able to get it relatively quickly (at least in comparison with the incredibly long PR processing times) so that the individual can work and sustain themselves, while they wait for the larger application to be processed.
I just called IRCC and the man didn't seem to know specifically which processing status would apply to us - but rather said that my partner will only get OWP eligibility once we get "Approved in Principle", the first step towards getting the PR. I asked him what the timeline was for that and he didn't answer, but after looking it up online, it seems to me that Approved in Principle essentially is towards the end of the entire process - it says that IRCC looked at the entire application and said the applicant meets eligibility, but that certain parts of the process still need to be actioned.
If this is indeed the case, then what is the point of the OWP? If we have to wait for Approved in Principle with the bigger PR application, won't that mean we're waiting for the entire process to be almost done? Moreover, does the waiting period of 4 months for OPW that I see everywhere not apply to us?
Any answers/personal experiences or information you can share would be GREATLY appreciated. We are just so frustrated with the lack of clarity and realistic expectations and communication throughout this whole process, and hope we can get some clear answers soon. As I said, we don't mind waiting a long time for the PR, but the whole allure of the OPW was that it would be quicker and allow you to work and take care of yourself while you had that super long wait for PR. I feel like I'm missing something here, and I hope some of you can help!
Thank you so much! If you want any more info, let me know, and my apologies for writing so much.
I am a Canadian citizen, sponsoring my partner through the Common law In-Canada class PR application. She is a Mexican citizen, so has 6 months in Canada as a visitor. We applied for the PR back in June 2021 through a mailed copy (not online), and included a completed Open Work Permit application as well. We know that the PR process takes a really long time, but the Open Work Permit was said to take several months only, not 1+ year like the PR. We applied through the paper copy rather than online because this is what the IRCC website told us we had to do for our particular case, that this type of application was not available online.
We received an Acknowledgement of Receipt email at the end of July, stating that the application had been received on June 17, 2021.
Since we entered Canada in May, her 6 months are running out now in November, so we also completed and sent a Visitor Visa extension application early last month in October. We have not received any Acknowledgement of Receipt for that, although the tracking we got on the package says it was delivered.
We are regularly checking processing status on the website: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-status.html, but were unsure whether to be checking "Work Permit" (for the Open Work Permit portion) or "Family Sponsorship" (for the overall PR app). This makes a big difference, since the work permit one is currently in June 2021, and the family sponsorship one is still in May 2020. Since all documents were sent together (this was explicitly written in the instructions when applying - to send the OPW together in the same application), we hope that the OPW will not only be processed once the entire PR application is processed, otherwise we'll be waiting an extremely long time. The whole point of the OPW is to be able to get it relatively quickly (at least in comparison with the incredibly long PR processing times) so that the individual can work and sustain themselves, while they wait for the larger application to be processed.
I just called IRCC and the man didn't seem to know specifically which processing status would apply to us - but rather said that my partner will only get OWP eligibility once we get "Approved in Principle", the first step towards getting the PR. I asked him what the timeline was for that and he didn't answer, but after looking it up online, it seems to me that Approved in Principle essentially is towards the end of the entire process - it says that IRCC looked at the entire application and said the applicant meets eligibility, but that certain parts of the process still need to be actioned.
If this is indeed the case, then what is the point of the OWP? If we have to wait for Approved in Principle with the bigger PR application, won't that mean we're waiting for the entire process to be almost done? Moreover, does the waiting period of 4 months for OPW that I see everywhere not apply to us?
Any answers/personal experiences or information you can share would be GREATLY appreciated. We are just so frustrated with the lack of clarity and realistic expectations and communication throughout this whole process, and hope we can get some clear answers soon. As I said, we don't mind waiting a long time for the PR, but the whole allure of the OPW was that it would be quicker and allow you to work and take care of yourself while you had that super long wait for PR. I feel like I'm missing something here, and I hope some of you can help!
Thank you so much! If you want any more info, let me know, and my apologies for writing so much.
