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Leaving the country with BOWP

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evdk

Newbie
May 28, 2018
5
0
Hi guys,

I'm in Canada on a 1 year working holiday visa which runs out on June 3rd (this Sunday!). I've applied for PR through EE, got my AOR, and just submitted my application for a BOWP.

I have two questions:

  • If I leave Canada and return BEFORE June 3rd, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
  • If I leave Canada and return AFTER June 3rd but before my BOWP is granted, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?

I've seen elsewhere that if I leave Canada while on implied status, I lose the implied status. However, as I'm currently unemployed anyhow, I'm not too worried about losing my ability to work while I wait for BOWP to come through. I'm a US citizen so I should be able to come back on a visitor visa easily enough.

I know that you need to be a resident in Canada to apply for a BOWP, so I'm worried that if I leave Canada I lose my implied status and become a visitor, and therefore lose my ability to get a BOWP...
 
evdk said:
I've seen elsewhere that if I leave Canada while on implied status, I lose the implied status. However, as I'm currently unemployed anyhow, I'm not too worried about losing my ability to work while I wait for BOWP to come through. I'm a US citizen so I should be able to come back on a visitor visa easily enough.

You are visa-exempt, so you do not need a visitor visa, you can return as a visitor (temporary resident), but as a technicality you do in fact lose your implied status and ability to work if you leave Canada while on implied status.

  • If I leave Canada and return BEFORE June 3rd, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
Since your first permit is still valid you would not be on implied status, you would be able to return without any issues, and you would be on implied status once your original work permit expired.

  • If I leave Canada and return AFTER June 3rd but before my BOWP is granted, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
Then you would lose implied status. The impact on your BOWP is unclear - by the rules it sounds like you could lose your eligibility, but in most cases, you need to be eligible on the date of application and what happens after usually doesn't matter. If you can lose your eligibility during processing, they usually tell you that. Moreover, I have never heard of anyone not getting their BOWP because of this. Does't mean it can't happen, but it would *probably* be OK.
Click to expand...
 

Interesting... I wasn't aware that "visitor" and "temporary resident" were the same thing. Losing the implied status makes sense, and shouldn't be an issue as long as the BOWP comes in! Otherwise I'd have to leave the country and then wait for my PR to come through to start working, which could be a long slow wait. It seems that people have left and returned while their BOWP was processing before without any issues. Hopefully that is the case for me.
 
As per IRCC's definition, A temporary resident is "A foreign national who is in Canada legally for a short period. Temporary residents include students, foreign workers and visitors, such as tourists."
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/glossary.asp

I went on a short trip to the States while my PGWP application was in process. Came back and got my permit without any issue.
 
  • If I leave Canada and return BEFORE June 3rd, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
Since your first permit is still valid you would not be on implied status, you would be able to return without any issues, and you would be on implied status once your original work permit expired.

jes_ON Could you elaborate on your reply above. Since the OP is on a working holiday visa would this implied status include the right to work or is the implied status as a visitor only after the original visa expires and before the BOWP is approved?
 
Last edited:
monkeyspanner said:
  • If I leave Canada and return BEFORE June 3rd, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
Since your first permit is still valid you would not be on implied status, you would be able to return without any issues, and you would be on implied status once your original work permit expired.

jes_ON Could you elaborate on your reply above. Since the OP is on a working holiday visa would this implied status include the right to work or is the implied status as a visitor only after the original visa expires and before the BOWP is approved?
Click to expand...

For some reason I thought once you applied for the BOWP you were on implied status. It appears that this is not the case, which is great!

I did some research prior to posting here, and it appears that on a working holiday visa, implied status does NOT include the right to work. For all other visas it does, but since working holiday visas are not meant to be extendable the implied status is just as a visitor. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but that is my understanding.
 
monkeyspanner said:
  • If I leave Canada and return BEFORE June 3rd, will this have any effect on my BOWP application?
Since your first permit is still valid you would not be on implied status, you would be able to return without any issues, and you would be on implied status once your original work permit expired.

jes_ON Could you elaborate on your reply above. Since the OP is on a working holiday visa would this implied status include the right to work or is the implied status as a visitor only after the original visa expires and before the BOWP is approved?
Click to expand...

You are right, I missed the part about the working holiday visa (was thinking PGWP). "Visitor only" status...
 
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