I see. OWPs seem to be taking 8+ months right now.
You can apply for the PGWP and you can technically start working full time for your employer as soon as you submit the PGWP application. The complexity here is that if the PGWP is refused (which it most likely will be), you'll have to stop working immediately and wait for the OWP related to your spousal sponsorship to be approved. That's a bit messy. You don't know how long it will take IRCC to process the PGWP (could be fast or could be slow). And you don't know how much time there would potentially be between the time your PGWP is refused and you have to stop working an your OWP is approved. Do you have a close enough relationship with your employer that they would be willing to put up with this (i.e. you stopping working for an indefinite amount of time and with only one day notice) and it won't harm your brand? If the answer to that question is no, then I think you have to consider carefully if you start working with your PGWP application or wait until you either have the OWP approved or by some miracle the PGWP is approved. That's your situation in a nutshell.
high chance of pgwp is being refused. he won't meet the eligibility criteria. best to wait for his spousal sponsorship.
Eligibility criteria
You have
180 days after you get your final marks to apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP).
To be eligible, your study permit must have been valid at some point during these 180 days.
Don’t let your status expire while you wait for your marks
If your study permit will expire before you get your marks, you have 2 options. You can
If you stay in Canada and let your permit expire, you must apply to
restore your status as a student to apply for your PGWP. To restore your status, you must pay additional fees.
You can apply for a PGWP if:
-
- your study permit is still valid
-
- you have a valid visitor record
-
- you submitted an application to extend your study permit before it expired and no decision has been made on your application
-
- you submitted an application to change your status to visitor before your study permit expired and no decision has been made on your application
You must also have
- completed a study program
- at a designated learning institution
- that was at least 8 months long and
- that led to a degree, diploma or certificate
- maintained full-timestatus as a student in Canada during each semester of your study program
- this doesn’t include your final semester, which can be part-time, or if you took an approved leave from your studies
- graduated from one of the following:
- a public post-secondary school, such as a college, trade/technical school, university or CEGEP (in Quebec)
- a private post-secondary school (in Quebec) that operates under the same rules as public schools in Quebec
- a private secondary or post-secondary school (in Quebec) that offers qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer, that leads to a diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) or an attestation de spécialisation professionnelle(ASP)
- an ASP can be less than 900 hours if it’s combined with a DEP
- a Canadian private school that can award degrees under provincial law (for example, Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctorate degree), but only if you’re enrolled in a study program that leads to a degree as authorized by the province
