Open Work Permits

[honeymelon]

I recently got married to my Canadian husband (I am Australian)
I have been here on the Experience class work permit which will now expire in September.
While I am waiting for my sponsorship to go through, I will need to apply for an open work permit.

I know that being a spouse makes me exempt from obtaining an LMIA from my employer, but I'm just wondering if my employer has to do anything?

I read through and came to the Employer portal page as I got the impression they still have to submit the offer of employment number. And the way to get that is to apply on the Employer portal page. But then I read this:
Submit an offer of employment
In most cases, to hire a temporary worker through the IMP, you must

pay the employer compliance fee of $230; and
submit an offer of employment form through the Employer Portal.
Note: If you are hiring a temporary worker who has an open work permit, you do not need to submit an offer of employment form or pay the employer compliance fee. An open work permit allows the permit holder to work for any Canadian employer.

...This would just be referring to someone who already has an open work permit they got from a different means?

 

[Ponga]

This comes up quite often around here.

Have you already submitted the Outland application? If you have, it's quite possible that you will complete the entire process by September! Honestly!

The real issue is that your IEC cannot be extended, which means that there's no way for you to `Bridge' your existing work permit, to have Implied Status as a worker. If your PR is approved and you land as a PR of Canada, prior to the expiry date of your IEC, you'll be fine. If it is not...you will need to stop working.

The LMIA process is pretty expensive (and time consuming), so I'd abandon that idea completely.

If you haven't seen signs from CIC that you'll soon be receiving your COPR in the mail, a week before your IEC expires, you should consider applying to change your status to a visitor. Do it online, even one day before your IEC expires...just to maintain status.

Good luck!

 

[honeymelon]

Oh I was going to apply inland... I work and live here. So applying outland is the way to go?

 

[Ponga]

YES! Most Aussies complete the entire arduous process in ~ < 6 months by submitting an Outland application, even from within Canada.

If you really need/want to continue working beyond the expiry of your IEC, then (and only then) should you even consider the `Ball and Chain' that IS the Inland application. By including the OWP with the Inland package (meaning same envelope, even though OWP's are normally sent to a different Province), you will have Implied Status, but only as a visitor. CIC will forward/route the OWP to the appropriate department in Alberta.

Once your OWP arrives, you could then return to work, or even take a new job with almost any employer, if it hadn't been received already by the time that your IEC expired.

 

[sylvain1]

YES! Most Aussies complete the entire arduous process in ~ < 6 months by submitting an Outland application, even from within Canada.

If you really need/want to continue working beyond the expiry of your IEC, then (and only then) should you even consider the `Ball and Chain' that IS the Inland application. By including the OWP with the Inland package (meaning same envelope, even though OWP's are normally sent to a different Province), you will have Implied Status, but only as a visitor. CIC will forward/route the OWP to the appropriate department in Alberta.

Once your OWP arrives, you could then return to work, or even take a new job with almost any employer, if it hadn't been received already by the time that your IEC expired.

To add on what Ponga said, if you choose to go with the Inland route, OWP are approved in about 4 months. So if you apply now, you will most likely get your OWP before your current IEC expires (if it expires by the end of sept) or have a very short gap for which you will have to stop working.

But as Ponga said, the whole process is much faster for outland compared to inland.

 

[honeymelon]

Thank you so much everyone! This really helps. ;D ;D ;D

 

[honeymelon]

So now I'm reading the Document checklist, just to confirm... I will be ticking "I am currently living in Canada and applying under the Family Class"

Where do I send my application to now? Just the Sydney office? It says "if it applies to you, your sponsor will send the application package to Mississuaga"