I've read many posts here which have been very helpful but today I've become very confused after speaking to the CIC call center.
My wp expires in February 2014 and I have just been recently laid off. My severance runs out at the end of January and I am being challenged with applying for another position with a new employer since my wp is restricted to my previous employer only.
I did receive my initial approval on my PR application under the CEC program in November and I meet all the conditions to be eligible for a bridging open working permit. I completed all forms and saved the application to come back later to make the payment, when I returned I clicked on 'continue application' but I keep getting redirected to a page stating that the online services are down - this has been over a week.
I called the help centre today to make them aware of the technical difficulties and explained that I needed to apply online since the processing time would be 19 days vs 50 sending it in by mail. Considering the time constraints I'm facing, not being able to confirm my date of availability during a job interview, or worse case scenario having to apply for EI but my status changing in February I rather not want to apply by mail.
Now I've read that many have applied online but today I was told that I can't apply online for a BOWP when I'm under the CEC program, he even told me that it will cause implications in the long run.
Does anyone know anything more about this? Any advice is much appreciated!
My wp expires in February 2014 and I have just been recently laid off. My severance runs out at the end of January and I am being challenged with applying for another position with a new employer since my wp is restricted to my previous employer only.
I did receive my initial approval on my PR application under the CEC program in November and I meet all the conditions to be eligible for a bridging open working permit. I completed all forms and saved the application to come back later to make the payment, when I returned I clicked on 'continue application' but I keep getting redirected to a page stating that the online services are down - this has been over a week.
I called the help centre today to make them aware of the technical difficulties and explained that I needed to apply online since the processing time would be 19 days vs 50 sending it in by mail. Considering the time constraints I'm facing, not being able to confirm my date of availability during a job interview, or worse case scenario having to apply for EI but my status changing in February I rather not want to apply by mail.
Now I've read that many have applied online but today I was told that I can't apply online for a BOWP when I'm under the CEC program, he even told me that it will cause implications in the long run.
Does anyone know anything more about this? Any advice is much appreciated!
