Background/Sob story - Skip this part if you don't care
I am in Canada on a Post-Graduation Work Permit(PGWP) which I received in August of 2012. It expires mid-August 2015. I started my Canadian Experience Class(CEC) application for PR at the end of 2013. In early 2014, ready with all of my paperwork together ready to submit, I went to consult with a lawyer who informed me that the work experience requirements had changed without notice (they didn't update the website) and I was ineligible. I had the 1950 hours of work experience, but now it was required that I have 30 hours per week for 52 weeks and I had a 25 hour per week job. I picked up extra employment and had already been doing some extra things, increased my hours at my main job.. etc. I was ready to apply by that fall and submitted my application via mail in November. I was one of those who got duped by the fact that CIC didn't update their quota numbers on the website (it showed thousands of spots left when in fact it had already been full for over a month). So, in February I got a rejection letter and of course in January the Express Entry system had gone into place.
Background more relevant to the question at hand
I filled out an EE profile and received an ITA in April (507 points). I applied on June 8th because there were a few loose ends due to the difficulty of my application process (I now had to get a medical exam before rather than after applying, I needed to reapply for police clearances that expired, I needed to get new pictures, update work letters, etc.) Now I am waiting for an Acknowledgement of receipt(AOR), the official one not the automatic one. I need that AOR to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit(BOWP) because my PGWP expires on August 14th. Things are getting close to the wire and I'm starting to get nervous.
The actual questions
How long has the AOR generally been taking for people who applied for EE under CEC? I have seen some variance and the CIC phone people told me it could take up to 18 weeks from my application date, which would put things in October.
I'm planning on applying for a NAFTA work permit as a backup plan (my work includes vocational counseling and I'm American) but that process costs another $400 and I'm not made of money. My lawyer also suggested a hail mary maneuver of applying for the BOWP on paper with my PR application number in the spot where I'm supposed to include info about my AOR and hoping I get that before they process it, which he described as "very precarious and risky". I guess the other option is to quit my job?
Any help would be most appreciated. I feel like I'm trapped in some Kafakaeque alphabet soup of bureaucracy :-X. Good luck everyone!
I am in Canada on a Post-Graduation Work Permit(PGWP) which I received in August of 2012. It expires mid-August 2015. I started my Canadian Experience Class(CEC) application for PR at the end of 2013. In early 2014, ready with all of my paperwork together ready to submit, I went to consult with a lawyer who informed me that the work experience requirements had changed without notice (they didn't update the website) and I was ineligible. I had the 1950 hours of work experience, but now it was required that I have 30 hours per week for 52 weeks and I had a 25 hour per week job. I picked up extra employment and had already been doing some extra things, increased my hours at my main job.. etc. I was ready to apply by that fall and submitted my application via mail in November. I was one of those who got duped by the fact that CIC didn't update their quota numbers on the website (it showed thousands of spots left when in fact it had already been full for over a month). So, in February I got a rejection letter and of course in January the Express Entry system had gone into place.
Background more relevant to the question at hand
I filled out an EE profile and received an ITA in April (507 points). I applied on June 8th because there were a few loose ends due to the difficulty of my application process (I now had to get a medical exam before rather than after applying, I needed to reapply for police clearances that expired, I needed to get new pictures, update work letters, etc.) Now I am waiting for an Acknowledgement of receipt(AOR), the official one not the automatic one. I need that AOR to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit(BOWP) because my PGWP expires on August 14th. Things are getting close to the wire and I'm starting to get nervous.
The actual questions
How long has the AOR generally been taking for people who applied for EE under CEC? I have seen some variance and the CIC phone people told me it could take up to 18 weeks from my application date, which would put things in October.
I'm planning on applying for a NAFTA work permit as a backup plan (my work includes vocational counseling and I'm American) but that process costs another $400 and I'm not made of money. My lawyer also suggested a hail mary maneuver of applying for the BOWP on paper with my PR application number in the spot where I'm supposed to include info about my AOR and hoping I get that before they process it, which he described as "very precarious and risky". I guess the other option is to quit my job?
Any help would be most appreciated. I feel like I'm trapped in some Kafakaeque alphabet soup of bureaucracy :-X. Good luck everyone!
