Regarding Applications and Work Permits

[snowcat]

I hate to bother everyone here, but it's my last resort for trying to sort through the CIC website. I'll cut to the chase.

Husband and I have been married since December last year and we've both lived in Canada together since last summer legally. I'm an American citizen and we've had a bit of trouble getting everything together, but I think we're almost there.

What I'm trying to figure out is how should I go about obtaining a work permit.

• Which application should I use?
• Would in-land or out-land be better for obtaining a work permit?

I've heard a bit about how after phase one, which I've presumed was the initial sponsorship screening, I could apply for a permit, but now I have no idea where I read that and I'm beginning to question what that actually means.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Kayaker]

You cannot apply for a "work permit"

Your husband is going to sponsor you for Permanent Residency. Look on the CIC website for PR Family Sponsorship. You would be applying in the spousal category.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/sponsor/spouse.asp

As an American, you should apply Outland. This means indicating on your forms that you want to be processed Outland. (Do not include some forms that are for Inland applicants only.)

Inland applicants are waiting 13-14 months for stage 1 approval. The wait time is growing. (Last year people waited about 7 months - so the wait time has almost doubled.) You also need to stay in Canada the whole time (might take 2 years total) because you risk having your entire application cancelled if you leave the country. Yes, you can get an Open Work Permit after stage 1 approval, but as I said, this would take well over a year.

Outland applicants from the US are waiting about 6 or 7 months for PR. (This means both stage 1 And stage 2 approval.) You also do not need to stay in Canada while your PR is being processed. Also, you can apply Outland even if you are physically present in Canada. Once you get PR, you can get a SIN number and start working immediately. Health care coverage depends on the province.

Of course, the time frame mentioned above is in the case of fairly straightforward cases, with solid relationship proof, and no major red flags such as criminal inadmissibility, scant relationship proof, etc.

Processing times indicated on the CIC website are not what they appear - if a visa office says it takes 15 months, that is more a worst case prediction. It's not an average or median. It means that's how long to process 80% of cases. Only 20% wait 15 months or longer. If your case is straightforward, you're not likely to become that 20%.

Also, US applicants are mostly being processed in Ottawa, and getting PR pretty quickly. (Lots of people who applied in February or March this year already have PR.) the L.A. and N.Y. visa offices appear to have longer waiting times, but that's because more "problem cases" are sent there. For a realistic idea of how long it's taking people to get PR, best check this forum.

 

[snowcat]

Thank you so much! You've really helped me out immensely.