Just got off of the phone with a CIC representative. He told me that as of today one no longer need apply for their open work permit with their PR application to receive their permit while waiting for PR approval. In fact, they will require the application for open work permit to be separate from the PR application. The open work permit application will be processed in four months. This is great news! I submitted my inland PR application in April, 2014 and with this new rule I can get my open work permit in March which will be before I reach stage 1 of my PR application. The new guidelines should be made on the CIC website within the next few days.
New TWP and PR Guidelines as of December 1, 2014
- Thread starter joeschmo
- Start date
Hello,joeschmo said:
The information you got from the CIC agent is called BOWP- Bridging Open Work Permit and has been an option for PR applicants for a while now.
Here is the link:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/prov/bridging.asp
Here is the extract:
To be eligible for a bridging work permit, the following parameters must be met:
the foreign national is currently in Canada;
they have valid status on a work permit that is due to expire within four months;
they are the principal applicant on an application for permanent residence under the FSWP, the CEC, the FSTP, or the PNP (see note below);
they have received a positive eligibility assessment on their permanent residence application under one of the Economic Class programs above; and
they have applied for an open work permit.
The application for open work permit has always been separate from the PR application however it is dependent on the positive eligibility assessment of your PR application and you can only apply if there are 4 months left on your current work permit.