Hi, I have a somewhat complicated situation, and was wondering if anyone had any advice.
I am a doctoral student in the U.S., and I am planning on doing about three months of research in Montreal. I need a space to conduct my experiments, so my advisor got me in contact with a professor at McGill, who said I would have to apply as a graduate research trainee there. I will not be paid while I'm there, but because I'm not a student, I had to apply for a work permit.
The problem is that my original dates were June 15-September 15. These are the dates on my official invitation letter from McGill, which took about two months to get. I applied for the work permit April 25, and I haven't heard anything back yet. I thought that applying online counted as "inside Canada," meaning the processing time would be about 20 days, but I'm thinking this is not the case, since I haven't heard anything yet. If you file for the work permit online, which U.S. consulate does it "go" to?
If the work permit takes 4 months, which is the processing time listed for New York, I won't even get approval until the end of August, which means my original dates of June-September will no longer work. To change my dates at McGill means I will have to wait another two months for a new invitation letter at least, since it's the summer and none of the faculty is having meetings, and from there I don't know what to do. I've tried to look up whether I can change an existing work permit application, and there's a form called "Application to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada as a Worker" but when I click "Apply Online" it just takes me through a NEW work permit application instead. If I have to file a NEW application, that will delay my trip once again, and the cycle will continue. . .
Does anyone have any advice? At this point I am considering going on a visitor's visa and conducting my research in rented office space instead, because this is getting ridiculous!
I am a doctoral student in the U.S., and I am planning on doing about three months of research in Montreal. I need a space to conduct my experiments, so my advisor got me in contact with a professor at McGill, who said I would have to apply as a graduate research trainee there. I will not be paid while I'm there, but because I'm not a student, I had to apply for a work permit.
The problem is that my original dates were June 15-September 15. These are the dates on my official invitation letter from McGill, which took about two months to get. I applied for the work permit April 25, and I haven't heard anything back yet. I thought that applying online counted as "inside Canada," meaning the processing time would be about 20 days, but I'm thinking this is not the case, since I haven't heard anything yet. If you file for the work permit online, which U.S. consulate does it "go" to?
If the work permit takes 4 months, which is the processing time listed for New York, I won't even get approval until the end of August, which means my original dates of June-September will no longer work. To change my dates at McGill means I will have to wait another two months for a new invitation letter at least, since it's the summer and none of the faculty is having meetings, and from there I don't know what to do. I've tried to look up whether I can change an existing work permit application, and there's a form called "Application to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada as a Worker" but when I click "Apply Online" it just takes me through a NEW work permit application instead. If I have to file a NEW application, that will delay my trip once again, and the cycle will continue. . .
Does anyone have any advice? At this point I am considering going on a visitor's visa and conducting my research in rented office space instead, because this is getting ridiculous!