Applying for Permanant residence whilst on the IEC.

[duffield44]

Hi

I am British and I will be marrying a Canadian in Canada in July 2014, and I will be applying for permanent residency thereafter as we are planning to settle in Canada. She has to return to Canada in Feb 2014, and I obviously want to join her before we get married to plan the wedding etc.

Therefore I was planning on applying for the International Experience Canada (IEC), and entering the country on this 1 year temporary work permit/visa. I am eligible to apply and I have entered on the visa for one year before. I wanted to know whether being on this temporary visa will in any way hinder me applying for permanent residency.

We learnt that my fiance couldn't apply for permanent residency in the UK in the reversed situation. She was on the similar youth mobility scheme to work in the UK for Canadians, and she discovered that she couldn't apply for permanent residency while she was on it.

Would the situation be the same for me if I was on the IEC? If this was the case then I wouldn't be able to apply for permanent residency until my visa expires in Feb 2015?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Ben

 

[zardoz]

There is no block to your plan. You can certainly be sponsored for PR by a spouse while you are on some alternative visa, for example IEC. As you are a British national, an outland application via London would be your best option for Family Class sponsorship.

 

[truesmile]

Yes, as zardoz stated you can apply for PR while you are in Canada on an IEC visa. Now if you want to guarantee yourself that you can remain working, you will want to submit that application as early as you can into your one-year IEC. For example, if you apply 'inland' you should or would also apply for an OWP which you would get after Stage 1, which they are quoting 11 months for. If you apply 'outland' (and YES you can even though you are in Canada and it may very well be your best option), you cannot apply for an open work permit, but your processing of both Stage 1 and Stage 2 could all be done and finished in less than a year.

 

[LittleMermaid]

Hi!

I did the exact same thing, and I have my Landing Interview in a matter of hours

I am from the UK, I came over as a visitor for six months in Oct 2011. Then I applied for the IEC and stayed on that for a year. That began in Feb and I was married in August. In November we sent off our application for inland sponsorship for PR. I got implied status after the expiry of my IEC Feb 2013 and then my work permit came through Oct 22, (due to the strike) and my confirmation of permanent residency came Oct 27.

So it can totally be done, and you can ask me anything about my experience any time

 

[zardoz]

Hi!

I did the exact same thing, and I have my Landing Interview in a matter of hours

I am from the UK, I came over as a visitor for six months in Oct 2011. Then I applied for the IEC and stayed on that for a year. That began in Feb and I was married in August. In November we sent off our application for inland sponsorship for PR. I got implied status after the expiry of my IEC Feb 2013 and then my work permit came through Oct 22, (due to the strike) and my confirmation of permanent residency came Oct 27.

So it can totally be done, and you can ask me anything about my experience any time

I hope you didn't work on "implied status" after your IEC expired, or if you did, that they don't find out.

 

[duffield44]

Hi

Thank you so much for your responses, I really appreciate it.

Truesmile – on the website CIC website it gives 2 options to apply for the spouse. It says:
- If your spouse, partner or accompanying dependent child lives with you in Canada, use the Application for Permanent Residence in Canada—Spouse or Common-law Partner.
- If your spouse, partner or dependent child lives outside Canada, use the Application to Sponsor a Member of the Family Class (FC).
I am assuming that these are the applications ‘inland’ and ‘outland’ respectively that you’re talking about. If I am applying whilst living outside Canada (although I’ll be in Canada), would this not hinder my application as it would imply that I wouldn’t be living with my partner at the time (she would be living in Canada)?

LittleMermaid – Were you allowed to stay in Canada and work after your IEC expired in Feb 2013. Is it the “implied status” that allowed you to stay? What is implied status? Also congrats on the permanent residency!

 

[LittleMermaid]

I hope you didn't work on "implied status" after your IEC expired, or if you did, that they don't find out.

I actually consulted multiple sources about this, worrying very much myself - and they all agreed I was fine to work. I work for a huge corporation who would have never allowed me to work illegally. I took faith in these sources. I was granted my permanent residency today and considering all we went through to get here I don't believe this was an outstanding issue. Edit - I submitted my OWP with my PR app so after these multiple sources agreed I was fine, then I returned to work. I did not assume.

Duffield44 - I was on implied status and continued to work, yes - because I had submitted my open work permit with my permanent residency application. Initially I did not think this was the case, but as I mentioned earlier I consulted several sources and I was approved to continue working. I would urge you to consult people yourself though for your own peace of mind. You will read a lot of conflicting advice in these forums and it's best to find out information for yourself but use this forum for support/straight forward instances. Every case is individual. Good luck!

 

[Rob_TO]

I actually consulted multiple sources about this, worrying very much myself - and they all agreed I was fine to work. I work for a huge corporation who would have never allowed me to work illegally. I took faith in these sources. I was granted my permanent residency today and considering all we went through to get here I don't believe this was an outstanding issue. Edit - I submitted my OWP with my PR app so after these multiple sources agreed I was fine, then I returned to work. I did not assume.

Duffield44 - I was on implied status and continued to work, yes - because I had submitted my open work permit with my permanent residency application. Initially I did not think this was the case, but as I mentioned earlier I consulted several sources and I was approved to continue working. I would urge you to consult people yourself though for your own peace of mind. You will read a lot of conflicting advice in these forums and it's best to find out information for yourself but use this forum for support/straight forward instances. Every case is individual. Good luck!

Regarding people working on expired IEC under impression they have implied work status, despite what any "sources" have told you the only thing that really matters is - people have been caught doing this, and their applications have been significantly delayed because of it .

So despite what anyone's opinion is on this, it doesn't change the fact that technically it is not allowed. If it was allowed, then there would be no stories of people being caught. Of course the chance of being caught seems to be very small, but one should still know the potential consequences if they are caught. See here for recent example:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t163087.0.html
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/apply-inland-after-iec-expire-keep-working-and-now-aip-refuse-t163087.0.html;msg2710263#msg2710263

 

[LittleMermaid]

Regarding people working on expired IEC under impression they have implied work status, despite what any "sources" have told you the only thing that really matters is - people have been caught doing this, and their applications have been significantly delayed because of it .

So despite what anyone's opinion is on this, it doesn't change the fact that technically it is not allowed. If it was allowed, then there would be no stories of people being caught. Of course the chance of being caught seems to be very small, but one should still know the potential consequences if they are caught. See here for recent example:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t163087.0.html
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/apply-inland-after-iec-expire-keep-working-and-now-aip-refuse-t163087.0.html;msg2710263#msg2710263

I understand this and I've read about it myself. I was just being honest. I urged Duffield44 to do things for himself.

 

[Rob_TO]

I understand this and I've read about it myself. I was just being honest. I urged Duffield44 to do things for himself.

Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that technically you were working illegally. It's just you weren't caught, as very few are in these cases.

 

[LittleMermaid]

Well as I was going through it, I was not aware that this was the case. I was told this multiple times in regard to my case personally, and I received lots of conflicting advice from reading this forum so I decided to go with what I was told in my day to day life. I'm not going to argue about it now, I think it's silly. I realise now it can hinder the process but it's something I can't change, and I urged the OP to consult his own sources every step of the way because this forum can be confusing like I found it when I went through this.

 

[Rob_TO]

Well as I was going through it, I was not aware that this was the case. I was told this multiple times in regard to my case personally, and I received lots of conflicting advice from reading this forum so I decided to go with what I was told in my day to day life. I'm not going to argue about it now, I think it's silly. I realise now it can hinder the process but it's something I can't change, and I urged the OP to consult his own sources every step of the way because this forum can be confusing like I found it when I went through this.

No it doesn't affect you personally anymore, but it could sure affect someone who is just starting on the application process.

If you are one of the very few unlucky ones caught working on expired IEC visa, then it doesn't matter if you tell them that multiple sources, lawyers, consultants, even CIC call centre agents... all told you it was ok. They will not care, and you still would face the consequences of a huge delay in your processing.

All the confusing and conflicting info aside, bottom line is people have been caught. That is really all anyone needs to know, and then the choice to risk it or not is up to the applicant.

 

[LittleMermaid]

No it doesn't affect you personally anymore, but it could sure affect someone who is just starting on the application process.

If you are one of the very few unlucky ones caught working on expired IEC visa, then it doesn't matter if you tell them that multiple sources, lawyers, consultants, even CIC call centre agents... all told you it was ok. They will not care, and you still would face the consequences of a huge delay in your processing.

All the confusing and conflicting info aside, bottom line is people have been caught. That is really all anyone needs to know, and then the choice to risk it or not is up to the applicant.

That is exactly why I urged Duffield44 to do his own research regarding his own situation.

I would urge anybody going through this complex process to do everything by the book, judge their situation solely on their experience and get help from multiple resources and not by any one person on a forum. I would not want anybody to go through anything more difficult than the entire process start to finish already.

I'm not responding to this any more, I understand your concern due to the links you posted but us generally talking in circles is not helping Duffield44 in particular and going on about it more is just kind of self-involved.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Therefore I was planning on applying for the International Experience Canada (IEC), and entering the country on this 1 year temporary work permit/visa. I am eligible to apply and I have entered on the visa for one year before. I wanted to know whether being on this temporary visa will in any way hinder me applying for permanent residency.

Hi Ben

If you don't already know, the first 2 rounds of the 2014 UK IEC have already filled. The last round will be sometime in early 2014, with 2000 spots left. The first 2 rounds have both gone in less than 20 minutes, 3rd round will probably go even faster.

 

[duffield44]

Hi, thanks Canuck, I managed to get a place on the 2nd round of the IEC after missing on the 1st round. It was a rush!

OK, so from all your advice I can see that I have 2 options, and that is to either apply 'inland' or 'outland', and judging by the length of time it takes to process these applications it would be best for me to apply before I am married in July 2014 so that i can get PR before my IEC visa is up in Feb 2015. 'Outland' is quicker, however, if I am applying 'outland' would this be saying that I am not living in Canada because it is outland, and therefore not living with my sponsor (who will be in Canada), and will that hinder my chances of permanent residency as I am not living with her? Or does 'outland simply mean that I am applying via an department outside of Canada like the High Commission of Canada in London, and I can still state that I am living in Canada with my fiance?

LittleMermaid - Do you have any other sources that are good for information? I've found that the government websites have been limited on more complex situations like this and they don't allow you to call them for advice. Thanks