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Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) - Eligibility/ Instructions updated on CIC

rasber

Hero Member
Mar 15, 2015
214
19
Category........
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-03-2015
AOR Received.
10-03-2015
Med's Done....
14-02-2015
CIC has updated the eligibility requirements for applying BOWP under Express Entry. Seems like we cannot use the system generated AOR to apply BOWP. The AOR should be issued by CIO. So I am assuming if an application is in CIO Sydney with ecas status "Application Received" can be considered AOR. But I am not sure.

Determining if a positive eligibility decision has been made

The bridging open work permit (BOWP) requires that the foreign nationals have submitted their application for permanent residence and that CIC has provided a “positive eligibility assessment”. The positive eligibility assessment is considered to be made when the applicants receive their Acknowledgement of Receipt letter (not notice of receipt of electronic submission) and the following is confirmed in GCMS:

For FSWC applications
submitted prior to January 1, 2015, the status of the Ministerial Instructions activity has been set to “Met” or a positive Final Determination of Eligibility letter or email has been sent.
submitted on or after January 1, 2015, the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) has sent an Acknowledgment of Receipt letter that confirms the application has passed R10 completeness (this is not the Electronic receipt of APR notice but the letter [Acknowledgement of Receipt] issued in GCMS).
For PNP applications, the status of the Eligibility EC-QC/PNP activity has been set to “Passed” or the Acknowledgment of Receipt letter or email has been sent by the CIO.
For CEC applications, the status of the Eligibility CEC activity has been set to “Passed” or the Acknowledgement of Receipt letter or email has been sent by the CIO.
For FSTC applications, the Acknowledgement of Receipt letter or email has been sent by the CIO.

Express Entry

In the Express Entry application process, a notice and a letter are sent to the applicant. Only the letter (Acknowledgment of Receipt) can be used to support a BOWP.

A notice
(Electronic receipt of APR) is automatically issued to the applicants on receipt of their electronic application submission. This notice indicates the following: “Your application is being checked to determine whether it meets the requirements of a complete application pursuant to section 10 and section 12.01 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.” This notice cannot be used to support a BOWP, as it does not reflect that the applicant has received a “positive eligibility assessment” as required for a BOWP.

A letter (Acknowledgement of Receipt) is issued to the applicants once their application has passed a completeness check. This letter indicates the following: “CIC has reviewed your application and determined that it meets the requirements of a complete application as described in section 10 and section 12.01 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.” This is the official Acknowledgement of Receipt letter and it may be used to support a BOWP if all other requirements are met.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/prov/bridging.asp
 

fonteynb

Star Member
Feb 5, 2013
138
7
Category........
NOC Code......
2171
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
04-04-2015
AOR Received.
24-04-2015
Med's Done....
16-03-2015
Passport Req..
24-07-2015
as far as I've seen I didn't see anyone getting this second letter yet.
Even the persons who got already the PPR didn't mention the second letter.

I'm curious now what will happen with my BOWP request. It should still take about 1 month before it will be processed.
 

Specterz

Hero Member
Apr 2, 2015
246
11
Mississauga, Ontario
Category........
CEC
Visa Office......
Ottawa
AOR Received.
Jan 06, 2017
Med's Done....
Mar 07, 2017
Passport Req..
Mar 14, 2017
fonteynb said:
as far as I've seen I didn't see anyone getting this second letter yet.
Even the persons who got already the PPR didn't mention the second letter.

I'm curious now what will happen with my BOWP request. It should still take about 1 month before it will be processed.
I believe the reason, they didn't receive the letters, because of the following condition for BOWP:

"the applicant currently holds a valid work permit that will expire within the next four months and there are no other issues of concern"
 

fvidania

Star Member
Jul 17, 2013
111
3
Well, my application should be processed this week or next week the latest. I submitted on March 10 and haven't heard from them.
I submitted my PR application on February 17th and they haven't done anything, no updates at all. My work permit expires this Friday 22 (tomorrow) and I will be in implied status for a couple months since my company applied for an extension of my work permit based on a LMIA application they did for me...
 

rasber

Hero Member
Mar 15, 2015
214
19
Category........
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-03-2015
AOR Received.
10-03-2015
Med's Done....
14-02-2015
fvidania said:
Well, my application should be processed this week or next week the latest. I submitted on March 10 and haven't heard from them.
I submitted my PR application on February 17th and they haven't done anything, no updates at all. My work permit expires this Friday 22 (tomorrow) and I will be in implied status for a couple months since my company applied for an extension of my work permit based on a LMIA application they did for me...
Do you know in which office your PR application is now, Ottawa or CIO Sydney?
What is your ecas overall application status, "In Process" or "Application Received" ?
 

elisha79

Star Member
Mar 26, 2014
83
0
What if your ecas is application recieved now? It means your BOWP is approved?where we can get this second letter??
 

naga.msbi

Hero Member
Jan 29, 2014
259
5
rasber said:
Do you know in which office your PR application is now, Ottawa or CIO Sydney?
What is your ecas overall application status, "In Process" or "Application Received" ?

What is the difference ?

ECAS overall status == In process or Application Received does it matter for BOWP
 

rasber

Hero Member
Mar 15, 2015
214
19
Category........
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-03-2015
AOR Received.
10-03-2015
Med's Done....
14-02-2015
naga.msbi said:
What is the difference ?

ECAS overall status == In process or Application Received does it matter for BOWP
Initially if your application status is "In Process" that means your file is still with CIC.

And if your application status is "Application Received" that means your file has been transferred to CIO office Sydney and they have received your application.
https://services3.cic.gc.ca/ecas/redir.do?redir=app_perm_wrkr&lang=en&app=ecas
Note that this was the stage where they used to issue AOR's in previous PR system. And when your application is in CIO, I believe they have everything they need to process your PR application and they will make a note in GCMS to be accessed by CIO Vegreville (BOWP issuing office).
 

Conor9900

Hero Member
Jun 20, 2013
358
13
I think the AOR you receive automatically is all you need for the BOWP. There is no suggestion you get a 2nd AOR, why would you? The rules say:

"In the Express Entry application process, a notice and a letter are sent to the applicant. Only the letter (Acknowledgment of Receipt) can be used to support a BOWP"

I got both those things, in that order (the notice then the letter), after I applied online, so I assume that is the AOR they're talking about. There is no mention of a 2nd AOR being sent
 

emma_h_s

Full Member
Feb 1, 2015
35
2
This is really interesting thanks for sharing.

I was refused a BOWP on May 6th because the visa officer said that I "didn't have an AOR". I submitted the AOR from the express entry as part of my online application. My AOR states that "Your application is being checked to determine whether it meets the requirements of a complete application pursuant to Section 10 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) Regulations". It does not include the wording on the updated page on the CIC website: “CIC has reviewed your application and determined that it meets the requirements of a complete application as described in section 10 and section 12.01 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.”

I have been concerned about whether it would be accepted, but as my current WP was due to expire shortly I had no other alternative to but to go down this route. I was told by several CIC agents that the AOR I had would be accepted. My PR application was submitted Feb 19th and has had no updates at all. My BOWP application was submitted on March 2nd.

I have appealed the decision to refuse the work permit and am still (more than 2 weeks later) awaiting the results of the reconsideration. I'd been hoping that this was simply an error on the part of the visa officer but I'm now thinking that they have applied these new guidelines to my application.
 

elisha79

Star Member
Mar 26, 2014
83
0
emma_h_s said:
This is really interesting thanks for sharing.

I was refused a BOWP on May 6th because the visa officer said that I "didn't have an AOR". I submitted the AOR from the express entry as part of my online application. My AOR states that "Your application is being checked to determine whether it meets the requirements of a complete application pursuant to Section 10 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) Regulations". It does not include the wording on the updated page on the CIC website: “CIC has reviewed your application and determined that it meets the requirements of a complete application as described in section 10 and section 12.01 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.”

I have been concerned about whether it would be accepted, but as my current WP was due to expire shortly I had no other alternative to but to go down this route. I was told by several CIC agents that the AOR I had would be accepted. My PR application was submitted Feb 19th and has had no updates at all. My BOWP application was submitted on March 2nd.

I have appealed the decision to refuse the work permit and am still (more than 2 weeks later) awaiting the results of the reconsideration. I'd been hoping that this was simply an error on the part of the visa officer but I'm now thinking that they have applied these new guidelines to my application.
What is the status of your ecas?during the time you submitted your BOWP?
 

krishna19

Hero Member
Feb 28, 2015
352
10
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
elisha79 said:
What is the status of your ecas?during the time you submitted your BOWP?

Mine BOWP got approved couple of weeks back at that time my ECAS status was Application received.
 

Conor9900

Hero Member
Jun 20, 2013
358
13
Oh wow this is discouraging. So the new AOR is not in fact your AOR, more fantastic work by CIC.

So rasbar, if your ECAS is Application Received, dos that mean you will be eligible for the BOWP? And they wont issue any other confirmation that you are eligible for BOWP?
 

elisha79

Star Member
Mar 26, 2014
83
0
krishna19 said:
Mine BOWP got approved couple of weeks back at that time my ECAS status was Application received.
So I guess if your ecas stated application recieved, highly chanced to get BOWP approve..