My girlfriend has been in Canada for almost a year on a visa with a work permit. By mid-April, her visa will expire. She's trying to apply for Express Entry but unfortunately is having some trouble with the evaluation of her education credentials, meaning she doesn't have enough points as of yet. When her visa expires, she will have 1 full year of Canadian work experience and probably/hopefully enough points to be invited to the PR process. But she won't be able to bridge her work permit anymore and would have to ask for an extension. The answer to the extension to the work permit takes 1-4 months, which is usually rejected. But she would be able to work in the meantime until she gets an answer.
So in the case that she applies for an extension of her work permit and her 1-year is up, then she would hopefully have enough points for the Express Entry and so gets invited for PR soon after. But apparently she can't apply for a new work permit as a 3-month break between work permits is required. So she wouldn't be able to apply for a new work permit until mid-July, which takes 4-16 weeks to process depending on the type of permit. Therefore, even if she's invited to the PR process by mid/late April, in the highly likely case that her request for extending her current work permit is rejected by May or June or even July, she would not have a work permit anymore, and so would have to stop working.
If we get married a few months sooner than planned (our 3-year anniversary is in June), then would she have other options available to her to make sure she doesn't lose her job? Say, if we get married in March and send the sponsorship application right away, can she get a work permit some other way without the 3-month pause, or be able to bridge her current work permit? However, as I understand it, processing times for family sponsorships are 12-months, as opposed to the Express Entry applications which take 6 months.
So in the case that she applies for an extension of her work permit and her 1-year is up, then she would hopefully have enough points for the Express Entry and so gets invited for PR soon after. But apparently she can't apply for a new work permit as a 3-month break between work permits is required. So she wouldn't be able to apply for a new work permit until mid-July, which takes 4-16 weeks to process depending on the type of permit. Therefore, even if she's invited to the PR process by mid/late April, in the highly likely case that her request for extending her current work permit is rejected by May or June or even July, she would not have a work permit anymore, and so would have to stop working.
If we get married a few months sooner than planned (our 3-year anniversary is in June), then would she have other options available to her to make sure she doesn't lose her job? Say, if we get married in March and send the sponsorship application right away, can she get a work permit some other way without the 3-month pause, or be able to bridge her current work permit? However, as I understand it, processing times for family sponsorships are 12-months, as opposed to the Express Entry applications which take 6 months.
