Hi everyone,
I applied for PGWP online on September 23. I decided to try flag-polling on October 18 because I want to help my husband get his Open Work Permit as soon as possible so that he can apply for jobs.
I went to Carway border (Alberta-Montana) on Sunday. The CBSA officer was furious that people keep coming to the border to apply for PGWP. He told me to go home and wait for CIC to make a decision. I tried to explain my situation, but he was very cold and firm. He told me applying for PGWP should not be a rushed process, people should wait as they are in implied status after submitting an online application, and people do not understand the possible consequences of applying for PGWP at the border. He even threatened me that if I insisted applying at the border, and he found something wrong with my application then he would immediately send me back to my home country. I was very scared. My husband told the officer that being sent back to our country now by CBSA or 5 months later by CIC would not be different for us if we do have to leave Canada. After that, the officer took our documents and asked us to wait in the waiting room. After one hour, we were called out of the room to pay the fees ($510). After another hour of waiting, we were given our work permits.
We got what we needed, but it was a very frightening, humiliating, and stressful experience. I don't know if CBSA officers have ever refused to process a PGWP application, but we were very close to that. I read a lot of stories about flag-polling and now realize that it is really unpredictable and all cases may be different.
In addition, it is very disappointing and frustrating that I was not able to get the $510 refund from CIC for my PGWP application and my husband's OPW application. Although our online applications were not updated (I did not receive any updates and there is no change on the status of the applications in the online page), right after obtaining our work permits at the border, I got an email from CIC stating that our permits have been approved and will be issued at the border by a CBSA officer. It was really unfair because I had to pay twice while CIC actually did not process our online applications.
That is my story. I hope it can be helpful for other members.
Wish you all best luck with your applications!