2 Questions - 1/work permits and outland PR and 2/drivers license

[antz21]

Hi everyone,

Apologies if these questions have been asked and answered before, but I have been lurking around these forums looking for answers to my questions and I am still a bit murky on the whole situation!! I would appreciate any help/insight you guys could give me!

So I am a British/USA dual citizen, however I am applying using my British passport so I am pretty sure the USA citizenship becomes irrelevant for the immigration process. I am applying outland for a Permanent Resident visa as a spouse. My husband is Canadian and lives here, we did our legal paperwork ceremony last August 2011 in Edmonton, AB, and then we had a symbolic, traditional ceremony in April 2012. We were planning on having all of the paperwork finished by now, but it turned out to be a bit more complicated than we had originally thought (I travel for work for about 9 months at a time so gathering some of the things needed got difficult!). But now, finally when I have had some time off I have got my medical completed, proof of our relationship documented and the paperwork filled out, we are just waiting on my police certificates, but then we are sending it in ASAP.

We know this process could then take up to about 10 months for him to get approved as a sponsor and myself approved for PR. This leads me onto my first question - I currently have a job offer starting in September, but we are applying for PR outland, is it still ok to apply for a temporary work permit after just submitting our PR paperwork too???

And the second question I have is - I have had a British driver's license for about 7 years now, what are the rules for being able to use it over here? Would I have to change to a Canadian license? How would I do that?


Thank you all for any help you can give me!!

 

[rachiy]

Yes you can apply for a work permit while your PR application is in process. Your employer will need to get an LMO, but it sounds like you know that already. Also, there is part of the WP application in which you need to prove you plan to leave Canada when the WP expires. Obviously if applying for PR you will not be leaving at the end, but there is a way around this that I am sure someone else will be able to help you with - I don't want to give wrong info!

And yes you will need to give up your British licence - unless you want to start from the beginning with your Canadian licence (which takes a few years to work through the graduated system - fine if you are 16 and learning to drive, not so fine if you are an adult and have places to go, and have been driving for years in your home country).
I believe you can use your foreign licence (it depends on which country, but I am sure this applies to UK) for up to three months, or until you start working. I remember reading that when I first came here three years ago so the rules might have changed by now.
When I went to get my Alberta licence they told me I had to give up my New Zealand licence, write the learners exam (simple 25 questions), and then once they verified that my NZ licence was valid and I didn't have any dangerous driving or other charges on it, I would be able to sit my final road test. It ended up costing me about $500 all up, and I got it all done in a month. It is frustrating when you have a clean driving record for many years overseas and that is not recognized here, but seeing as I am now driving on the other side of the road and some of the rules are slightly different than at home I can understand the need for regulation. Some countries allow a simple exchange of licences, and this varies depending on which province you live in.

 

[parker24]

Re: Work Permit

If you are applying outland, you cannot apply for a work permit. They will reject it when they see you are applying for spousal. You may have to talk to the employer and ask for them to hold off until you land as a PR.

Hopefully your application will be fast so you don't have to wait too long!