ETA

[LuFc92]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen im looking for a bit of help regarding ETA's.

I had a open work permit back in 2018 that i recieved through a inland application while living in Canada at the time. I used a third party immigration consulting company to submit the application to which i was successful in receiving my work permit.

Fast forward to now im looking to return to canada and have applied for a new ETA but its been like 5 weeks and still not approved so im wondering would they have issued me a ETA at the time of my work permit back in 2018 as it would be good for 5 years?

Also to add, originally my flight to canada 5 weeks ago i was able to check in and receive my boarding pass but i did not proceed to board the flight as i was unsure if i even had a valid ETA already and the new one i applied for had still not been approved, would being able to check in and have a boarding pass show that I actually did infact have a vaild ETA this whole time?

 

[scylla]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen im looking for a bit of help regarding ETA's.

I had a open work permit back in 2018 that i recieved through a inland application while living in Canada at the time. I used a third party immigration consulting company to submit the application to which i was successful in receiving my work permit.

Fast forward to now im looking to return to canada and have applied for a new ETA but its been like 5 weeks and still not approved so im wondering would they have issued me a ETA at the time of my work permit back in 2018 as it would be good for 5 years?

Also to add, originally my flight to canada 5 weeks ago i was able to check in and receive my boarding pass but i did not proceed to board the flight as i was unsure if i even had a valid ETA already and the new one i applied for had still not been approved, would being able to check in and have a boarding pass show that I actually did infact have a vaild ETA this whole time?

The boarding pass would definitely not show if you had a valid eTA or not. When did you originally fly to Canada? What year and month?

eTAs were only made mandatory a few years ago.

An eTA would NOT have been issued along with your open work permit. If you have / had an eTA, this would have been something you applied for and that was issued to you before you came to Canada.

 

[LuFc92]

I never had a ETA prior to 2018 as i arrived in canada initially in 2015 before ETA's came into force

 

[scylla]

I never had a ETA prior to 2018 as i arrived in canada initially in 2015 before ETA's came into force

In that case you wouldn't have an eTA and something else is holding up the processing of your eTA application. Hard to guess what this might be without knowing your history in Canada.

I'm assuming that if you had any previous refusals to Canada or any other country, these were declared in the eTA application. Also assuming that you have no criminality issues.

If you did live a long time in Canada, that could be a reason why something is delayed. Hard to comment without detailed info.

 

[LuFc92]

So they wouldn't have issued one with my open work permit back in 2018? I have a friend who did receive one for the same application so this is what sparked my thinking.
The third party immigration consulting company i used doesn't exist anymore so its not like i can even call and ask them about my file.

 

[scylla]

So they wouldn't have issued one with my open work permit back in 2018? I have a friend who did receive one for the same application so this is what sparked my thinking.
The third party immigration consulting company i used doesn't exist anymore so its not like i can even call and ask them about my file.

No, they would not have issued an eTA with the OWP. Just the OWP. Your friend must be mistaken on the details of how he obtained the eTA.

What happened with the spousal sponsorship application? When did you end up leaving Canada (i.e. how long ago)?

 

[LuFc92]

Same application definitely confirmed they received a ETA with their open work permit as part of their overall application.

My spousal application was withdrawn in 2019 but i had the open work permit until 2020

 

[scylla]

Same application definitely confirmed they received a ETA with their open work permit as part of their overall application.

My spousal application was withdrawn in 2019 but i had the open work permit until 2020

Hmm... That's interesting about the eTA. I don't think that's standard practice.

IMO it's possible your application is undergoing additional scrutiny due to the withdrawn spousal sponsorship application.

It looks like you can check whether you have an eTA here. If that doesn't turn up anything, then IMO your past history in Canada has flagged your application.

https://onlineservices-servicesenligne.cic.gc.ca/eta/applicationQuery?lang=en&_ga=1.205071059.234167906.1423250354

 

[scylla]

Same application definitely confirmed they received a ETA with their open work permit as part of their overall application.

My spousal application was withdrawn in 2019 but i had the open work permit until 2020

One more question. Do you still hold the same passport you did back in 2018 when you got the OWP? Or has it been renewed?

 

[LuFc92]

Would you recieve a ETA if it wasn't a OWP due to spousal sponsorship application? Just because i also know someone else who recieved a ETA with their inland closed WP?

I've literally had zero updates on it, i was already deemed criminally admissible due to having previous permits etc.

I did already try that but you can't actually look it up without the original application and ETA numbers which i don't have due to a third party company being the ones to submit my application.

 

[LuFc92]

One more question. Do you still hold the same passport you did back in 2018 when you got the OWP? Or has it been renewed?

Same passport

 

[scylla]

Would you recieve a ETA if it wasn't a OWP due to spousal sponsorship application? Just because i also know someone else who recieved a ETA with their inland closed WP?

I've literally had zero updates on it, i was already deemed criminally admissible due to having previous permits etc.

I did already try that but you can't actually look it up without the original application and ETA numbers which i don't have due to a third party company being the ones to submit my application.

eTA is not part of the spousal sponsorship application. It's a completely separate process. eTA is only required to travel to Canada. It is not required to remain in Canada and for this reason is in no way part of the spousal sponsorshi process.

What do you mean by this? "I've literally had zero updates on it, i was already deemed criminally admissible due to having previous permits etc."

Are you referring to the eTA or the spousal sponsorship application or something else?

 

[LuFc92]

I understand that but what im saying is these people have recieved ETA's with their work permits from inside canada the same way i recieved my work permit. My friend showed me his paper work, he had his OWP and a seperate ETA. Had also not received a ETA prior to this one. Same for the other person i know on a LMIA, had never had a ETA prior to his most recent work permit.

My apologies i mean ive had not updates since i submitted the new ETA over 5 weeks ago, just says submitted on my ircc portal. I was also just stating no criminality issues

 

[LuFc92]

The link you posted to the ETA checking tool can only be used if you have a active application or a previous application but you have to know the application and ETA number to look up any existing ETA's. I don't know either of them or i would have been able to look it up myself.

 

[scylla]

I understand that but what im saying is these people have recieved ETA's with their work permits from inside canada the same way i recieved my work permit. My friend showed me his paper work, he had his OWP and a seperate ETA. Had also not received a ETA prior to this one. Same for the other person i know on a LMIA, had never had a ETA prior to his most recent work permit.

My apologies i mean ive had not updates since i submitted the new ETA over 5 weeks ago, just says submitted on my ircc portal. I was also just stating no criminality issues

Maybe I'm mistaken in that case on the spousal sponsorship process. I don't know how you check if your eTA is valid if that site isn't working.

The one thing I can tell you is that it will likely take a few months for you to hear back from IRCC. There's a large backlog of applications right now and any eTA that is non-standard and has to be reviewed by an IRCC officer is taking quite a while right now.