Paper BOWP Application Seemingly Lost - Next Steps?

[mralston]

I applied for PR through Express Entry (CEC) on April 25th, 2023. I immediately followed that up with a BOWP paper application per the instruction guide to the Edmonton Case Processing Centre. Per the processing times, it was quoted at 12 days on the day I mailed it. Granted, this was in the midst of the government strike so I know that was likely inaccurate, but I was still hopeful of a quick turnaround. I called the IRCC help centre yesterday, and learned that there is no record of my application in the system. The agent asked whether I had tracking on the documents (I did, it was delivered and signed for on May 2nd), and she said that it should have immediately been registered upon receipt. Unfortunately the call was dropped and she didn't call back, but I'm wondering what my recourse is. The application is now outside of the quoted processing times, and will seemingly continue to float in the ether with no one moving it forward.

 

[BA101]

Paper application takes time to acknowledge & for you to receive AOR
If you have the receipt of application fee, withdraw it online and get a refund & submit an application online

 

[mralston]

Paper application takes time to acknowledge & for you to receive AOR
If you have the receipt of application fee, withdraw it online and get a refund & submit an application online

Was having a hard time finding the link but here it is: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/problems-applying-online-in-canada-work-study-visit.html

It says for bridging open work permit applicants who already applied for PR,

"You need to apply for your work permit on paper if you

• used Express Entry to submit your permanent residence application and
• received an acknowledgment of receipt letter confirming that your permanent residence application is complete

Labour Market Impact Assessment code: A75"

Also, the processing time for paper applications is a fraction of what the online ones are quoted at. Currently it sits at 141 days for online, and 13 days for paper.

 

[Sarah1980]

Was having a hard time finding the link but here it is: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/problems-applying-online-in-canada-work-study-visit.html

It says for bridging open work permit applicants who already applied for PR,

"You need to apply for your work permit on paper if you

• used Express Entry to submit your permanent residence application and
• received an acknowledgment of receipt letter confirming that your permanent residence application is complete

Labour Market Impact Assessment code: A75"

Also, the processing time for paper applications is a fraction of what the online ones are quoted at. Currently it sits at 141 days for online, and 13 days for paper.

This is contradictory with that is written in this link:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/extend-permit/bridging-open-work-permit.html

Here it says you can apply online for it.

 

[mralston]

This is contradictory with that is written in this link:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/extend-permit/bridging-open-work-permit.html

Here it says you can apply online for it.

Agreed, however with a difference in quoted processing times between online/paper of over 10x and the link I previously provided, I'm certainly inclined to have applied on paper. However, it appears to come with its difficulty. What I'm hung up on was the contact centre agent saying there should be record of it being received on IRCC's end considering the timing above. She said something to the effect of 'paper applications are logged when received, even if they haven't provided an AOR'. In my instance, it was received, but no record of it on IRCC's end.

 

[Sarah1980]

Agreed, however with a difference in quoted processing times between online/paper of over 10x and the link I previously provided, I'm certainly inclined to have applied on paper. However, it appears to come with its difficulty. What I'm hung up on was the contact centre agent saying there should be record of it being received on IRCC's end considering the timing above. She said something to the effect of 'paper applications are logged when received, even if they haven't provided an AOR'. In my instance, it was received, but no record of it on IRCC's end.

Yes that is unfortunate. I am not sure raising a webform is going to be useful. Since your call was dropped it might be useful if you have the time to call them again and see if they can raise an enquiry with the Edmonton processing centre.