Question concerning Work Permit and Others

[Desiree0220]

I am going to apply for an open work permit and attach a long letter asking for the work permit to be granted before 1st stage approval, as my husband is on disability, so I think I may have a better chance.

Few questions about this:

1) What form do I fill out? The site said the form IMM1295 is not being accepted anymore, and the form IMM5708 does not have an option to extend for an open work permit? I am confused as to which form I need to fill out for the open work permit. I am not here on a student visa or anything like that. I came to Canada to visit my boyfriend, he proposed and we married, which is why I'm filing for permanent residency now, so I am not sure if that effects the form I fill out.

2) I saw someone on here posted they were lucky and their spouse got a open work permit before 1st stage approval due to them attaching a letter explaining their situation and why it was needed earlier than approval. Anyone have experience with this?

3) On quite a few forms, there are questions asking my current country I am residing in. I put Canada, but I am not sure what to put as my 'status'. I came here to visit. My boyfriend proposed and we got married. We are applying for inland permanent residency, and I am now past my 6 months I am legally 'allowed' to visit. So.. do I put visitor still or Other and then write in what I just explained? They leave very little room to type out in the other box the actual situation.
I am starting to think I would put Foreign National.

4) They also ask for a picture of my passport of when I entered the country. I am positive the border official stamped my passport, but now when I go through the pages, there is no stamp! No pages are missing (they are numbered). I'm not sure if there is a special ink or what.. I have some bare remnants of my flight information and one of the ticket stubs (as well as the emails showing my flight itinerary). Should I attach those and say it was not stamped or the stamp disappeared?

 

[messenger]

Re: Questions

Hiya friend

You are in a wrong area of the forum. Try Skilled Worker / Professional Immigration

 

[Desiree0220]

Re: Questions

I am not in the wrong forum.

I am being sponsored by my husband and am including an open work permit application with it.

 

[messenger]

Re: Questions

I am not in the wrong forum.

I am being sponsored by my husband and am including an open work permit application with it.

Ooops so sorry!
My fault I just saw your first line and kinda hurried up my answer to you. Please forgive. Wish you good luck and I am sure the nice people here will give you all the info you need.

Cheers

 

[Desiree0220]

Anyone?

 

[computergeek]

1) What form do I fill out? The site said the form IMM1295 is not being accepted anymore, and the form IMM5708 does not have an option to extend for an open work permit? I am confused as to which form I need to fill out for the open work permit. I am not here on a student visa or anything like that. I came to Canada to visit my boyfriend, he proposed and we married, which is why I'm filing for permanent residency now, so I am not sure if that effects the form I fill out.

IMM 5710 (sorry the forum software rejected the link, so you will need to find it on your own). These are generic forms, so you need to fill them out as appropriate - ergo, when it asks for employer you should write "Not applicable" or "open work permit after AIP". The CIC officers are familiar with the fact the forms aren't a perfect fit and nobody's ever reported having the form sent back because it wasn't filled out properly.

2) I saw someone on here posted they were lucky and their spouse got a open work permit before 1st stage approval due to them attaching a letter explaining their situation and why it was needed earlier than approval. Anyone have experience with this?

Wow, that's very unusual. I'd suggest contacting the person who posted it and ask them how they got it.

3) On quite a few forms, there are questions asking my current country I am residing in. I put Canada, but I am not sure what to put as my 'status'. I came here to visit. My boyfriend proposed and we got married. We are applying for inland permanent residency, and I am now past my 6 months I am legally 'allowed' to visit. So.. do I put visitor still or Other and then write in what I just explained? They leave very little room to type out in the other box the actual situation.

You are a visitor. You may be a visitor who has overstayed, but you are a visitor. Filing the OWP application does not give you status, but it is the policy of CIC (and CBSA) to do nothing about removal in the case of an inland sponsored spousal application. Having the OWP granted will give you status in Canada ("temporary foreign worker"). Note that the policy does not prevent deportation for criminality, only for overstay or out-of-status situations (like yours).

4) They also ask for a picture of my passport of when I entered the country. I am positive the border official stamped my passport, but now when I go through the pages, there is no stamp! No pages are missing (they are numbered). I'm not sure if there is a special ink or what.. I have some bare remnants of my flight information and one of the ticket stubs (as well as the emails showing my flight itinerary). Should I attach those and say it was not stamped or the stamp disappeared?

There's no disappearing ink. The BSO probably stamped your customs declaration card - it's really unusual to get your passport stamped (I have dozens of crossings between the US and Canada and exactly five stamps for both countries - three for Canada, all associated with immigration paperwork, a random US entry stamp, and one I explicitly requested at the land border in order to be able to prove to CBSA I'd been outside Canada in order to get my third Canadian stamp - the "immigrant" one.)

At a minimum, just indicate your passport wasn't stamped. Including additional information to corroborate your claim is fine.

Include your OWP application with your PR application - that will get you back in status most quickly. Keep a copy of your application, because if you DO end up in trouble with CBSA because of the overstay, you will want that to show you have an in-process inland spousal PR application. Note that the sooner you submit, the better.

 

[Desiree0220]

Thank you for the information.

Also, we are going to apply for the inland application as soon as we have all the paperwork and necessary funds in order.

If by some chance, I was told to leave because I am out of status, would providing evidence that we are trying to file our inland application be sufficient evidence? I do have letters from government offices stating proof of this. I have been told it is highly improbable to be issued an order of deportation if I have not committed a crime and am trying to file my inland application and that is a a human rights violation to separate a married couple if they are trying to get legal status. The ONLY reason we have not filed yet is funds, due to my husband being on disability it makes it a bit hard to come up with the $1500 or so dollars we need to get everything done.

One more thing, do they ever reject the application for a loan for a right to be a permanent residence fee? We plan on sending that in with the initial paperwork.

 

[CheshireCats]

Sounds to me that you are in the same situation we were in...my husband was a foreign national that had overstayed his visit...got caught. CBSA gave us a certain amount of time to apply for Temporary Resident Permit, Work Permit and Permanent Residency.

Firstly you need to restore your status if you are in fact overstayed and along with that I would send in the application for the Open Work Permit. Along with the application for the OWP I would attach a letter explaining why your situation is exceptional and justifies the issuance of a work permit. This would have to be financial hardship, and especially if there are children involved. My husbands open work permit was issued before first stage approval, but only for 8 months. It would have expired Dec. 31st, and we just got the first stage.

Hope this helps! Good luck

Modified to add: If you have overstayed, and you are married..then don't worry too much about that. It's not a huge deal...you overstayed because you are married. However, you do need a status! Right now, you are a foreign national.

 

[computergeek]

Also, we are going to apply for the inland application as soon as we have all the paperwork and necessary funds in order.

You only have to pay the application fees ($75 for sponsor, $475 for the applicant) for a total of $550. The FBI clearance letter ($18 plus the cost of finger prints) is also necessary. Medicals are not required, but if you shop around you can find them for as little as $200 in Canada.

Note that depending upon the province in which you live, you may gain the rights to medical care after you have an in process application.

If by some chance, I was told to leave because I am out of status, would providing evidence that we are trying to file our inland application be sufficient evidence?

No. You must have an application in process not "we're working on it". At a minimum, you must have paid the fees for anyone to take you seriously.

I do have letters from government offices stating proof of this. I have been told it is highly improbable to be issued an order of deportation if I have not comitted a crime and am trying to file my inland application and that is a a human rights violation to separate a married couple if they are trying to get legal status. The ONLY reason we have not filed yet is funds, due to my husband being on disability it makes it a bit hard to come up with the $1500 or so dollars we need to get everything done.

Improbable, yes. The problem is that being out-of-status becomes an issue when something ELSE goes wrong - you piss off a neighbour and they report you to CBSA, for example. People do it, but the longer you wait, the greater the odds of something going wrong. Further, you cannot work legally without status, so if you work illegally you create yet another potential nightmare situation.

Total budget to file: $550 + ~$250 (medicals - but this can be deferred) + $60 (FBI clearance, $40 for fingerprints, $18 for the fee - and this takes two months to get, must be submitted within three months of its date, good for one year from issue date). That's ~$900.

One more thing, do they ever reject the application for a loan for a right to be a permanent residence fee? We plan on sending that in with the initial paperwork.

I've only ever read one person on here report they asked for a loan, and they were not rejected, so I don't have much information on that one.

 

[Desiree0220]

Wait, so I came as a visitor, ended up getting married, and overstayed. So do I put visitor or foreign national? I am confused, as you both contradicted eachother.

And, I thought I did not need to restore my status as I would be applying for permanent residency as I am married to a Canadian citizen?

Also, what do you mean by medicals can be deferred? I know I can wait until they request them, but I also know that adds time to the processing. The CIC site said that medicals would not be covered and I would have to pay them myself.

Edit: Also, a quick question. My husband's passport misspelled his name by one letter different than his birth certificate but it was never fixed. Which should I put on the forms? The name his birth certificate says or the name his passport says?

 

[chipits]

Edit: Also, a quick question. My husband's passport misspelled his name by one letter different than his birth certificate but it was never fixed. Which should I put on the forms? The name his birth certificate says or the name his passport says?

I had a similar problem although I am the sponsor (my middle names were never put on my passport, although they exist on my birth cert)

One of the forms (I think it's IMM008) asks for your name as it appears on your passport, then asks for any aliases. I put my real name under aliases and attached a sheet of paper explaining the problem.

 

[computergeek]

Wait, so I came as a visitor, ended up getting married, and overstayed. So do I put visitor or foreign national? I am confused, as you both contradicted eachother.

While you ARE a foreign national, that's not a status. Your status is that of a visitor to Canada.

And, I thought I did not need to restore my status as I would be applying for permanent residency as I am married to a Canadian citizen?

Here is the text from the Inland Processing Manual:

Under the current Regulations, applicants in this spouse or common-law partner in Canada class
must have a valid temporary resident status on the date of application and on the date they
receive permanent resident status to be eligible to be members of the class.

However, under the spousal policy, applicants who lack status as defined under the public policy
(see “What is lack of status under the public policy” below) may be granted permanent residence
so long as they meet all the other requirements of the class (i.e., they are not inadmissible for
reasons other than “lack of status.”)

However, applicants who do not have temporary resident status and who cannot be granted
positive consideration under the public policy can be removed at any time. Further, the spousal
policy does not change the requirement to seek necessary authorization to visit Canada or to
work or study here.

Hence my comment.

Also, what do you mean by medicals can be deferred? I know I can wait until they request them, but I also know that adds time to the processing. The CIC site said that medicals would not be covered and I would have to pay them myself.

I mean "you don't have to do them up front". Yes, it will delay processing your application, but it means you'd be paying for it once you had an open work permit, which would hopefully mean your own financial circumstances would be improved. You could do them any time in the first stage and it wouldn't materially slow down your application as well (so four months in process).

Edit: Also, a quick question. My husband's passport misspelled his name by one letter different than his birth certificate but it was never fixed. Which should I put on the forms? The name his birth certificate says or the name his passport says?

Use the one on his passport. There's no reason to submit a copy of his birth certificate.

 

[computergeek]

I had a similar problem although I am the sponsor (my middle names were never put on my passport, although they exist on my birth cert)

One of the forms (I think it's IMM008) asks for your name as it appears on your passport, then asks for any aliases. I put my real name under aliases and attached a sheet of paper explaining the problem.

That's what I would suggest for an applicant, but in this case we're talking about the sponsor, so CIC won't even see the sponsor's birth certificate normally.

 

[Desiree0220]

That's what I would suggest for an applicant, but in this case we're talking about the sponsor, so CIC won't even see the sponsor's birth certificate normally.

Ah, thanks, just saw they only needed one form of proof of identity for the sponsor!

Thanks for being so helpful! I have so many questions =/

Am I correct in thinking the only inland office is Vegreville, AB? Is that the office I put down to request it to be sent to?

 

[computergeek]

Ah, thanks, just saw they only needed one form of proof of identity for the sponsor!

Thanks for being so helpful! I have so many questions =/

Am I correct in thinking the only inland office is Vegreville, AB? Is that the office I put down to request it to be sent to?

CPC-V (Vegreville, AB) is the primary office. Applications may be forwarded to other offices, but you won't know that nor can you request it.